Unusual Behavior

Judy apprehensively approached Chief Bogo's office. The words, "See me, now!" were still open on her phone. She closed the text alert then placed her phone back in her pocket and stared at the emblazoned name-plate in its slot. She then looked at the blurred window in the door. The shutters were down. She closed her eyes and steeled her nerves with slow deep breaths. Finally, she entered.

Chief Bogo looked up at her with a scowl from his seat. He tapped a pen on a clipboard as she meekly entered. To her left, in an occupied chair sat Delgato.

"Close the door and have a seat, Ms. Hopps..."

Uh oh. Ms. Hopps? Not officer? Am I being fired? She clenched her fists and pressed her paws into the ground, focusing on the sensations of her body to distract her from her anxiety. Judy shakily took a seat next to Delgato. Chief Bogo rested his chin on the knuckles of his folded hands. The tension between them was obvious to their chief.

"Now that we are all present I can hear both sides of this debacle." He looked at both of them, flustered. Delgato kept his posture straight, but he too struggled under the weight of the Chief's scrutiny. With a deep sigh, Chief Bogo began,

"I say this to both of you, equally. We are a team. We are police officers. Whatever rivalry we have going on here, I will have none of it! There is only one side I stand on. And that is on the side of the law. The rules. Protocol. As do you two. That is how we remain fair. And it is how I survived for as long as I have." He placed an open hand to his chest. "Now, if my words are clear, I just want a simple yes from you both." Hopps and Delgato glanced at each other, then back at the chief. He leaned forward in his seat, imposing his size over them as he said, "Am I understood so far?" They mumbled, "yes" under their breaths, keeping their heads low. Bogo turned his attention to Judy,

"Officer Hopps, I sent you to collect information on a case. But the person you went to question proved to be unexpectedly violent is that right?" Judy, ears low, looked up at Chief Bogo and said,

"What? N-no...that's not..."

"Did Nick Wilde not assault you when you questioned him?" Judy's heart sank. For all the bitterness and angst, Nick Wilde was not a violent offender and she found herself taking offense to the accusation on his behalf.

"No, sir. Nick did not in any way assault me."

"Then why was Delgato there trying to arrest him? He said when he tried to protect you, you interfered with standard police procedure and prevented him from doing his duty. Why?"

"It's a lie! He just showed up out of the blue and jumped in during my questioning." Hopps ears twitched toward Delgato as she heard the lion nervously clearing his throat.

"Chief, Sir, she told me that I didn't know what I was doing and pushed me out of the way to cuff him herself."

"That's a lie!" Bogo held up a large hand, demanding silence.

"Where is Nick now? Why hasn't he been brought into the station, Hopps?" Judy's words were jammed in her mouth. The importance of every word she tried to say swelled and competed for supremacy. Judy did not anticipate Delgato playing this angle. He was crafty. She quickly thought through two options: Tell the truth and let things fall where they may. At least she would see where things would go and could brace herself for any potential fallout, which there would be. Or lie and stick to her guns. But in doing so, Delgato would gain even more leverage than he was already building for himself. With a twitching nose and clenched fists, Judy said,

"I let him go because he is innocent!" Delgato smirked.

"Then why did you cuff him at all? Why go through the trouble of pretending to arrest an 'innocent' fox? Why did you select Nick, of all foxes, to question about the theft at the docks? Do you suspect him of being involved? Is he a co-conspirator?" Judy sat cold, overwhelmed by Chief Bogo's questioning. She glanced once more at Delgato, noting his smirk then felt herself shrinking. Her voice began to lose composure. But a thought hit Judy,

"The only person I trust in the ZPD is Chief Bogo...and you."

"Jack..."

"What was that?" The Chief's ears flicked. Willing to bet on the fairness of Chief Bogo, Judy strengthened her voice and said,

"Chief, I arrested Nick because he started behaving erratically when Delgato arrived at the truck. I was not informed of anyone coming with me to the stall. When I approached Nick, things were calm. It was supposed to be only me and Nick. Things went off the rails when he showed up!" She pointed an accusatory finger at the lion.

"Oh give it a rest!" shouted Delgato. Chief Bogo turned to him and said,

"Shut your face! Can you tell me more about why Nick's behavior changed?"

"Yes," said Judy, feeling encouraged, "When Nick saw Delgato approach, he panicked and tried to shove me away from the truck, as if afraid of being seen talking to me. When I noticed him on the verge of full-blown panic, I handcuffed Nick. I walked him away to calm him down. Away from Delgato. When we were alone..." Judy froze. What if confessing put Nick's life in danger? What would happen to Nick if she revealed the truth? What does Delgato know? Would Big go after Nick? Just like that, all the momentum she built in her defense fell away.

"I...I..." Her eyes moistened and her breaths cut short. For some reason, she couldn't incriminate Nick. He wasn't innocent, she knew this. But he wasn't the source of the problem. She realized at this moment that she didn't have the heart to crush what little good she saw in him. She feared becoming another source of anguish for the unlucky Nick Wilde.

Delgato sighed in relief. But Judy knew her words were already out there. And she believed in her Chief, just as Jack did. The Chief glared at Delgato with enough sharpness to make him squirm under his gaze.

"Here is what I am going to do..." Judy fought her panicked breaths and perked her ears up attentively. Delgato listened cautiously as Chief Bogo spoke.

"I will question Nick myself. Delgato, you will return to Nick tomorrow and bring him in for questioning. Officer Hopps, I am giving you a two-day suspension for your failure to do your duty and for interfering with the duty of a fellow officer. I do not want to see you here tomorrow or the day after. Am I clear?"

"Y-yes..." Judy lowered her head. Her vision blurry with frustrated tears. She hated herself for her emotional display. But Bogo's decision to suspend her left a dull ache in her chest.

"Maybe you would benefit from the rest," said the Chief with a hint of concern in his voice. "Dismissed." They both rose from their seats. "Not you, Delgato. Sit down." The chief flailed his arms at the lion. Delgato pursed his lips and sat back down as Judy slumped out of the office. She slowly closed the door behind her. Chief Bogo let silence fill the room for a moment as he thought about what Judy had said.

"Delgato, why were you at Nick's stall? You weren't stationed in the area. How did you end up over there?"

"I just happened to wander off from where I was supposed to be. Then I got hungry. But when I saw Judy arguing with Nick, I stepped in."

"And you don't know how they started fighting, exactly?"

"No, sir."

"Why did you let that tiny bunny cop walk all over you anyway? Judy isn't the only one who failed here. Though from what I gather, she may have made things worse. You too failed to bring in Nick for questioning. What made you bail?" A wide-eyed Delgato shakily exhaled and said,

"I lost my temper. I screwed up and walked away furious because of how she was acting. She was being difficult. When I turned back to the stall, she had already walked away with him. So I just let it go. Then I decided to come here to tell you what happened." The Chief spread his arms in an exasperated shrug and shouted,

"We're cops! We deal with difficult people every day! Are you serious?"

Delgato looked away sheepishly. Chief Bogo leaned back into his seat. He shook his head uncertain.

"This is such unusual behavior. Tomorrow, you and a partner I assign to you will go and bring Nick in for questioning. Judy, for all her quirks and annoying tenacity, is a good officer. If she suspects Nick of the theft in the Rainforest District, I want him here immediately. I want no spectacle made of this. Understand?" Delgato nodded and scowled. It shouldn't have gotten this far. Judy had ruined everything. All he wanted to do was collect payment for Big. But all this noise will draw attention from the shrew. The thought filled him with dread.

"Yes, Sir. I believe he may be the right suspect as well, actually. But may I ask one thing?" Bogo raised an annoyed brow at Delgato. When the Chief said nothing, Delgato asked, "Who will be my partner?"

"Someone other than Grizzoli. That is all you need to know. And don't think I've forgotten about how you and Grizzoli failed to get Finnick convicted. Yes, I'm still sore about that case. Dismissed!"

"Bu-"

"Get out of my office and goodnight, Officer Delgato." Delgato swiftly stood up from his seat and marched out of the office. Chief Bogo ran his hands across his wide muzzle. He scribbled some notes down onto his clipboard and placed it into a desk drawer. In the silence of his office, as officers outside went about their business, a tired Bogo waited for the night replacement chief, Edgar, an opossum.

Judy put away her uniform and dressed in civilian clothes. She left the ZPD and by the entrance, saw McHorn and Fangmeyer approaching with a suspect. With a mischievous smile, McHorn tossed the cuffed perp to Fangmeyer.

"Your turn." He stumbled into Fangmeyer's arms and shouted,

"Watch it, fool." She caught the perpetrator and bantered back at McHorn before turning to Judy.

"Hey, Nick says 'thank you for thinking about him' and 'he will try to do better.'" Judy nodded appreciatively to Fangmeyer as she walked into the department, unwilling to chat while holding the goat in her paws. McHorn's massive bulk filled Judy's vision, She looked up at the imposing rhino.

"Wow, you're looking pretty down."

"I just got some bad news from our lovely Chief." She rolled her eyes.

"Well, I'm sorry to make it worse but I have some news about Nick." She loudly asked,

"Is he alright? What happened?" McHorn placed a calm large hand on Judy's right shoulder,

"He is alright but that goat we brought in attacked him. We're going to find out why real soon." Judy gasped and lowered her gaze. She scowled then growled,

"Delgato did this..."

"Delgato?" McHorn gave Judy a skeptical look.

"He showed up at Nick's stall and interrupted my investigation. Things spiraled out of control from there. When I saw you and Fang, I just had to ask for your help. Please, I know what I saw. Delgato is crooked. I know it. Nick confided in me." McHorn raised his head in thought and inhaled deep.

"Alright. We'll make time to talk about this soon. Don't spare any details. And don't worry, I'll keep this quiet. Well, me and Fang. She's my partner after all." Judy smiled and lowered her gaze. With a calming breath, she said,

"Thanks. For everything. It's encouraging to know that I'm not alone." McHorn smiled and looked up into the department. He stared for a moment at the large ornamental ZPD sculpture that hung over the door to the entrance, then he looked back at Judy.

"Anytime, Hopps."