I forgot the disclaimer in last chapter. Oops, Oh well!

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Zootopia or any of the charters in it, life wasn't that good to me.

I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 2

Back to the Grind

Nick woke to the sound of a phone alarm. He sat up and started fumbling for his personal tranquilizer he kept in his nightstand before he remembered that he had Judy over. The alarm went silent. She must be up already. He just laid back down and closed his eyes. No more than what Nick would have guessed two minutes later.

Knock Knock Knock Knock.

"Nick? Are you awake? She asked through the door.

"Yeah, I guess." His voice was groggy from sleep.

"Get dressed it's almost time to get to work."

"I'll be out in a minute."

Judy went to sit on the couch and by the time she got there Nick came stumbling out of his room with a new uniform in paw. She smiled "Good morning Nick."

He gave Judy a goofy sleepy smile "Morning Carrots." He turned and went to the bathroom to shower and change.

Judy had already put the futon away, showered, and changed into a fresh uniform. She was sitting next to the pillow that Nick had borrowed her. She had one of the best nights of sleep since she had moved to the city. She blamed it completely on the pillow. She was currently battling with herself wither of not to curl up with the pillow some more.

Nick jumped through the shower much quicker than normal. The water was still warm from Judy using it earlier which helped. Trying to hurry since Judy was waiting on him, he got out and right on to the fur dryer, having already brushed his teeth in the shower. He quickly dried and brushed his fur, threw on a little cologne and his uniform and was ready to meet the day, and in record time too.

He walked out of the bathroom and didn't see Judy. Must of left already. Walking over to get his keys he saw her laying on the couch with her head buried in the pillow he let her use the night before.

Smirking to himself he quietly walked over to her; this would be payback for her scaring him yesterday. Standing right out of kicking range; he wanted to live through this. "Hay Carrots? Don't tell me you, the morning bunny, fell back to sleep."

Judy sprung into the air and let out the cutest squeak that Nick had ever heard. She actually wasn't asleep. She was just enjoying the smell and feel of the pillow so much that she may have zoned out just a little bit there.

Nick was laying on the ground laughing so hard that he had tears running down his cheeks. Judy was trying to give him her bunny death glare, but was also having to fight off the dark blush that was threatening to burn her alive.

Nick had managed to get up and was wiping at his eyes. He took one look at Judy. "Oh come on Fluff! You know that was good! That had to have been the cutest thing I've ever seen!"

She walked up to him and popped him right in the arm. "Jerk!"

"aah Carrots! What was-" Then she hit him again.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me cute?!" She then stormed out the door.

"Ouch! Carrots wait for me!" He grabbed his keys and locked the door behind him. By that time Judy was already half a block ahead. He jogged to catch up. "You aren't mad at me are you?"

No answer.

"Okay can I make it up to you then?"

Judy wasn't mad; she was embarrassed that she was caught snuggling Nick's pillow. Why did I do that?! He thinks I was asleep! He's never going to let me live it down. What if he tells everybody at the station? Okay, stay calm. Don't let him see that he's getting to you."

"Okay, Nick you're paying for breakfast then, and I get to pick the place."

"Fine, but you're paying for lunch, to make up for scaring me yesterday."

"You stole my pen! And you scared me just now! So we're even." She stomped her foot to help prove her point.

"So, I swear you have more than one of those pens. And you scared me yesterday it's only right that I'm allowed to get even."

"This is the only carrot pen I have." Nick just rolled his eyes. "What? It's true. And, what makes you think you deserve to get even with me? If anything I deserve to get some revenge because of all of the stuff you've done to me."

"When have I ever pranked or razed you?"

"Yesterday; when you stole my pen."

"You can't prove that."

"I found it in your desk!"

"So? Someone else could have put it in there to try to get back at me for a joke."

"Even if that was true why didn't you give it back to me when we got back to the station yesterday?"

"I was going to surprise you over diner."

"Really now? What about last week when you called and said you had run out of gas while patrolling the meadow lands, and when I get there I find out that you really hadn't?"

"That was a classic Fluff. Plus I was lonely without my cute partner by my side."

"What have I told you about calling me cute?" She said in a low growl.

"I only mean it in the best way Carrots." He whined.

Judy started to blush again. Did he just.. complement me? Hearing that come from Nick was weakening her resolve to be mad at him. "That still doesn't get you off the hook!" She turned her head laid her ears back, mostly to hide the still growing blush, and marched off in the direction of the doughnut shop that supplied Clawhauser.

Ten minutes later the duo came through the revolving doors into the ZPD. "Carrots I can't believe I let you get these doughnuts that I paid for, just to give half of them to Clawhauser!"

"Nick you know this is to keep him from telling everyone that we're dating even though we're not."

Nick's reply died in his throat. "I forgot about that."

"See Nick, where would you be without me?"

"Probably still making two hundred bucks a day."

"Good morning, you two!"

"Morning, Clawhauser! These are for you." Judy declared motioning to Nick with the doughnuts.

"You remember our deal right?" Nick winked at him.

Clawhauser shook his head and 'zipped' his mouth shut. "Your secret is safe with me."

"Okay here you go big guy." Clawhauser took the doughnuts opened the package and immediately ate one.

"Thanks guys! Better get to bullpen, Bogo mentioned something about a big case."

"Did you hear that Nick? Let's go!"

"Right behind you Carrots. See you later Clawhauser." Nick jogged off after Judy who had literally run at full speed out of the room.

Bogo walked in to the Bullpen to the normal amount of hooting, howling and beating of desks. Doesn't this get old for them? "Okay guys, that's enough." Guess not. At least they're excited to start the day. "Shut it! Alright slow day for most of us. Officers Fangmyer, Grizzoil, Delgato; same assignments as yesterday. Fangmyer I want you on standby in case Wolford needs you. Officers Higgins, Trunkaby; switch jobs with McHorn and Rhinowitz. Officers McHorn, Rhinowitz; I want you two on patrol today. Hopps, Wilde; I'm putting you with Wolford who has been investigating several thefts at the various observatories around Zootopia over the last couple of years. They've grown worse in the last month. I want you guys to help him in any way you can. Dismissed!"

Wolford waited at the door for them. "Morning guys." Nick and Wolford became friends as soon as he had started working as a cop.

"Morning buddy. So you've been working on this case for a couple of years? Why haven't you closed it?"

"Well I guess I should start from the beginning. About two years ago the Yaks Observatory was broken into and had several of their instrument things stolen. They didn't even know until the next week. No damage, no evidence, no trace that the stuff was even stolen other that it wasn't there when they needed it. Every time I was about to call the investigation off there would be another theft. The trail has been particularly hot lately; there only use to be one theft every two or three months. Now there's been three in just the last two month alone."

Judy looked up from her note book carrot pen in hand. "Whoever we're dealing with they definitely know what they're doing. Never leaving damage and never being seen, this could get tricky."

"When has tricky ever gotten in your way, Fluff?"

"I never said I was quitting"

"Alright, sheesh. Where do we start, any ideas?" He looked at Judy who was in deep thought for all of thirty seconds.

"Wolford?"

"Hum."

"Do you have a list of what was stolen?"

"Yeah it's in my office. Give me a sec, I'll be right back."

"We're heading down to the garage."

"I'll meet you there." He called as he took off towards his office.

"Where are we going Fluff?"

"To the nearest observatory; there are two possibilities this person is stealing this stuff to sell or to use themselves. If they're using the stuff for themselves, assuming they haven't gotten a full collection yet, we can guess what they might go after next."

"You just thought of that?" Judy nodded "Smart bunny."

While in the elevator Judy couldn't help but catch a few sniffs of Nick. Keep it together Judy only another twelve hours. He smelled so foxy and the cologne he had put on wasn't helping her. She both praised and cursed that the doors had to open. By the time they made it to the cruiser Wolford was waiting for them by it.

"How did you beat us down here? You must have speed like Carrots here." Nick exclaimed pointing thumb at Judy.

"I used the stairs which just so happen to be closer to my office and your cruiser."

"You guys ready yet? We need to get going." Judy was already waiting in the cruiser.

"I call shotgun!"

"No fair that's where I usually sit. Judy, do something!"

"You guys are both great cops but put you two together and you guys can't get anything done. Just get in."

"Carrots you're supposed to be on my side." Nick whined but got in the back.

"Here let me put the grate down." Offered; Wolford.

"There, is that better you dumb fox?"

"Yes." mumbled Nick.

"Okay, everybody set?" Nick and Wolford both nodded. "Good, let's go."

Chuck had been up all night, which was weird even though he stayed at work too late most nights he usually got some sleep. His boss had arrived ten minutes after his call which was amazing since he lived almost on the other side of the city. He was now punching in the final pieces of data that would determine if the flair would hit the earth.

~six hours earlier~

Chuck paced back and forth for what seemed like hours, but it had only been five minutes since his phone call. He heard the doors to the observatory slam open and in strode Edward Sanders an arctic fox with silver grey eyes. He wore a black flannel shirt and normal jeans. He ran up to Chuck.

"Chuck what happened?"

"There was a solar flare it was pretty big and I think it's heading towards the Earth."

"I want to see the recordings, anything you got."

"Okay sir."

Edward was a close as you could get to a jack of all trades among astronomers. If you had a question about space he could answer it. It didn't matter what it was about; the sun, planetary orbits, the cycles and patterns of space; anything. Chuck didn't know how he did it but he still did.

After watching the recording, taking notes and measurements, and consuming three pots of coffee they finally started to get results back about the flair. "Well I can say that this flair is big especially for it to happen during solar medium."

"Is that good?"

"I wouldn't say yes, it's definitely strange. Solar flare concentration cycles on a pattern of eleven years. The first year being solar minimum, and the eleventh being solar maximum, this can very one to three years though. There is only about one solar flare every week during solar minimum, and up to four hundred a day during solar maximum. It's just odd to see one this big during the restively calm time period the sun is in now."

Nodding his head Chuck understood most of what Edward said. "Why is there a pattern?"

"Pattern of what?"

"Let me rephrase that. Why is there solar maximum and minimum?"

"Oh okay. You see the sun rotates differently than the Earth does. You should know that it rotates slower at the polls than it does in the center. It can do this because it's made out of plasma and acts like a thick soupy liquid of sorts. This rotation generates an extremely powerful magnetic field. This field strengthens the already existing magnetic field lines that the sun has. It stretches them horizontally and even mats them up. Until they poke out of the surface of the sun. The lines form rings."

"As plasma churns it twists the rings and charges them with energy. One side of the rinds is positive and the other negative if they were to ever cross it would cause an explosion; a solar flare. This isn't the only factor helps that throws energy at us. I believe the super-heated corona pushes this explosion, or what's left of it, away from the sun in what is called a Coronal mass ejection, or CME for short. Back on subject the more stretched and matted the field lines are, the more solar flares. We call this solar maximum."

"How do the field lines calm down?"

"Good question, I was just getting to that. After the field lines get to this certain point the magnetic polls reverse. After that the cycle starts over."

"How do they reverse?"

"I honestly don't know, they just do."

"Oh that's cool."

~present~

"Anything yet?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, look at this."

"Well we're not getting hit until tomorrow night and we're not getting hit dead on either. It also looks like our magnetic field is going to reflect most the CME. We're really lucky, you know?"

"No I don't get it."

"Oh right, I forgot, sorry."

"Don't worry about it."

"Okay CMEs move through space like a bullet; they spin. They also have a magnetic charge; one side is negative and the other positive. The Earth's magnetic field will reflect it if hits positive to positive and negative to negative. If it was to hit negative to positive and positive to negative it would conduct down in to our atmosphere."

"What happens then?" Chuck asked with a little fear in his voice.

"As long as the flare isn't unfathomably huge it would just cause a black out to all electronics until we can get it repaired. It would also cause one of the most magnificent Aurora light shows anyone has ever seen."

"What happens if an unfathomably huge flai-"

Knock knock knock knock.

"That's weird. We never get visitors up here."

"It could be the police here to talk about the stolen equipment."

"Keep an eye on that, I'll go let them in." Edward went over to the heavy steel doors and undid the locks on them. Opening the door he saw Wolford. "Officer Wolford, here to ask more questions?"

"No Edward. It's not me this time; it's her." He stated stepping aside to reveal a bunny with a fox standing next to her.

"Okay, what is it you guys want to know? By the way the name's Sanders, Edward Sanders, but you guys can call me Edward."

Judy stepped forward and grasped his outstretched hand. "Judy Hopps; ZPD."

Nick reached forward next. "Nick Wilde."

"Nice to meet both of you. Now come in, it's cold out there."

Hi everybody I'm back. What did you think about chapter two? How do you like Edward. Is he enough like a rocket scientist? Let me know in the comments. Thank you for reading and I'll see you next time, bye.