A/N: It has been an interesting few months. Sorry it took me so long to get this up. The good (or bad) news is that i have five more chapters that will be posting on normal intervals. So fear not, this story is still very much alive and well... just... you know, real life and all that silly nonsense. I do promise that there will be action and heroics and maybe even some fur on fur action. BUT enough... ENJOY

As always I have to thank ScaraMedn for beta and soundboarding. kt_valmiri for editing and cuffing me on the head when needed and Blueberryandhoney for her honesty and also beta. Again, if you haven't checked their work you're missing out. On with the story.

Chapter 3:

Pix had woken up at his normal time of five thirty in the morning and made his way to Shelly's by six fifteen. He stopped in and was the only one in the shop except for Shelly and her swift fox assistant manager named Sam. Pix had known Sam for the whole five years that he had been working at Shelly's place. The smaller vulpine always smiled when he saw the Cheetah when he walked into the coffee shop.

"Hey Pix."

"Hello Sam."

"I heard you guys had some fun last night."

"I suppose you could say that."

"Well, Shelly said that it was pretty cool watching you actually do your job. Gotta say man, I think it'd be awesome to be a cop," the beige fox said as he filled a venti cup full of the steaming hot black beautiful brew.

"How old are you Sam?"

"I'm twenty five… I think."

"Then why don't you go and apply? We can always use good mammals on the force and the cut off is thirty five."

"Oh, come on Pix. I'm a fox. You know our rep. I'm lucky that Shelly even gave me a promotion to assistant manager," he said with a grin as he handed over the hot cup of coffee.

"Oh shut up, Sam," Shelly said as she came out of the back with some fresh pastries and donuts, "The whole perception of that speciest bullshit has been changing. I mean look at that Nick Wilde. He and that bunny, Judy, have been changing everyone's outlook. They are both the first of their species to become cops and not only that but they are also mates. It's opened a lot of mammal's eyes," she pointed out as she put the food in the display case in front of the register and then looked at Pix with a hard stare, "But don't be trying to steal my employees, Pix. Sam works hard here and he's earned his spot," Sam puffed his chest with a bit of pride, "And while I think he would be a great cop, I would need to find someone that is just as good as him to fill my spot."

"Don't worry Shelly, I'm not going anywhere," the swift fox said with a smile, "But I would be lying if I said that it wouldn't be a great experience, Nick Wilde is kind of my hero."

"Oh, Sam," Shelly said and put a paw on his shoulder, "I'm just joking around, I think you'd be a great cop, like I said."

"Do you really think so?"

"I do, but you'll never know unless you try."

Sam fidgeted with his paws for a moment and looked a bit unsure. Shelly gave Pix a pointed look and flicked her eyes to the smaller predator.

"Tell you what Sam," the cheetah said as he leaned down on the counter, "Let me bring a friend of mine in Monday and he can answer all your questions. I haven't been a beat cop in half a decade so things may have changed but I'm sure he'll be able to explain more," Pix said as he winked at Shelly.

"That would be pretty cool, Pix, thanks."

Shelly was happy that Sam was thinking about his future, she paid a decent wage to her employees and they all made pretty good tips but a career it was not. Sam deserved something more. He's always idolized the first responders of Zootopia, maybe this was his calling.

"Oh, thought to a thought," Shelly said, "I got a text from Tikka saying that she and… um… Rocky? Hit it off last night and that they are going to get her stuff today, so I gave her the evening off. Lilly is covering for her this evening."

Pix physically winced at that causing Shelly and Sam to chuckle.

"She means well, Pix, you now that right?" Sam said.

"I think so."

"She's a good kit, young and hasn't found her way yet. She looks at you and sees a big strong male that is a hero and a sergeant in the ZPD S.W.A.T., can you blame her?" Shelly said smiling referring to the young dark furred, petite, jaguar that worked part-time in the evenings.

"Yes I can. I'm not a hero. I just do my job."

"Oh shush you."

Pix just looked at both of them blankly, "Anyway I'm gonna go for a swim. I'll see you both later," he pulled out his wallet and paid for his coffee, tipping Sam more than the coffee was worth, grabbed his bag and headed out to the door.

"So," Shelly said looking at Sam, "You really wanna be a cop?"

"I think I'll look into it."

"Then I suggest you when you see Pix and his friend on Monday you have lots of questions and a notebook," Shelly smiled as she walked around the corner to start setting up the tables.

Sam was nodding when the door chimed and in walked Liam and Luna.

"Hey you guys," Luna said as they walked over to the counter, "Was that our favorite hero cheetah from last night that we saw leaving a moment ago?"

"Yep," Sam said, "He's going for swim, or so he says."

"Hmm," Liam said scratching the fur under his chin, "I didn't think cheetahs like water that much."

"He's an odd one," Luna stated again, "We've been seeing him here for years and he only seems to recognize us sporadically."

"Well he has a pretty stressful job you know?" Shelly stated, "I'm sure he remembers you guys, I mean you guys don't see each other every day but enough to at least know each other's names."

"He seemed a bit down last night before all the… fun… happened," Liam said.

"He was supposed to go on a date with his girlfriend, Jessie, but he lost track of time at the firing range. I guess she had enough and dumped him," Shelly said.

"Oh, that's too bad," Luna said, "I guess buying him that coffee was the right thing to do."

"I know he doesn't look like it but he did appreciate it. He's just a bit… of a loner."

"So we saw. He had no problem helping out that nice new ferret that you just hired though," said Luna.

"Oh he's nice. He had a huge heart and all of that. Despite the fact that he's a S.W.A.T. officer he's incredibly kind."

"Maybe we should try to get to know him. He looks like he could use some friends," Liam commented.

"He hangs out with some of his fellow officers from what I understand. But as you two know he's here almost every day around six thirty and usually here around seven at night after his shift. I don't think he does much else other than work, work out, train and drink coffee," Shelly said as she and Sam started to make their drinks. Sam started the hot green tea with coconut milk and Shelly was pouring a venti with three shots of espresso, "I also know he lives alone in a big two bedroom apartment a few blocks from here."

"You know an awful lot about someone who doesn't really talk," Liam said eyeing the smaller cat.

Shelly shrugged, "I've known him for eight years. He opens up to me about a few things and believe it or not he's very open if just ask him. Most mammals are put off because of the fact that he's always quiet and reserved and minds his own business," she handed both of them their drinks and accepted their payment. Liam put a few bucks in the tip jar before they sat down at their favorite chairs against the wall, Liam opening the Zootopia Gazette and Luna going through her sketch book.

Pix had completed his two-mile swim and was relaxing at the edge of the pool with his spotted arms on top of one another on the edge of the pool… He has his eyes closed was relaxing, bringing his heart rate down when heard a few squeals and paws running toward the pool. He inwardly groaned, the whole reason he came to the pool this early was because there were few mammals here. He looked at his watch, eight thirty. Who the hell brings their kits to the pool before lunch? His answer was literally handed to him as a pair of smaller hind paws stopped in front of him and he opened his eyes to look up at a young male cheetah staring at him.

"HI!" he said excitedly.

"Hello."

"What's your name?"

"Um… Pix."

"That's a funny name. My name is Riley."

"Hi there Riley."

"Were you sleeping?"

"No I was bringing my heart rated town after a two mile swim."

The young cheetah gave him a confused look, "Ok… want to play?"

"Um… I… What are you doing here so early?" he asked looking at the young cheetah that had orange blow up floaters on his arms and floral patterned board shorts.

"My big sister likes to swim when she can on the weekends, we usually go in the afternoon but she said she has something to do today so she said I could come with her if I got up early."

"How old are you?"

"Seven."

"Where is your sister?"

"Huh?" the young cheetah looked around in a bit of panic, "She was right behind me."

"Well let's go by the chairs and wait for her ok?" Pix said as he got out of the pool and stood on the edge for a moment waiting for the water to drain out of his ZPD swim trunks before he shook the majority of the water out of his fur. He reached down and grabbed the young kits right paw with his left and led him over to the area that had beach chairs lined up to wait for his sister.

"Riley?" a worried voice came from the hallway leading to the locker rooms, "Riley? Where are you?"

"I'm out here Jackie!"

Pix froze; he knew he recognized that voice, Oh shit, he thought and kept his back to her.

"Riley Dawson!" she exclaimed, "I told you not to go to the pool until I met… you…" her voice trailed off as she noticed a large male cheetah holding her younger brothers paw, "You'd better let him go, sicko!" she said as she marched over towards them, Pix could hear the anger even in her footsteps, "I'm an officer in the ZPD and if you think you're going to put your paws on my little brother I'm going to kick your ass!"

Pix glanced down at Riley who was looking back at his sister with a fearful expression, of course he knew how it looked, and he couldn't really blame her, she was just trying to protect her brother, and she obviously didn't recognize him outside of how he looked in clothing.

"Jackie, don't worry. This is P…"

"I don't care if he's Santa Paws!"

Pix sighed and knew it couldn't be helped. He turned and looked right at Jackie, causing her to come skidding to a stop on the wet cement almost falling as she recognized him, "I'm sorry to cause you alarm Officer Dawson, I was just making sure your brother here was going to wait for you by the chairs until you got out here. I promise I wasn't going to kitnap him."

"Oh shit," she whisper before coming to attention and saluting, dropping the towels she was holding and also letting Pix get a good look at her. He couldn't help but run his eyes over her lithe form in the green bikini that showed off her toned stomach and legs. She didn't have large breasts but most cheetahs don't due to their high metabolisms and active life style, plus they fit her frame perfectly.

"At ease Jackie," Pix said with a smile, "We're off duty and at the pool for crying out loud."

"I'm sorry sergeant, I didn't know anyone else was going to be here this early and I thought… I mean…" she trailed off.

"Don't worry about it. I can see where the confusion would come from."

"But I could have at least asked what was going on," Jackie said a bit embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it, seriously."

Jackie seemed to relax for a moment then and Pix caught her giving him a once over. He blushed a bit under his fur and bent down to get his towel but not before hearing a little gasp from Jackie as she noticed the scars on his left shoulder that rand down his back and side. They always gasp at the scars.

"Before you ask they're from a cougar that went savage during the night-howler case. Tranqs didn't work and he was going for a kit so I tackled him and held him so the young bear could get away. He sunk his claws into my shoulder and tore my body armor off while raking me with his hind claws. I held him down until the rest of my four mammal unit could muzzle and restrain him. And these two over here," he pointed to what looked like bullet holes in right side, "were from a bank heist gone wrong where I was in the wrong place at the wrong time," and with that he quickly dried himself off and threw on his blue ZPD shirt before wrapping the towel around his still damp swim shorts.

"I'm sorry… I didn't…"

"It's ok. I'm done with my work out anyway," he looked down at Riley, "It was nice to meet you, Riley. Be safe and take care of your sister ok? She's a very brave mammal that cares about you a lot," the young cheetah was just staring at him in awe and only managed to nod before Pix had turned and grabbed his duffle. Standing he smiled at Jackie to show her he wasn't upset and there were no hard feelings, "Have good weekend, Jackie."

"You… you can stay if you'd like. Riley's going to play in the shallow end while do some laps."

"Thanks, but I've put in my two miles and I'm a bit waterlogged. But have fun and maybe I'll see you at the precinct on Monday."

Jackie watched him as he left heading toward the locker room entrance. She couldn't help but ogle his tail and sleek physique.

"Do you like Mr. Pix?" Riley asked, bringing her back to the here and now, it was only after she looked down at her little brother that she realized she had been staring at the empty entrance to the locker rooms a few moments after Pix had left.

"I think I do," she said more to herself than her younger brother, "But… it's time to go swimming!" she yelled and picked him up and threw him in the pool causing the young cheetah to squeal with delight.

Liam and Luna were talking quietly as they sat in their usual chairs, well Liam was talking, Luna was busy sketching Lilly the as she was reading a book. It was around nine in the morning and besides a few regulars the traffic in Shelly's shop was rather light. Shelly was actually sitting at a window seat with a cup of tea and Lilly was leaning over the counter muzzle deep in a book on marine biology and Sam was in the back baking cookies and going over payroll.

"Don't you think, Luna?" Liam asked.

"Hmmm?" the lioness asked looking up from the sketch book.

"I was saying that I think that if you look at the rate of technical expansion we went from the industrial revolution to the nuclear age to the information age then in the next twenty years we should, according to the trend, be settling on planets an and have moon colonies."

"Yes, yes dear, fascinating."

Liam swiveled his ears towards the Lioness, "What has you distracted?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about, Pix," she emphasized the name while watching Lilly and as soon as she did Lilly's ears swiveled toward them even though she kept her eyes on book.

Liam's large eyebrow whiskers raised in curiosity. He waited a few seconds and said, "Ah, yes, Pix," the ears swiveled again, "I hear he's single now," at this Lilly's ears went straight up and her eyebrows raised, "How unfortunate that his girlfriend dumped him last night."

"It's too bad, Pix," Luna stressed the name again and Lilly turned the page in her book with her ears still swiveled toward the wolf and lioness, "looked a bit sad last night," they both had to suppress giggles as they saw Lilly's face droop just a slight bit and her ears fell back a fraction, "I wonder what kind of mammal he is to date?"

"Oh," Liam drew out, "We know he's brave and we know he's strong and fast…"

"Well, not too fast I'd hope," Luna quipped, drawing a small snort and an ear twitch from Lilly.

"Fleet of paw, my dear, hence his surname, Fleetpaw. We also know that he's intelligent since he's a sergeant in the ZPD and a decorated member of Precinct One's S.W.A.T. unit. We also know that he's a dedicated mammal to his job and his significant other, example: his job since he's been a member of the ZPD for over eight years and a member of the elite S.W.A.T. unit for five. That takes dedication and bravery. To his significant other because, despite the fact that he seems to on occasion not remember that we exist, we have been acquainted with Mr. Pix," ear twitch, "for almost four years and I recall that every relationship that he has been in has lasted over six months, that takes a lot of heart to juggle his job and a relationship."

"Hmmm, you're right. I wonder what he's like in bed," Luna said flatly.

Lilly practically blushed through her dark fur and snorted before closing her book and tried to discretely head to the back, and failed miserably when a loud crash sounded and almost immediately after came the call of, "I'm Okaaaaay!"

Which was immediately followed by, "Lilly! Oh my gods, what happened?" from Sam.

Shelly just glanced back at the diabolical duo, "Really? You guys just had to mess with her?"

Liam looked at Luna who turned her head from the swing door to look at Liam and then Shelly, "Well, of course."

"Would you expect anything less of us Shelly?"

Sighing, Shelly set her tea down and stood up to make her way to the back and check on the young black jaguar, "I should have known better."

Liam and Luna just smiled at each other when the door rang, a still damp Pix entered in swim trunks and a tight fitting ZPD t-shirt that clung to him and showed off sleek rippling muscle underneath, his duffle slung over his left shoulder and a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"My, my Sergeant," Luna commented, drawing Pix's attention to her.

"Hello again Luna, Liam," he nodded to both mammal sitting in their usual chairs.

"Ah. So you do remember us, Sergeant."

"I do," he said, "thanks again for the coffee last night."

"Of course, our pleasure," Liam smiled, his green eyes flashing.

Luna caught Shelly's eyes as she came out from the back and nodded, flicking her eyes to Pix, receiving a small smile.

"Hey there," Shelly said a bit louder than normal, drawing a smile from both Luna and Liam, they knew what was going to happen next, "What can we get you? My barista will be out here in just a moment," she practically called over her shoulder.

"Are you ok, Shelly?" Pix asked cocking his head to the side while looking down at the smaller cat, confused.

"Oh yes, I'm fine," the lynx said as she started to giggle.

"Okaaaaay. Can I have my regular to go?"

At that moment Lilly walked out of the back half covered in flower making her look like an Oreo cookie, "I'm sorry about that, sir," she said in Pix's general direction, not bothering to look up, "What can I get you?" as she came to her station she finally looked up and practically jumped back with a start, "HOLY GODS!" she yelled as she saw who it was and all the thoughts that Liam and Luna had planted in her head came to the for front of her mind as she saw him with slightly damp and sexy sleek muscle visible under his tight blue ZPD shirt. She fell on her tail and stared for a second before she again blush almost through her dark fur and took off through the swing door again.

Pix just looked at her and then the cackling, maniacal laughter of the wolf and lioness caused him to turn his head wondering what was so funny. He looked down at himself to make sure that there wasn't something that he didn't notice and then looked to Shelly who held out his venti cup of black coffee. Still confused he set his duffle down and started to dig through it for his wallet when Shelly tapped his shoulder, having come from around the counter.

"It's bought and paid for."

"Huh?" he looked at the lynx who pointed to the devious pair that were wiping tears from their eyes. His eyes settled on them and he was about to protest when Luna just stuck her tongue out at him like a little kit getting the last word in and went back to chuckling with her wolf accomplish.

"Um… Thanks…" he said and turned to leave, nodding to the still chuckling pair as he left, Liam giving him a lazy wave.

"That was beyond entertaining," he said still chuckling.

"Oh this is going to be so much fun," replied the Luna.