Police cars were flashing their lights as Judy and Nick made it back to Gazelle's penthouse building. They got some details from Clawhauser but he was blubbering most of the time so it was hard understanding him.

Judy said, "He said there was a blackout?"

"Yeah, all that was reported was that the entire building went dark and Gazelle was almost taken by someone."

"The chief won't be happy that this happen on our watch."

"He'll want that in the report, no doubt." he bitterly said.

When they made it to the penthouse, Clawhauser was already there offering Gazelle a cup of hot chocolate. They were amazed of how Ben was acting calm around her.

"Ben, kind-of surprised to see you out the station." pointed Nick.

Clawhauser smiled, "Yeah, Chief thought he needed someone that's friendly around others," he lowered his voice, "and he knew what a big fan I was."

Judy asked, "Did he warn you to be professional?"

"Did he ever, over and over again. But I couldn't make a big deal out of it knowing she had a major scare."

They gave a knowing nod and went to Gazelle.

Judy started, "Gazelle, we are so sorry! We never should have left you."

"Please, no, it wasn't your fault."

"She's right, Carrots, for all we know the same thing could have happen even if we had been here."

"But we were still responsible for her safety."

"As frighten as I am, I cannot stop living my life and you are doing your job finding who is trying to hurt me."

Nick said, "We were questioning Vivian when Clawhauser called us and told us what happen."

"Is that the officer I met?" she pointed to the cheetah as he was handling cocoa to the security guards as paramedics were looking over them from when they were knocked out during the attempted kidnapping.

Nick smirked, "And the one who wanted your autograph."

Gazelle smiled, "You were right, he is very sweet, when he came here he wondered if I was alright, we talked for a bit and he was very pleasant…" her eyes ended up staring at the cheetah which Ben saw and gave a timid wave.

The rabbit and fox were impressed of how Ben kept composed around Gazelle. Had they met under less stressful conditions, they were sure he would be geeking out.

"Do you know if he's seeing anyone?" she asked.

They gawked at what she just said.

Judy was flabbergasted, "Gazelle… are you telling us you want to…"

"I'm just curious."

"As far as we know he's not seeing anyone." said Nick.

"Could you ask?"

Judy mentioned, "Of course we can, if you're really interested."

"I am."

Nick rubbed his paws, "This will be a snap." and he walked over to Ben, pulling him to the side, "Say, Ben, just out of curiosity, are you seeing anyone?"

Clawhauser raised his brow, "That would be nice, but I'm not as lucky as you and Judy," he gave a small chuckle, "yeah, I caught that smooch…"

"As private as that was, I'm more interested if you want to date someone."

"Oh! Do you have a friend or cousin that needs one?"

He briefly glanced back at Gazelle, "You might say that."

"Oh, I would be happy to go out with her!"

"Great, Because…" he turned the cheetah's head toward Gazelle, "that's her."

Clawhauser gasped and sputtered, "You mean… Gazelle and me… We…" he started to lose his balance and fainted.

Nick told the paramedics, "Officer down!" and he casually walked back to Judy and Gazelle.

Judy asked in concern, "Is he alright?"

"Oh, he's fine, just got a little starstuck when he realized he was going on a date with his favorite singer." he told the gazelle, "You'll have to work out the details once he wakes up."

She giggled, "There's just something about him… He's very nice and I can tell he enjoys talking to animals just like I like to make them happy with my singing."

Judy was smiling as she realized she was right and looked at Ben coming out of his trance, You know… They actually wouldn't make a bad couple… She ended up looking at her foxy lover who gave her a confused look but she just smirked.

Gazelle continued to spoke, "Tell me, how did things go with Vivian? How she is?"

Judy went back to business as she gave her the details of their visit.


They were outside the penthouse door later that night and were sitting on folding chairs as they had gotten a strict order from the chief to stay close to Gazelle for the rest of the night and that he would come first thing in the morning so they could get some rest themselves.

Nick yawned, "Sure has been an exciting day, uh, Carrots?"

"Yeah…" she softly said.

He could tell something was off, "What's wrong?"

"Well, it's what you told Vivian, before we went into her house…"

"Oh." he gave a guilty look, which was rare with him, "I didn't mean for you to find out that way… I'm sorry."

"I suppose it was unavoidable… but still… it kind-of stung, knowing you were that close to marrying someone else…"

"I know…" he somberly said, "But I never got the chance to propose, not when she ran off with another fox that was much more handsome than me I'm sure."

"I can't see that, you're the most handsome fox I ever seen."

He smirked, "I'm the only fox you've ever known."

Judy knew she had to tell him, she wanted to save it for the date but given their lack of chances, she had to say something now.

"That's… not true."

He look at her with his brow raising.

"You remember the fox spray I had?"

He nodded. Kind-of hard not to…

"I told you my parents gave it to me because they had little views of predators, well… there was another reason…"

He wasn't saying anything and kept listening.

"There was a fox named Gideon Grey, he was the bully of my hometown."

She could see Nick scowling to know where this was going.

"He was taking carnival tickets from some bunnies and I stepped in to get them back, he pushed me to the ground and…" she couldn't finish and instead touched her cheek to lift the fur, revealing the three small scars, she heard Nick gasping and gave a small growl.

"He… he did that to you…?"

She slowly nodded.

He let out a frustrated grunt, "Had you told me… Had I'd known that's why you kept that spray and told those things to the press…" tears started escaping him, "Judy… I'm so sorry…"

She cupped her paws to his face, "No, Nick… I'm glad you didn't know… It made me open my eyes that I was hiding a fear I didn't know I had, and guess what? When I went back to my parents' farm, I saw Gideon again and he was sorry for what he done to me… He's in the pie business now and working with my parents." she smiled.

His eyes were wide, "Really?"

"Uh-huh. See? Everything worked out in the end…"

"That's true… but… I'm still a dumb fox for judging you like that…"

She laughed and moved in for a hug.

"…a dumb fox…" the recorder played and she looked up to see him holding the carrot pen.

She smirked, "Makes us even, uh? Now give it to me."

He stood up, "You have to catch me first." and started running.

"Hey!" she playfully said and went after him, managing to tackle him and started tickling him.

"Oh no! The cute bunny's got me!" he laughed.

"Give up, Officer Wilde?"

"Go ahead and arrest me, Officer Hopps, because I surrender." he passed the pen to her and started sitting up. He sighed, "This is the closest we're going to get to alone time isn't it?"

She sighed as well, "What it would be like to be like other civilians, right now other couples are done having dinner or finished dancing and are probably on a moonlight stroll, holding paws, sharing a kiss…"

"Meanwhile, a cop couple gets reprimanded for sharing one kiss and has to keep following protocol…"

"I know… it's been agony for me too…"

"I wonder… would it be better if one of us quits the force? And by "us" I mean "me" because this has been your lifelong dream and I don't want you giving up on it."

"Don't say things like that! If anything that's just going make it worst! We would hardly see other if I was the one who kept working! At least at the moment we can be together, it's not much privacy, but at least we're working together."

He rubbed his neck, "I guess I'm just feeling frustrated that we can't solve this mystery any quicker. Every time we think we're close, we're one step back."

"I've been thinking, twice now something has happen to Gazelle in her penthouse. What if we move her to a safer location? It'll give us a chance to move further in the case without having to worry about her safety."

"What kind-of safe location did you have in mind?"

"I would think it would be obvious, whose home has giant polar bears protecting it and would like to ice anyone who likes to cause harm?"

"Oh no…"

"Why so down? I thought you were on good terms with him again?"

"Only because of you. He trusts you completely, but even with this badge on my shirt he doesn't have much faith in me."

"Give it time, you did after all sold a skunk rug which he buried his grandmother in. You're doing so much good for the city, he'll see that and realized you were mislead and are now on better path."

"I hope you're right, Carrots…"


When morning had arrived, Judy told Bogo of her plan and with Gazelle's consent, he agreed to it. Once they dropped her off at Mr. Big's house in Tundra Town, Judy and Nick were allowed to get some sleep. Once they stopped at his apartment, he noticed how tired Judy was and was afraid she would get into an accident if she kept on driving to her apartment. Before he got out he grabbed the keys.

"Nick! What are you doing?!"

"You're in no condition to drive, Judy. I can tell from those bags under your eyes, even your ears are drooping in exhaustion. Come on, you're coming in my apartment." he gently held her and carried her out of the car.

"I can walk by myself."

"Not taking a chance."

Judy looked annoyed but secretly she thought this was one of the sweetest things he's ever done. And it also made her realize that this could be good practice for when he carried her over the threshold… There's those bells again…

Not realizing it was just wind chimes from the house next to the complex.

"Think of it this way, Carrots, at least you don't have to worry about those noisy neighbors disturbing your beauty sleep."

She released a giggle. He was right.


"Are you sure you want to sleep on the couch?" she asked from the bed.

"I'll be fine, it's you I'm more worried about, we both know you're the brains of this partnership."

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, right. You're pretty smart yourself. Selling pawsicles to lemmings for a large sum of money, then using the leftover sticks for construction to sell to mice in Little Rodentia. You had all your bases covered. You may have been a con but you were a clever con."

He crossed his arms, "If I was so clever how did you figured out my tax evasion?"

She giggled and laid down, "Good night, Nick."

"Technically, it's good morning, but it's nighty-night for us anyway." he went on the couch and fluffed up the pillow he had and pulled the blanket over him. "Night to you too, Carrots…" but he could see she was already fast asleep, he smiled, Good call, Wilde… Good call… and he fell asleep.


AN: So... what do you guys think of a possible ClawhauserXGazelle ship?