Chapter Fifty-Five
Show Them Whose Boss?

The officers of the Zootopia Police Department waited quietly at their desks in the bullpen of the ZPD headquarters. The room was lit with a clean, white light — the sun now set to the point that it no longer touched the room sufficiently on its own. Some among the room, full of officers, made quiet conversation with one another — though most kept to themselves. It was a stark juxtaposition to the usual rowdiness and noise the bullpen was normally throbbing with. They knew their fate, they knew the hour — all that could be done now was to wait for what was to come… to hear the words of their chief.

Officer Wolfard — a beige-gray timber wolf with a patch of white around his muzzle, which continued down the long fur at the front of his neck — sat closer to his desk somewhere near the middle of the room and plopped his head on his paws. The wolf breathed slowly, yet deeply, as he tried to control the rate of his heart. He was nervous — but then, so was everyone else — even Officer McHorn, one of the largest and longest-serving officers on the force. With the sharpest sense of smell in the room, Wolfard could catch the fear that rowed in the air. He could feel his senses electrified and his nose more attune to the subtle chances of scent in the room. It made life seem much more real somehow. It reminded him how fragile it was, how easy to lose.

Aside from Hopps and Wilde, Wolfard was one of the newest officers in the Precinct. He was also one of the youngest — younger than Wilde by about three years — and, while he had been in police raids in the past, this was the first time he would ever be on a raid of this magnitude. McHorn had told the others stories of what it was like to serve as an officer back when The Firm was alive and kicking. The rhino was one of the few officers still serving in Precinct One, who had also been a part of cleaning up Tundratown from The Krays. Back then, an officer would be killed in action literally once a month, while a raid on a suspect's post was more around the characteristics of guerilla warfare.

In some ways, it made the wolf glad to know that they were being led by Bogo — a person who had faced up with one of the toughest mobs Zootopia had ever seen, and come out on top... but that didn't stop the air of tensions that the whole room felt at the prospect of what was to come. A piece of scrunched up paper bounced off the wolf's shoulder and landed on the table. Wolfard turned to Fangmeyer, who was sat directly behind him and obviously wanted to say something, which he did, "Wool, d'you think the puppet parade will be back in time?"

Wolfard twisted around in his chair to speak. The thrown piece of paper hadn't been used offensively, just a way of getting his attention quietly. "Course they'll be here, Fang. You know what those two are like."

"Right, but they did lose that teacher guy."

"We've lost leads before too."

"But he was like... what, seventy?"

"Look, I know they're small and new, but they have been a lot of use to—"

"They have uses, yes," McHorn cut in from the front, the room congealing silence at his voice. "But those uses end when the sneaking around and filling out paperwork stops, and the 'real' policing begins. They have the wits and the speed to be valuable auxiliaries, I admit. But they don't nearly have the size or the strength to handle head-on opposition."

The room lingered in silent agreement, even if there were some who thought otherwise. They just didn't want to stand up to the veteran officer, it was too great a risk. "Look at it this way," McHorn continued. "So far in this investigation, Hopps and Wilde have looked at a burnt-down building, searched through a run-down apartment which they failed to find anything in, looked up some paperwork in Reg' House and failed to apprehend a seventy-two-year-old professor! Meanwhile, it's us who have been doing the real legwork: the tracking down criminals and making the arrests."

"You say that," Wolfard intervened quietly, every pair of eyes turning on him with surprise, "but... didn't Hopps and Wilde get assigned to go undercover inside—"

"Yeah," McHorn said, hotly, "but I bet you thirty Bogo doesn't assign them to be a part of the initial encounter. I bet you he puts them somewhere near the back where they're not in harm's way. The Chief knows where their abilities ends, and he'll never put them in a situation where they directly risk their lives."

"They have risked their lives," Wolfard muttered to himself, knowing better than to argue, "you just refuse to see it because it's not in the 'traditional' way."

...

In the prep room, adjacent to the bullpen, Chief Bogo paced smartly up to the wooden door that led into the place where the rest of the ZPD were waiting. Leaning up against the door, the buffalo listened to the officers inside, just as McHorn was starting to criticize Hopps' and Wilde's presence there. He sniffed with a wrinkle. His officers were professional and trustworthy people, and they had all learnt to live with the fact that a rabbit and a fox were now formally recognized as police officers. They had all learnt to accept that Hopps and Wilde were fellow officers and that they were just as effective, at maintaining the peace, as the rest of them. They had all grown to accept that they were now just as much a part of the ZPD as they all were, and they had all come to accept that they were just as deserving of all the praise, respect and mutual assistance as even the longest-serving members.

They had all grown to 'accept' these things... but that didn't mean they had all grown to 'like' it. One of them in particular still openly voiced their, somewhat negative, thoughts about having either a fox or a rabbit working in the ZPD, albeit on very rarest of occasions... now. Turning back from the window, Bogo faced the two tiny officers stood behind him. "Ready?" he more like warned than said.

Startled, worried, Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde shared a nervous glance, but before they could speak in conflict, Chief Bogo had already pushed the large door open and had stepped out, appearing before the room full of officers through the door at the front.

"Alright," he interjected through the prior chatter, "let's keep this brief. Now, I don't want any lip or any arguments. But as you're all aware, I must leave here almost instantly to visit the courthouse to have this warrant verified. In my absence," he added, guesting towards the doorway he had emerged from, "Officers Hopps and Wilde will be in charge of furnishing you with your instructions."

Judy and Nick entered the room slowly, glancing about at the officers, as their voices called out in either surprise or concern, with both fox and rabbit feeling like they'd be more comfortable forced in front of a firing squad right now. In a way, they actually were.

"Quiet down, all of you," the Chief called out over the other officers. "You're to follow their instructions and directions until I get back in roughly forty-five minutes. Their orders are my orders up until that time." The dissonance of the room ruptured again, while the two small officers got to Bogo's side. "And I do not," he shouted, "want to hear about any insubordination when I get back!"

"Chief," McHorn exclaimed in gruff irritation, "those two are the newest officers here! Standard procedure dictates that if the chief of police is unavailable, it will be the next most senior officer who takes charge. I am most senior next to you."

"McHorn," Bogo warned in a low voice, "that's enough."

"And so it should be my responsibility, as the longest-surviving officer here, to—"

"McHorn! I said that's enough." The rhino looked into the stern eyes of the only person who could silence him. Nothing was happening for several long moments, and then, Officer McHorn backed down.

"Now... if I had time, I would make it very clear to each and every one of you that you areto follow your junior officer's orders, until I get back and make you all see that this is not a matter of favoritism, merely necessity. However, other things are more important right now, so I will have to trust that you are willing to cooperate fully and professionally with Officers Hopps and Wilde."

The voices rose again in dislike of the idea, but Bogo cut right through them before they could mature. "And when I return at approximately half past three, I expect you all to, not only be fully suited up in tactical armor, but thoroughly informed as to the situation as well."

"But, Sir, we—"

"I have spoken, Rhinowitz, and I do not intend to speak any further." And with that dramatic statement, the towering form of Chief Bogo marched down the aisle, and loftily exited the room, every officer turning in their seats to watch as the door gave its admittance to the hasty chief.

Moments passed as the sound of Bogo's footsteps echoed down the hall, and then, slowly and almost painfully, every pair of eyes turned back around to the front of the room... and fixed, un-movingly, on Nick and Judy. Second after second the uncomfortableness grew and grew, while the ticking of the clock jeering at each breath the glaring officers drew in their failure of uttering something, anything.

Judy took a small step forwards, trying to control the shaking of her paw and trying to control the shaking of her voice. "I," she started, very weakly, "I'd like to s-say..." Her nerves giving out on her, the small rabbit, by far the smallest person in the room, blew out a current of wobbly air. She raised a paw to cover her face, her ears dropping behind her, while her other paw clenched into a fist of worry amidst her expression of tension.

Nick bit down on his lip. Hopps was a great conversationalist, but he knew full well public speaking was one of her fears when it was off the cuff, and doubly so when it was to a group of seniors. For Wilde's part, though he hid it behind a lazy stare of indifference, he was just as terrorized; perhaps more so. He knew he wouldn't be able to speak even if he tried so he didn't. He knew his limits. He could con them into believing he was confident about all this, sure... but right now, conning them wasn't enough; conning them wasn't the point. The point was, he and Judy had some serious information they had to convey, and to blag it was not an option. It could be fatal for any one of them if that information was mishandled or misunderstood... and the fox didn't trust his lying tongue not to twist its meaning.

Judy brought up her other paw to hide her reddening face, still not hinting another word. Nick's ear raised — she was speaking without a coherent volume — only loud enough so he could faintly hear it. "I can't do this," she muttered to herself, her head burrowing deeper into her paws, "I can't do this, I can't do this."

"Of course you can do it," Nick breathed to her with the dissonance of encouragement. She hesitantly rose to meet him and found his eyes. He had to further motivate her. She needed every drop of courage she could get. "I believe in you, Carrots."

Turning back to the officers, the rabbit tried again. "What... what I'm trying to say... is—" The amassed officers piped-down and watched through irritation to her efforts to talk, all painfully aware of the fact that she was starting to tear up. But she was fighting on despite those threatening tears. Nick noticed the expressions of genuine concern in the majority of officers, which gave him the elation of surprise. Though, there was one exception that stood out the most... and Nick Wilde fixed a stern glare on McHorn, resenting everything about the smug grin that was gradually building itself on him at Judy.

There was something about this moment the rabbit knew. It was the emotion. What was it? She knew what the emotion was, of course, but there was something else. Something about the scenario she recognized. The emotion that made her heart pound, the feeling that made hot blood pump through her veins and made her breaths puff from her like an express steam train. The scene where darkness lurked behind every corner, and at every corner danger hid.

She recognized the emotion — recognized the moment. The emotion, it was... it was—

Fear. A hot fear which shot down the spine and stopped the lungs. The room was dark and smelled of popcorn. The gentle chatter of voices could be heard, spoken by invisible mouths and faces hidden in the darkness. Out of sight. Out of reach.

Treachery. An edgy uneasiness which made the ears pop, the jaw clench and the teeth grind.

Her mother would be there. Her father too, probably. Actually, most of the locals were more than likely going to attend. She could hear some of them from behind a sheet of thick curtain.

Bloodlust. An uncontrollable, biological urge to maim and maul and...

She had played this once before — the act, the performance — the part of a police officer. Many years ago now, back when she was little. She remembered it. Remembered... how to act.

"Okay... okay, okay, okay, you can do this. Just, come on. Come on! Come on!"

The stage curtain parted and Judy Hopps stepped out into the light. Her audience was tall and wide within the darkness from where they looked towards her. Every face she glanced upon, the rabbit recognized: her mother, her father, her brothers and sisters. The idea of acting in a play before a throng of faces, she had known all throughout her childhood. It had terrified the young rabbit to start with, but she immersed herself in the moment and pushed the fear away. She didn't have to be afraid. This was her family. And these people, these officers, they were her family just the same. They would learn to accept her as she was... just like her biological family had grown to accept how she was. All she needed to do... was...

Act.

"Officers!" she shouted out to the room, making every officer in there jump by the sudden volume of her voice. The rabbit hadn't meant to start off so loud, but that didn't stop her — she'd found her feet, she had her momentum and she wasn't going to give falter. "This is it," she said, her voice suddenly steady and clear, "this is the moment we've been waiting for. We've got the upper paw on them for once, and we are not going to lose it now. We will have justice for all those lives which have been ruined by their evil plot, and we will not be stopped. Tonight's the night we bring the fight to our enemy, and we will show them no mercy! Officer Wilde, please paw me the plans on the desk."

Nick was as stunned, by this sudden outburst, just as everyone else in the room was, and he just gawked at the rabbit while she turned to him. "Officer Wilde. The plans, please."

"Yes, Officer... Officer Hopps." Reaching up onto the desk, Wilde took up a small file of papers, which had been reprinted in appropriation to their size. He passed it to Judy, still a little too taken aback to allow himself to speak, who took the plans smartly and skimmed through the contents.

"Okay… in so far as we can tell from the blueprints, the precipices of Erkin Electrical has three standard exits. The first Point of Entry, the front door, is the means by which the majority of the officers will gain entry to the building at the start of the raid. The second POE, the back alley, is located on the other side of the building. That's where the majority of the suspects will likely try to escape out of. It is vital that the alley be properly guarded in the event of this. The final POE shouldn't be too much of a worry. It's a standard, industry fire escape staircase bolted to the outside of the building, like all buildings in the industrial sector have been designed to have. However, due to its small size and advanced state of disrepair, it would very likely collapse if any person larger than a small wolf tried to access it. Any questions so far?"

There were some soft mumblings between the amassed officers, but none of them appeared to want to say anything too openly. McHorn looked as though he was about to intervene in an instant, but, with a glance in Wilde's direction, he reconsidered and remained quiet. "Erh, Hopps," came a voice from near the middle. "You've been inside the place. How big actually is it? What's the layout?"

"Thank you, Wolfard," she acknowledged with a smile. "The work area itself is only actually one large room, with a couple of crates that have been transformed into office space and a portaloo The first POE enters into a reception, with a single exit down a long corridor, which runs in parallel to the road outside and exits out into the work area. The corridor is large enough that two large-sized mammals could walk down side-by-side without getting in the way of one another."

"Okay. Thanks."

"No problem. While we were in there, Officer Wilde also noticed a few details about the people who were working in the establishment. He had more contact with them than I. Perhaps... Wilde, would you like to take over?"

"Humm... thanks! Well, ughm... while we were in— inside the building I, ughm... I had more contact with them than Judy, so I… I was able to notice a few details about... about the, ughm. But, I mean... Hopps just told you that, so... yeeaaahhhhh."

"Well that was stirring," Rhinowitz muttered, just quiet enough for everyone to hear.

Nick cleared his dry throat. "So, ughm... so, there seemed to be, like, thirty or so workers, and they all seemed fairly in shape, which is to be expected. I guess, given their job. So it's important you all remember that when we're rushing in there together. And those tools of theirs could easily be used as a weapon if they needed to. Especially the welding kit. Watch out for that if it's turned on full blast."

"Now tell them about the guns," Judy reminded with encouragement.

"I was going to tell them!" Nick huffed, feeling unusually out of place for giving a speech in a real, legitimate company and not having to make the whole thing up as he went along. "So yeah, the guns... the guns are by far the biggest concern. There was a big crate in the center of the work area, and inside that was another crate with enough guns to arm everyone we met working there."

"If somethings goes wrong," Judy interrupted, reading from the sheet, "and they manage to arm themselves… All officers are to vacate the area immediately, retreat to a safe distance and lock down that sector of the industrial area."

"Right," Nick acknowledged and felt a sort of energy that pushed him to want to further include, "MP5s are most effective at close range, room to room combat. So if they arm themselves and we stay inside, we'll be fighting on their terms. It's important, if we need to, that we pull back quickly and take away their edge and most of their advantage from the type of weapon they're using. But, of course, we're not gonna need to do that, because by the time they realize what's going on, they'll already be in cuffs, in the back of a van and on the way to Fort Knox. Right, guys?"

"Yeah," called one officer enthusiastically, expecting a chorus of 'yeahs' to be called out with him... the officer then paled... and moved on to regret his leaving of the house that morning.

"Yeah... so. Honestly, though," Nick continued, "the whole point that the raid was arranged for five was because it's the standard time work ends for the day. It's not just for the darker sky. It'll put them off their guard. They'll be congratulating themselves for a good day's work, and thinking about what they'll have for dinner. And then, bamb, we're in!"

"Also," Hopps added, pulling something from her pocket, "when we left, I actually held onto the key to the container. When we get there, if they look for it, all they're gonna do is work themselves into a blind panic as they search for it."

"So the delay of them prepping to leave," Nick concluded, "and then their panicked search for a key which isn't there, should stop them actually getting their paws on any weapons, until long after we're in. So long as there's no unnecessary delays."

"Not that you can trust Wilde here to know what he's talking about when it comes to real-life combat," McHorn quipped smugly from near the front of the room. "Foxes may be good at stitching lies together," he added with a smirk, "but in real-life combat they're—"

"Officer McHorn," Judy interrupted crisply, "kindly desist in making speciest remarks towards Officer Wilde."

"Why?" he mocked, "Because he's your boyfriend?!" Nick gagged and Judy flinched, but she knew he had just made the comment to try and goad her. He he had no idea that they really were lovers. So she fought back the urge to scream at him and throw a table in his direction.

Instead, she took a breath and calmed herself. And when she felt she was composed and ready, she reacted, "No." Her voice was so calm and quiet that every smug grin in the room started to fall. "No, not because we're 'lovers' or something... because Wilde is your fellow officer in the ZPD, and you have a duty of care to respect him. There is no place for prejudiced in this department, and if you insist on a continued policy of non-cooperation, I will have to ask you to leave."

"Ask me to leave? Hah! You far overstep your boundaries, Hopps. You can't ask me to leave. You don't have anything like that kind of authority over me."

"Actually," Hopps countered, her voice suddenly taking on an oddly threatening edge, "as per the instructions of the chief of police... that's exactlywhat I have." McHorn stared at her, not only angered but also clearly taken aback by the revelation. It was impossible for Judy not to let go of a bright smile. "I just wanted to make that matter clear from the offset."

Nick glanced from rabbit to rhino, his brow drowning in confusion. She was enjoying this power. Perhaps a little too much? Still, he couldn't blame her, not after all the thousands of hours she'd put into this place, after everything she'd had to put up with from the rest of the officers.

Turning away from the still-gawping rhino, Judy focused back down to the plans of the operation. "Now, a few more details on how we'll be handling the three Points Of Entrance in the raid. The first POE is self-explanatory. We rush in and take control of the situation. All officers will be involved in the initial raid, except those who are expressly stated to be doing otherwise. The third POE, the outside fire escape, are to be guarded by..." Hopps faltered as she read on ahead, taken aback momentarily by the presence of her own name.

"Will be guarded by… Officers Hopps and Wilde, as these are the only officers who can utilize the staircase safely, while the weight of any other officer would compromise its structural stability. It is possible that a person too large to use the staircase safely might try to attain egress from the building in such a manner, resulting in the collapse of the staircase and, more than likely, the serious injury of death of the individual. And, while it would be an enmity of police policy to risk the lives of officers for the sake of safeguarding the lives of potential escaping criminals, it will be their duty to attempt to stop any fleeing suspects, who try to take this escape route. Height-safety harnesses will be issued to Officers Hopps and Wilde in the unfortunate case of the staircase collapsing."

"It is, of course, possible that there may be alternative exits to the building which were not on the blueprints. Thus, it may work as a rat run, no offense to rats, between buildings internally. In the instance that such turns out to be true, officers will act quickly to sanction-off the entire street and will usher the workers of the other companies quickly out of harm's way, and before live hostages can be taken. These workers must be able to prove their identity as workers for a company 'other' than Erkin; before, they can be given leave."

"Now," she continued reading from the notes, "last of the three POEs, the one we need to be most careful of, is the rear entrance to the alley. It's a narrow passageway, difficult to cover and observe, and impossible to track down a fleeing suspect in if they should escape this way. On account of this, we need two large officers to guard the back entrance. Rhinowitz and McHorn, on account of your size and your domineering visual impact, this will be your responsibility. Think you can handle it?"

"Course I can handle it," McHorn grunted as if insulted by the improperness. "My question is, why should I?"

Judy slapped down the document onto the table. "Because that's what is needed to protect this city."

"Yeah? Cut the 'higher than thou' speech. That's what we all signed up for. A nice speech doesn't give you nearly a fraction of the experience to be telling us what to do; nor does being given a gold star by the Chief. You may be his favorite little officer but that doesn't give you any respect in the 'real' world."

Hopps shook her head, her expression tight. "I'm not claiming to be better or worse than anyone here. And you know Chief Bogo is perfectly justified in his decision to put us in charge of the briefing."

"Justified in your mind," McHorn sneered, "not in mine. What you're reading out now, any of us could read. You don't even need to be here."

"The success of any operation," Judy tried to further assert, "depends solely on the preparation and foresightedness of the officers, and by the depth of the briefing, and the quality and extent of the organization they receive.

"And I say to you," McHorn grunted, standing, "that the level of practical knowledge and training you have so far received, to deal with said 'preparation' and 'organization'... falls woefully short of the necessary minimum."

"Officer," Hopps said without much emotion, "would you please sit down and let us carry on with the briefing?"

Disobeying, McHorn leaned onto his desk. "And why don't you leave me: the officer with the experience here, to do what needs doing. And you go find some meters to maid?" The ensuing silence crackled, while the rhino and the rabbit's glares fixated on one another.

"Look," Nick intervened with a step between them, "why don't we all just take a deep breath and—"

"I can handle this!Thank you. Wilde." Nick backed out, raising his paws in surrender. He knew no mammle's land when he saw it. "Officer McHorn," Judy softly said, "I will ask you once more. Please, will you sit down, and allow me to carry on briefing yourself and your fellow officers on how we will be proceeding with tonight's raid?"

"You say what you want," McHorn provoked with a condescending smirk, "all you are is just a stupid, dumb bu—" Judy silenced McHorn with a look Nick knew. It was 'the look'. The look itself wasn't even directed at Wilde, and yet he flinched back. McHorn's reaction was different. He stared blankly into the rabbit's warning gaze for a moment, and then... he started to chuckle.

"Oh, you can frighten cubs and spineless foxes with that expression," he jested, nodding to Nick, "but don't expect that to have any impact on me."

"Nick is not spineless. And I will not—"

"Incidentally, has anyone noticed I spoke the exact truth earlier? I said Bogo wouldn't put Hopps or Wilde anywhere near actual combat, and he hasn't. They've been posted to guard a rusted staircase no person larger than a small wolf can use. I told you Bogo wouldn't put them anywhere near the real action."

"Get out of this room," Judy drew carefully in softness and lack of anger.

"Heh, heh... wait, what?"

"Officer McHorn," she pursued loudly with a gesture to the door, "your comments so far have had no function other than to undermine my and my partner's authority. As acting chief of police for the moment, I will not stand for this continued insubordination. Now... get! Out!"

McHorn gawped at the rabbit for a long moment. He twitched, grimaced at her and started slowly to get to his feet. "I'm... I'm not gonna sit here listening to this," he muttered to the room in general. "I'm leaving. Just try and stop me!"

"That's right," Nick breathed as the rhino stormed away to the door... "you put any excuse for your exit... you're still leaving the room because Carrots told you to." No one argued in the bullpen at this turn of events. Eventually, Judy stirred under the eyes of everyone and turned to Nick with an expression of trouble.

"N... Nick?" she muttered.

"Yes, Officer Hopps?"

The rabbit blinked at him as though dazed. "What... what actually just happened? Actually?"

"Okay," Nick addressed to the room of officers, delight quickly growing, "and back to the orders. Now, seeing as a certain rhino apparently won't be joining us, I'm gonna need, erh... Francine, you take-up McHorn's position. Okay?"

"Yes, Sir."

Nick moved back to Judy, who was staring blankly into empty space, with her face frozen in a face of distant shock. "Hey, Hopps," he said, bringing her attention towards him from a million miles away, "you wanna sit down for a bit?"

"I... yeah."

"Go take a minute in the prep room," he said softly, pointing her towards the room they had come from. "We're pretty much all done here anyway."

"Thanks..." Still evidently dazed as McHorn had been, the rabbit absent mindedly turned and wondered from the room. Nick moved back to the officers before him, and did a sweep of the expressions, trying to get an idea of the general mood of the room towards him.

What he was going to have to deal with now was to be fully on his own shoulders. For the most part, there was surprise. As far as he could see, there weren't any expressions of newfound respect he had been hoping for by the end of this talk — but then, things hadn't exactly gone how he thought they would. It could go either way right now. Once the shock had worn off, their resolve to go against following his and Hopps' orders might rise up in unity against them... or, with luck, they would realize how strong Judy had been to stand up to McHorn like that — something none of them had seen in a very long time — and band together on his and Judy's side.

There was, however, one clear exception to the average blank stare of stunned bemusement... and Nick Wilde found, with a surprised jolt of his own, the wide grin of Wolfard the wolf. That grin was followed by a wink and a headshake of honest wonderment. "Okay," Nick broke-in, re-addressing the room, "that about wraps things up over here. If there's any more questions, you can ask us later-on or Bogo when he gets back. So for now, you'd all best be on your way. Bogo'll be back in half an hour now, and he'll be expecting all of us suited up by then, so—"

The room stared blankly at the fox. Nick glanced around at the wide-eyed faces and realized what was missing. Clapping his paws together sharply, the room jolted back at the sound. "Well don't just sit there," Nick noted with a voice in true Bogo-esque manner, "get on with it!" With a start, the officers pulled themselves into motion — standing hurriedly from their chairs and making to leave the room through the door at the back. Nick remained at his spot of grins, watching as the room full of officers obeyed his orders. Then he turned on the soles of his feet and made for the side door, pausing with his paw on the handle and glancing at Wolfard out of the corner of his eye. If they had a supporter, it'd be very useful to know.

Wolfard got up his desk without much hurry, still shaking his head as he tried to hold his laughter inside. He shifted away and paced out of the room, behind the rest of his fellow officers. Nick knew that it could've gone worse. If nothing else, they had made the Guinness world record for the smallest and youngest officer kicking out a hardened veteran out.

Finally pushing through the door, Nick left the heavy silence and tensions of the rapidly emptying bullpen, and entered into the comparatively relaxed and calmly quiet refuge of the prep room. Judy was seated upon a chair in the corner, and Nick sauntered close to her with warmth on his being.

"Well, Carrots, you sure showed McHorn who's bo—" Leaping towards him with sudden energy, Hopps grabbed the startled fox around the neck and pulled him harshly into a deeply heated kiss. The fox didn't react at all amidst the unexpected, but then his lips melted into the embrace of affection, his tongue following close behind.

After unknown moments of hot bliss, Judy pulled herself back and quickly said, "Nick, that... that was the most amazing feeling I have ever felt in all my life!"

"The... kiss?" he asked almost naively.

"The power. The power! I told McHorn to get out and— and he did!" she boasted, her pitch almost painfully high. "Can you imagine? He followed my orders!"

Nick stared at her blankly. "You sure you didn't enjoy it a little too much?"

"Come on, Nick," she disregarded, taking him by the shoulders and standing on the chair to have better reach, "don't be like that. You and I have been waiting for over a year now to be given even a fraction of legitimate authority in this department."

"And our first act was to throw one of the ZPDs most experienced officers out? You sure Bogo'll approve when he finds out?"

"Oh, now, look. McHorn was clearly culpable of misconduct and insubordination. He gave me no option but to have him removed from the room."

"Well then," the fox said, allowing his previously concealed smirk to grow, "looks like Bogo was right after all."

"How?"

"The moment it started and you got into the swing of things, you took total control of the situation, and didn't even realize it was happening. Just like Bogo said."

Judy grinned. "You think he'll be impressed?"

"I can't say he'll be all that happy with the fact we kicked McHorn out of the raid like that... But I'm sure he'll get over it."

"Did you see, Nick?" Judy giggled, almost wickedly, "Did you see some of the looks of fear on their faces when I kicked him out?!" The fox raised a careful brow towards the rabbit, holding a skeptical gaze towards her. "Ooh, admit it, Nick," Judy chuckled, "you enjoyed having a little power and authority over the others just as much as I did."

"Well," the fox divulged whispery, crossing his arms and gazing up at the ceiling, "it sure did make a nice change from being ordered around by the others all day and all night."

"And?"

"And... it was pretty great having a position of real consequence for a while, rather than just parking duty."

"Andddd?"

"And..." Nick snorted, his satisfaction ever growing. "And McHorn's expression as he walked out the door. It was the most hilarious thing I've seen in a long time!" His face contorted and laughter escaped from his throat, with Judy joining in that resulted in a long moment of simple happiness for both.

"The... the way he tried to…" the rabbit wiped a benign tear from her face, as she tried to finish her sentence "— the way he tried to pretend that he was somehow 'rebelling' by leaving, not just following orders…"

"Yeah," Nick chuckled. "'I'm leaving. Just try and stop me'!" They both entered a re-doubled paradise of belly cramps, and the room kept the longevity of merriment. Slowly, though, the life of amusement started to fade; thus, Judy sighed softly with the remnants of a small smile playing on her face as she faced the fox.

"Nick," Judy asked, speaking softly as she sat back down, "what... what happened to us?"

The question caught Nick off guard. "What do you mean?" he said, leaning up against the wall and putting his paws in his pockets, while he regarded her with a smile of his own.

"A week ago we were stuck chasing down minor law breakers and patrolling the city streets. Good work, yes, but hardly career advancing. And that's just about all we've done for the most part of a year. Now, we've kinda been given temporary command over the whole Precinct! What happened?"

Nick considered the moment's answer. "Even the very best of officers need the chance to prove themselves. Up 'til now, the city's been pretty clean and quiet. Few murders, few robberies… But this drug spree, and the opportunities for advancement it's given us, is what we needed to test our metal and for Bogo to see what we could do."

"Huh. You make this drug spree sound almost like a good thing."

"Kinda morbid, I know. But for us... I guess it is."

"What!"

"Completely selfish and the wrong way to look at it, I know. And I'm not at all saying all those lives ruined is a good thing or is any way justified by our advancement, but..." Nick sighed, rubbing his brow... "But, look at it this way: if this gang had never struck, if crime had never come to this city… How would you and I get to do anything but fill out paperwork and parking tickets?"

"Well, I don't exactly like it, but... yeah… I see your point." The ardor around Judy faded and gloom had come to her world.

"Paperwork doesn't get us promotions in this line of work. Face it, if this gang had never struck, we could've been stuck on the lowest pay-grade for a long time to come."

"Not that it's the money that's important, right?"

"It is if you want us to raise a family together," Nick said, openly. Judy gawped at the fox with her mouth dropping just a little, to which a shy smile crept across Nick's muzzle — not an expression Hopps often saw on him — and he turned from her softly and started to pace towards the door out. "Come on, Carrots! Bogo wanted all of us armored up for the raid. Now, I don't exactly know what raid gear they'll have for officers of our size, but we'd better take a look at least."

Judy stared after him as the fox opened the door and stepped out into the corridor, her attention still shaken by what the fox had just told her without a stutter of doubt. "Rai— raise a family?" she breathed to herself.

"Hey, Hopps," Nick shouted from the door, "you coming, or are you just gonna abandon me to face up to those other officers alone?"

Bringing her attention back to the moment, Judy leapt up from the chair and made to follow him. "Never," she asserted, her youthful energy returning. "I will never abandon you. I might've abandoned my senses for you... but that's another matter."

Wilde smiled warmly down at the rabbit as she passed him in the doorway, watching as she glanced around the corridor to check if they were alone. And then, letting mischievousness overtake her, she tugged Nick's head down and pecked him lovingly on the creamy cheek. "Whatever happens, I'll always be here for you."

Nick's insides glowed in the aftermath of those deep words. "And I for you… I for you."

The flight of affection roamed the air between their eyes in simple devoted need. But as all things must, their paws disengaged with gentleness-soothing, while their feet carried them down the long, gray corridor that echoed the warmth of the two unconventional lovers.

Predator and prey.

Author's notes:

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Grooms decision thus chosen blind.

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