Two and a half weeks later

That day was like every other, or so it seemed.

Judy usually met Nick at the front doors of the police station, but today he wasn't there. As she climbed up the stairs, she quickly checked her phone. On top of the wallpaper of her and Nick taking a selfie was the time: eight ten. She didn't think much of Nick's absence, as Nick wasn't much of a timely person, and Judy frequently hashed him about it. And this wasn't his first offense, either—she could recall more than a paw's worth. At least one of those was when Nick had accidentally slept in, and he had showed up, fur tangled on his head and his clothes matted. Despite him being late, Judy thought he looked cute that way, and she still thought about it sometimes.

Judy laughed to herself—she was imagining it again—and she pulled open one of the cumbersome doors to the police station. The lobby was fairly empty, besides the humongous Christmas tree that sat in the foyer near the front desk. Red and green Christmas lights had also been hung around the top of the balcony and down the railing of the stairs, making the spacious place feel like a toned down Zootopia Mall.

When she got close enough to the front desk, the chubby receptionist Clawhauser appeared from behind the counter with a bowl of cereal set on the desk. He wore a Santa hat and was eating out of a winter-themed bowl speckled with pictures of snowmen and snowflakes. He glanced up when Judy approached, but didn't set the bowl down until he'd taken another bite of his cereal. "Traveling solo today, huh?" He said, mouth half full. "Where's Nick?"

"I don't know. I was texting him this morning. Usually, us meeting here is a given." She shrugged. "It's not his first time being late. He's probably just getting coffee."

"Did you call him?"

Judy shook her head. "I don't want to bother him. I'll usually only save that for urgent things."

"Like late night calls?"

Judy smiled. "That's a secret," she said in a hushed whisper. "Besides, there could be a billion reasons he's not here."

"You remember that day he showed up with his uniform all wrinkled?" Another voice said from one side. A wolf officer named Wolfard appeared by the desk, holding a foam coffee cup. He chuckled. "The coffee thing too, that was hilarious."

"I think it was cute," Judy said.

"That's a requirement for you, Hopps," Wolfard said. "Never thought you two would get together. But you fit like a glove."

"Right?" Judy said, taking her phone out of her pocket when it buzzed. She looked at her phone for a second before giggling. "Oh, that goof."

"That was him, my guess," Wolfard said.

"Ooh, what'd he say?" Clawhauser asked.

"Have you seen Rabbits in a Winter Wonderland?"

"The one that came out two years ago?" Wolfard raised his cup of coffee to his snout and took a sip.

"Yeah. The main character Buck is running late to the Christmas party he set up and calls his girlfriend. Nick sent a GIF of Buck saying into the phone, 'I'm running a little late, Rabbit.'" Judy smiles. "His texts are the best."

"The guy sure knows how to talk," Wolfard said. He looked toward a door at the back of the large foyer when a bell rang. "That's five minutes."

Judy glanced backward out the huge collection of windows lining the front of the precinct. "Huh. Nick usually doesn't run this late," Judy said. "I swear he'd turn up."

Wolfard touched Judy's shoulder. "He'll turn up. I'm sure it's something out of his control. Not even sly foxes like him have every part of the world in their paws."

Judy fidgeted in the seat of her chair, which felt empty. She usually shared it with Nick, and she would have been admiring the fox by now, his devilishly attractive canine features. And his smell, a mix of acrid carnivore and citrus, made her day whenever he got close. And since they had started dating, he'd been holding her more, and the smell had become even more irresistible.

But imagining was nothing compared to the real thing. She kept glancing back at the door, picturing him strolling through that door.

For the ten minutes the officers were gathered in the bullpen, conversations jumping through the air and ruckus dominating the feeling of the room, Nick still didn't show. As the analog clock on the wall ticked to eight thirty, Judy was beginning to feel a truly discomforting chill rising up her back. Is there something wrong?

She was busy staring at the closed bullpen door when Bogo's gruff voice cut into the air. "Shut it!" Conversations continued at half the intensity as before, and Bogo stood at the podium, staring into the crowd. Judy took another quick glance at the door before she turned herself around in the chair to face the Chief.

"Thank you." He tapped a stack of papers on the top of the podium he stood at. "Now. Three items on the docket." He was looking down at the stack of papers he had just set down and hadn't looked up besides his quick glance when he quieted the group. "One—" He cut himself off, staring at Judy with his eyebrows furrowed. "Hopps. Where's Wilde?"

Judy shrugged. "I don't know, sir." She took the opportunity to look at the door again. "He'd usually be here by now."

"Let's not state the obvious, Hopps," Bogo said, donning his uniquely sized reading glasses. "Have you had any contact with him?"

"I was texting him this morning. He told me earlier he'd be a little late."

"I swear, that fox," he muttered, putting a paw up to his face. "Right. Let's not dilly-dally. First item, we have a charity set up outside the facility, called Kits for Kits. You donate, you get entered into a raffle for free donuts for a year." His reading sounded like a second grader being forced to read to his whole class. He gestured a stack of flyers in the air. "Over here if you want one." He cleared his throat and held up a "v" on his paw. "Two, our Christmas party was a hit last night. We raised three thousand dollars in about four hours. As we promised, for every five hundred dollars donated, we purchased a fifty-dollar gift card for our yearly raffle." He held up another stack of small, square papers. "Just fill these out, and the winners of those cards will be posted tomorrow." He set the stack by the stack of flyers. "Third—"

Suddenly the door to the bullpen swung open, and a disheveled Nick, fur on his head matted and a lukewarm coffee in his paw, stepped into the room. Judy instinctively smiled, all her fears surrounding Nick melting away. Despite being late, Nick strolled into the room and ignored the stares from his coworkers. "What's this about, Wilde?" Bogo said.

Nick didn't answer for a moment, taking Judy's paw to get up onto their seat. "Morning craziness, sir," he said with an undertone bordering on entirely indifferent. He hoisted himself up onto the seat and sat down, brushing himself off with both paws. "I assure you this won't happen again."

Bogo grumbled and held a paw out to quiet the chatter that Nick had caused. When it finally did, he looked back at Nick. "Wilde. What happened?"

Nick smiled. "I'd prefer not to say, sir."

Bogo sighed. "Wilde. Get on with it. You know my rules."

Nick glanced at Judy, then looked back at Bogo. "If you insist." A smirk tugged at his mouth. "I lost my pants. Fortunately, they were just hiding under my bed." The room burst into laughter, to the point that Wolfard behind Nick almost passed out, tears rolling down his cheeks. Bogo had to basically scream to calm down the room.

"All right!" Bogo said, finally taking the stern again. There was still hushed conversations dotted with chuckling. "With that out of the way, Wilde, thank you for finally joining us." He cleared his throat, glancing at the fox again before returning to his papers. "As I was saying before, our third announcement was our daily assignments. Despite Wilde's truancy he at least was timely enough for this portion of our meeting."

"Glad I could make it, sir. With pants on." Nick said. More laughter.

"Shut it, Wilde," Bogo said. He stepped away from the podium with a stack of folders in paw. "Just because Christmas is coming doesn't mean our duty rests—in reality, it's quite the opposite." He looked at Judy. "Hopps. What are the three factors in increased burglary during the holiday season?"

Judy smiled. "'Christmas is statistically the most crime-ridden holiday in Zootopia's existence,'" she quoted. "Reason one, dishonest employees. Two, cargo thefts. Three—" Judy suddenly froze. "I forgot the third one, sir."

"Burglaries," Nick said.

Bogo looked at the fox, eyebrows raised. "Very impressive, Wilde. And, as usual, well done, Hopps." He smiled at Judy and gave Nick a subtle nod. "All three factors are critical reasons why the holiday season is a difficult and challenging time for police units." He looked at the officers. "Burglaries happen during the day more often than during the night, and that's because thieves expect you to be gone during the holidays. Valuables are stolen much more often during this time." He cleared his throat. "Because of this, I've increased patrol twofold, and our other precincts have stressed on patrol. With our new officers that we gained in the past months, patrol will not be given to everyone, but most of you will receive it." He removed one of the folders and set it on the podium. He proceeded to go through the stack of folders, naming off every officer in the room except two, and each pair took a folder until the room was almost empty, leaving Nick and Judy.

Bogo took the last file from the podium and gestured it at the couple. "Hopps. Wilde. This is an important matter. You are to meet me in my office in ten minutes." He took his glasses off, walking toward the door he had come in, carrying the file under his arm.

"Chief!" Judy said after a second.

Bogo grunted, turning around and donning his glasses.

"What's important about this case?"

Bogo stared at both officers with the gazing eyes of a strict office secretary. Finally, after a grueling ten seconds he spoke. "The eagle has flown." With not a second to spare he left, leaving the pair sitting in the empty room, leaving Nick deep in thought.