Ok. So much for quicker…

Been a bad time but, thankfully, brightening up. Still have a bit of writers' block… this chapter has been an on-off-on thing for a long time. I'm hoping just getting what I've been muddling through out will get the creative juices flowing a bit more freely. Thanks everyone for their patience. More is coming. I don't quit.

Procrastinate, maybe, but never quit.

Enjoy!

6:00 AM

Nick drifted easily out of sleep, once again waking supremely grateful that a bunny had fallen in love with him. Judy's fluffy tail nestled tightly against his groin and there would be nothing but enthusiastic participation should he decide to satisfy his usual morning arousal. He sighed. Unfortunately, they had work today–real, official police work–and, by unspoken agreement, that meant Judy got to decide on any morning 'booty call.'

Because, by unspoken acknowledgement, they knew Nick could waste an entire morning bumping tails with his mate.

Judy purred sleepily, awakening just as the alarm clock started to buzz. Nick reached over to silence the annoying device while his mate took the opportunity to climb on top of him and chin him good morning.

"Ready to get back into action, Slick?" she asked, her voice bubbling with excitement.

"Oh, yeah," he answered, in a similar tone. "It's been so quiet around here I've been bored out of my mind."

"Har, har," she said, giving him a quick kiss. "You know what I mean. We're cops. We put bad mammals away."

"Is that what we do?" Nick wondered, scratching his chin. "Then, I suppose we could say, we're dragging in a deadbeat?"

"Say whatever you want," the doe said, getting out of bed with a teasing pat on the bulging sheets by his crotch. "But it's our first task as Detectives WildeHopps. We're climbing up in the world."

Nick winced. "One body at a time," he barbed. Judy winked and finger gunned at him from the bathroom door, then disappeared into the shower stall. The tod lay back with another sigh, paws under his head. No 'booty call' this morning, it seemed.

"You got five minutes, Slick," came Judy's muffled voice from the bathroom. Bedsheets flew into the air as Nick joined his bunny for a shower.

6:03 AM

Elena lay on her side, propped on her elbow, watching Reggie sleep. The tod snored. Not very loud, to be fair, but to the ears of a bunny… Well, she didn't care. Her fox was like no one else she had ever met. Someone The who treated her like an equal, respected her opinion, was interested in more than her breasts, and even sought after her advice. Nothing at all like the rabbit bucks she had met that only wanted to get between her legs when they had the urge.

She had been woken by an idea that just itched for a lively discussion with him, then had been captivated by the sleeping fox. She smiled, browsing through her memories of the past couple of days. Yeah. Reggie was definitely special. He had even proposed to her already.

She gasped. He had! In the gazebo! He had asked her to marry him!

And she had forgotten until now!

No! No, no, no, no. You do not forget a marriage proposal from the one decent, perfect, available male she had been able to find. What if he changed his mind? What if–

"Are you alright?" Reggie mumbled, staring up at her with concern.

"Yes!" She yelled, wrapping her arms around his neck so hard, his eyes nearly bulged out. "Yes! I will marry you!"

8:00 AM

Standing in front of the full-length bathroom mirror, Kasani held the pink blister pack in her paw, staring at the spent bubbles, one for each day of the month and now ten days behind the date. The birth control pills were strictly illegal in Baratea, punishable by a one-way trip to the slave block for Reproductive Fraud, but the vixen had decided early on that she would be the one to decide whose kits she would carry.

She crumpled the pack with a happy sigh and put it in the disposal chute, then took a deep sniff with a big, satisfied smile on her muzzle. She reeked of mating, the fur on her inner thighs still warm and wet from their latest round of passion. They had not left the cabin even once in the last two days, spending the time locked naked in their room, engaged in a constant mating frenzy driven mostly by her, to Arthur's delighted surprise. Kasani giggled. She had never imagined she would have such an appetite for sex, though perhaps it was not the sex, but who her partner was.

Nor had she had ever tried to understand what drew her to the much older fox, although the vixen had known it was more than a schoolkit crush long before they had last seen each other in Aurora. Those typical sharp pangs of a youngster's crush had matured into a deeper yearning to just be a part of his life. Perhaps it had been his—as she saw it—devotion to his unfaithful wife, or the care for Kasani's future he had shown by not succumbing to her then teenage advances. Whatever it had been, for better or worse, Kasani had fallen in love with Arthur.

She still had an old picture of them together, taken with her first cell phone, both of them in winter attire at the banks of the Boreals river with the Northern lights dancing in the sky behind them. The quality was atrocious compared to the pictures that could be taken nowadays, though still beautiful beyond compare to her.

While an accomplished killer even then, she was still so innocent, imagining Arthur would happily renounce his cheating wife for her and bring honor back to her family's name. When that did not happen and Arthur returned to Zootopia, Kasani pledged her life and complete loyalty to Chia in exchange for the wolfess' help at another chance to win Arthur's love. Her paws were now soaked in the blood of Chia's ambition, but her mistress and, yes, friend had finally delivered what was promised.

She looked over her shoulder at the bed where Arthur lay watching a movie. He should be exhausted by now, but still sprang up easily to answer the knock on the door that announced their breakfast had arrived. The grey fox might be much older, but his body was still in prime condition, strong, lean, and very flexible. Kasani felt a now familiar warmth spread through her body as she watched her beloved put on his robe.

Arthur rolled the serving cart with their meal close to the bed. "Breakfast is ser–" he started, only to be silenced by Kasani's kiss on his lips. They didn't make it to the bed with how urgent the vixen's need was.

9:00 AM

Patricia felt the beginning pangs of despair. She had been played, she knew, by that two-timing fox. She barked. Two-timing? She had always known he was a philanderer; it was one of the main reasons she had been ordered to approach him in the first place.

When her handler had initially suggested Arthur as a potential cell leader she had strongly resisted, considering bed-hoppers like the fox unreliable and too-easily compromised. Overridden, she and everyone else had then totally underestimated the grey fox, taking his submissive relationship with Candace as a sign of his docility and controllability.

She had even bedded the tod for nearly two years, thinking him completely in her clutches as her sources reported him no longer seeing other females. But he had obviously fooled them all. She was positive he had been all over the Baratean bitch that had washed ashore on Outback Island and brought her to her current predicament.

She wanted to howl in frustration. When had the bastard even stolen her gun? She knew it was only a matter of time before they came after her, so she had given the ZBI as many names as she could to make a deal. Unfortunately, she could only give them the names of those under her; she did not even know the name of her handler, nor would it matter if she did: he was dead. She howled in spite of herself.

The ZBI interrogators had shown her the report: Arthur had killed her only link to those in the chain above her. Had the damn fox known that the coyote screwing Candace was her handler? Had Belyiklyk told him? She now strongly suspected the White Wolf was behind this whole mess and meticulously cleaning up after his tracks. She never should have helped him but, once again, her handler had overruled her. He and the Wolf had been scheming together on something big and… and…

Arthur.

That bastard! He knew what it was! She hadn't been bedding him; the fox had been bedding her, keeping her distracted from everything but what he wanted her to see.

The sound of her howling echoed down the hallway.

12:00

Ramstein watched dispassionately as his team quietly boarded the private air clipper. Over the fence surrounding the small, private (and mostly ZIA-sponsored) airfield, smoke was still rising from the previous day's chaos. On this side of the fence, hastily covered with tarps, lay the bodies of two mammals who had tried to infiltrate the airfield with backpacks full of explosives.

The Agency had had to make special arrangements with the aircrew to log their departure date as Friday. They wanted to avoid any questions that leaving Zootopia the day after Black Saturday might bring. To that end, several empty liquor bottles and food containers had been brought aboard. Might as well make it look like a wild party flight.

The ram frowned. He didn't really want to lead this mission. He knew Arthur. What could have gotten into the fox to make him betray everything he had believed in? He had always been a staunch pro-Commonwealth supporter. Hadn't he?

And that was the problem with these cases. How could you really tell what a traitor believed? Had Arthur been a double-agent all along? Had he been coerced into it? Ramstein sighed. It didn't matter now. He was a professional and had been tasked to bring Arthur back dead or alive. Others would be tasked to figure out the rest of the story–which he might or might not ever learn the full truth of.

He looked over at the covered bodies one more time. Was all this related to Arthur? Well, that wasn't his job to figure out, either.

After one final check, he boarded the clipper and secured the door behind him so they could take off.

2:07 PM

Judy pulled the car up to the drive through window of the Labtierre Border Inspection station after an hour-long wait in a seemingly endless line of cars. She lowered her window, the hot, humid air hitting her like a slap in the face. She quickly recovered, smiling wide.

"Good afternoon, officer… Cowothers," she said cheerfully to the border guard, a tall, brown bull with a face more serious than Chief Bogo. "We are here on official ZPD business."

The bull sighed indifferently. "Papers," he said, holding out a tray.

Nick passed his ID to Judy, who presented it along with hers and a stack of faxed official documents from ZPD headquarters to the dour-faced bull. The guard mumbled for several minutes while scrutinizing the documents, then huffed loudly, his expelled breath making Judy's ears flutter. The bunny did her best not to cringe, her face twitching adorably as she struggled to display her most winsome smile.

"Everything in order, officer?" She asked, politely. The guard huffed louder, sending Judy's ears fluttering again.

"Please wait," he grumbled, standing up and heading towards a tan colored, more serious-faced bull sitting at a desk. He showed the other bull the documents and a short conversation ensued, officer Cowothers shrugging several times before the other bull shook his head and stood up, making his way to the window with the documents.

The tan bull shuffled through the documents. "What brings you to Labtierre today?" He asked, gruffly.

Judy put her winning smile back on. "We are here on official ZPD business, officer… Cowell," she announced, cheerfully.

The tan bull huffed, Judy's ears fluttering once more in response.

"Please wait," he grumbled, standing up and heading towards an angry-looking, white bull sitting at a larger desk. He showed the other bull the documents and a longer conversation ensued, officer Cowell shrugging several times before the other bull shook his head and stood up, making his way to the window with the documents.

The white bull paged attentively through the stack of documents. "Are you here on business or pleasure?" He then demanded, unceremoniously. Judy's eyes flicked towards Nick.

"Well, officer Cowly," Nick answered, smoothly and pleasantly. "We have the pleasure to be here on business." The guard huffed, Judy's ears fluttering once more.

"Please wait," he growled, standing up with a screech from the chair and heading towards a sedate, grayish bull sitting at a massive, ornate desk. Officer Cowly showed the other bull the documents and a very short conversation ensued, officer Cowly snapping to attention before the other bull smiled and stood up, making his way to the window with the documents.

The bull diligently reviewed the documentation. Twice. "What brings you to the glorious Labtierre Republic on this wonderful day?" he then asked, politely.

"Police business," Judy told him through gritted teeth of a forced smile. The guard huffed loudly, one of Judy's ears folding backwards down the middle.

"That would be a problem," he retorted, all politeness gone. "If you were truly here on police business, you would know this I-765-A-2 form needs to be in triplicate and left unsigned until told to do so in front of a duly authorized immigration official. That this form is a faxed copy and already signed by someone named 'Clawhauser' tells me you are not real police officers." Judy's face went beet red, but Nick's paw on hers kept her quiet.

"Well, I must say now that I am thoroughly embarrassed to discover we're not as well trained as Labtierre police officers… Officer Cowpenter," he said, apologetically looking down. "What my partner meant to say was Labtierre Provincial Police requested ZPD retrieval of a body, and the ZPD had no one else to send but us. In all the hurry, I suppose no one at Headquarters bothered to check if the form was executed correctly." The fox shook his head.

"Had we been properly trained as you so obviously are, officer Cowpenter," he continued, wistfully, "I am sure all of this confusion could have been avoided." The tod looked at the bull with determination. "Rest assured that I will file a thorough complaint with my superiors," he vowed, his eyes shining. "I hope you can provide us with all the corroborating evidence we need to ensure the ZPD can engage in a continuous improvement program to finally bring it out of the Dark Ages and up to the plainly greater standards of training Labtierre Law Enforcement Officers have the privilege to enjoy." His eyes brightened.

"Come to think of it," he mused. "Would you happen to have any pamphlets or extra training material laying around we could bring back as an example?" Then he gasped, clapping his paws together.

"Ohh!" he exclaimed, with complete enthusiasm. "And we might also find it worthwhile to recommend you coming to Zootopia to give the ZPD a seminar on proper procedures for cross border operations. Oh, yeah! I really like that idea!" His eyes took on a wide, pleading look.

"Could we have one of your business cards?" He almost begged. "I think this might be the best thing to happen to the ZPD in decades!"

Judy was staring at him open mouthed while officer Cowpenter almost appeared to be in shock, the bull's mouth moving silently, trying to find a response.

"Pleeease say you'll do it," Nick wheedled. "We really don't get many good training opportunities at the ZPD." The tod's eyes lit up.

"We might even have a chance to set up an officer exchange!" He gushed. "Wouldn't it be fabulous spending a few months training ZPD officers up to your standards?" He clapped his paws enthusiastically.

"Gazelle is also a really good friend of the department!" He almost sang. "I know she'd agree to a small gathering to welcome such a distinguished officer as yourself!"

3:15 PM

Octavio slid open the access hatch on the exterior wall, the wind howling as it swirled into the airship's maintenance storage compartment. The surviving hijackers, bound and bunched together at the other end of the room, defiantly avoided looking at the opening, for the moment more afraid of the black bear who, bruised and scuffed as he might be, now commanded them than of any theatrics the White Wolf might perform.

Octavio casually strode over to a ferret, picking him up by the scruff of the neck and tossing him across the compartment, sending him tumbling right through the open hatch before the shocked mammal even had the chance to scream.

"You can't do–!" cried out a coyote, indignantly, only to be unceremoniously launched through the hatch next.

"Are you certain you do not want to ask them any questions, my love?" Chia shouted from where she sat demurely on a crate, eating strawberries by the closed door leading to the safety of the airship's inner hallway. Alexandra, an angry look very out of place on her face, sat next to the wolfess, the normally gentle bunny never even blinking as Octavio next threw a badger out of the airship.

Octavio, himself, was not in a very good mood, having woken up past noon after Chia had mixed a sleeping pill into his drink when they had returned to their cabin. The nurse had recommended a good night's rest and the wolfess simply made sure the recommendation was followed. Of course, Octavio didn't know about the sleeping pill, and Chia felt no need to tell him about it. He could be stubborn that way, she knew.

"I doubt they have anything useful to say," the white wolf shouted back, approaching the next hijacker. "Colonel Quassy was notorious for keeping information close to himself. A habit that cost him his chance to be a hero."

Alexandra stood up. "May I kill that one, Father?" She yelled as Octavio reached the one-eared mountain lion who had killed Fabian. The wolf stared at the bunny.

"This one?" He asked, surprised at the request. Then his nose picked up a familiar scent and he bent down to get a better sniff. The mountain lion swallowed hard, but said nothing. Octavio growled, looking menacingly at Chia. The wolfess dismissed his angry stare with an offhanded wave of her paw.

"It was just a dance," she said, making her husband blink and shake his head.

So... that's two years of COVID, life, and writers block. I really will try to do better.

Thanks for reading!