AN: Jeeze, I have let this languish for a super long time. But my second book is finally out now, which means I have more time for writing; so I'll be trying to get this story rolling again.

Chief Uncia sat behind the sprawling desk, tail lashing the air behind her. She rubbed her head while grappling with the one problem that seemed to hinder Precinct One at every turn: she simply could not put as many mammals on the street as Zootopia needed. It was something of a time-honored dilemma that dogged every government undertaking, she supposed. Ultimately the mammals in power would provide only what they deemed to be the absolute minimum of support required to achieve their goals.

Unfortunately, understanding that didn't make the problem any easier to overcome. At present she could put one officer on the street for every 2,300 mammals living in her precinct. Perhaps during normal times those numbers would suffice, if only barely, but having to deal with inter-species tensions had the entire ZPD stretched thin. Thus far she had managed to make ends meet by relying on the precinct's detectives to help fill in the gaps where possible, but even that wasn't quite enough. Not a week went by where she wasn't forced call on a portion of the force to work overtime to help make up the difference.

So far it had worked, but there was a cost. She could see it in the tired looks that met her whenever she briefed her officers in the Cat's Cradle (she still couldn't believe Nick had somehow managed to make that absurd name stick). even though she spread the extra work around as evenly as possible The strain was beginning to show even though she spread the extra work around as evenly as possible, and Precinct One's traditional place helping the other city districts cover the gaps in their services was not helping matters in the slightest.

The one silver lining was that the city council recognized how critical the situation had become and was diverting emergency funds to expand the city's officer training program. Even there, Uncia knew better than to believe that an influx of fresh blood would solve all her problems. For one, the next graduation was still half a year a way, and because these things took time the next graduating class would only be 3% larger than the one that had preceded it. Beyond that, the new officers would need at least several months to get their bearings.

Which didn't even begin to address the challenges running a larger force would bring. More overhead. More paperwork. More cases and patrols to assign. Then, sooner or later, things would settle down once more. It was inevitable. So what happened then, when the city decided it was time to cut its law enforcement budget back to previous levels?

She shook her head, telling herself that these were problems she couldn't fix right then. The commissioner knew her complaints, along with the complaints of every other Chief on the force. Whatever decisions were made would be completely out of her hands. Her time was better spent worrying over what she could affect.

Like the investigation into the attack that had happened on Mr. Big's property. It had been years since she'd last had a shot at the crime boss. This was a rare opportunity to do the city a great service right when it needed it most. She had no illusions that taking down one major syndicate would cause the crime rate to drop, at least not permanently. Some other gang or family would move in to fill the vacuum as they always did.

But that didn't make bringing down the Big syndicate meaningless. It would send a powerful message that the rule of law still held sway in Zootopia. That the ZPD still had the situation under control. With that the city could go to sleep feeling a little safer, and that was something mammals desperately needed now.

Everything that had gone wrong could be traced back to how vulnerable the nighthowler incidents had made mammals feel, and because of that trust had began to break down. And trust, once lost, was especially difficult to regain. Doubly so if a mammal felt constantly threatened. So they retreated into their little enclaves where they could feel safe, surrounded by those most like themselves, and inadvertently made the problem worse. If she could make mammals feel safe once more, however, then perhaps it would be easier to jump start the process of reconciliation.

At least there was some progress, although Uncia still wasn't sure if it would go anywhere. She still didn't agree with the commissioner's decision to put Officer Hopps on the case. It wasn't that she didn't trust the bunny, but rather that Mr. Big had only agreed to cooperate with her. Since her assignment to the First Precinct, Uncia had learned Officer Hopps could be trusted to do the right thing. Mr. Big always looked out for his own interests, on the other hand. Although Officer Hopps would not knowingly compromise the investigation, Chief Uncia wondered if the wily shrew didn't have some plan to manipulate her to his own ends just the same.

Things seemed to be working out, however. Both Judy and Nick agreed that Mr. Big didn't seem involved in the attack, which she supposed was good news, but that something had been stolen from him. What had been taken remained unknown, but it certainly looked like an opportunity. Only another crime boss would be crazy enough to steal from someone like Mr. Big, and anything they wanted to get their paws on was something she was very interested in seeing. The sort of thing that might let her lock the shrew up for good.

That someone was apparently snooping around Brisa's apartment seemed to indicate she was right to think that. Mr. Big was almost certainly behind it, trying to find out what had been lost so he could recover it before the ZPD. Perhaps that was why he wanted Judy working the case. Not because she would undermine the investigation, but because she wouldn't. Then he could distract her in other ways, but the investigation would still come away clean thereby letting him clear his name.

Only he probably hadn't been counting on Officer Wilde finding Brisa's contact book, nor on his ability to recognize who some of the individuals were. The fox's report had stressed that he doubted any of the names he'd provided were involved, but that might not matter. She could still send officers out, just a light questioning under the guise of a preliminary investigation. That might be enough to make Mr. Big worry they had more than they really did, which might just be enough to make him desperate, and desperate mammals made mistakes.

She had just begun drafting the necessary orders when the phone interrupted her, making her tail-fur stand on end. A hiss slipped from her and she glared at the phone, then grudgingly picked it up. "Chief Uncia, ZPD Precinct One."

"Asha? You sound harried. I would offer to call at a better time, but I think we both know there is no such thing. How are things as my—at the precinct?"

Chief Uncia sat up a little straighter when she recognized the mayor's voice. "Ah, sir, I wasn't expecting a call from you," she said, her eyes drifting to the growing mountain of paperwork on her desk. "Everything is good, or as good as can be expected considering. Is there a problem?"

A gruff chuckle sounded over the line. "There is always a problem, but what can one do? From the sound of it, you've had your hands full with protests lately."

"Among other things, yes." She closed her eyes. "No offense, sir, but I assume there is a reason you called?"

"You have no idea how much I miss having someone cut straight to the point," Mayor Bogo said. "I was hoping we could meet sometime in the next week. There are a number of things I feel we should discuss. Nothing critical! Just…a bit of wisdom I failed to pass along during my rush out the door."

She pursed her lips. "Are you sure that is wise right now, sir?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"I'm still the most junior chief on the force, sir. If we have a meeting, you know that mammals are going to assume you're playing favorites, or that you're unhappy with the job I've been doing," she pointed out.

There was a pause on the other end. "Ah. You may be right." He sighed. "How about this, I will be making a public appearance next week. I believe Precinct One is providing the security detail, yes?"

Chief Uncia froze. Was it? She tucked the phone into the crook of her neck and began shuffling through the papers on her desk. About a third of the way down the stack she found the proper folder and flipped it open.

"Ah, yes, I have the request here," she said as she skimmed the file, then groaned. "Your office requested I include the lovebirds in the detail again."

"They did?" Bogo sounded genuinely surprised. She had just enough time to pull the phone away from her ear before he began bellowing. "Phillis? PHILLIS! I thought I made it clear we weren't going to be imposing on Officers Hopps and Wilde any longer."

It was difficult not to smile as hints of conversation drifted over the line before the mayor returned. "Sorry about that. I have my aide looking into it. You should have told me sooner, I would have dealt with it."

"I—ah—I didn't notice it until now," she admitted.

"Well, I suppose there is no harm done if we let it go this once," Bogo said. "It may actually work to our favor. With them there, you could come without drawing undo attention. Everyone will just assume it is a giant photo op."

"I'll try sir, but I've got enough reports here to review that I—"

"Asha, are you aware of the Principle of Priority?" Bogo asked. She could almost imagine him frowning at her.

"I don't think so, sir."

"It is very simple," the mayor continued. "It just says two things. First, you must know the difference between what is urgent and what is important. Are you with me so far?"

"Yes, sir."

"Very good," Bogo said. "Second, you must do what is important first. Forget the paperwork for now."

Judy slowly leafed through Brisa's notebook, only pausing when she needed to compare it to the notes Nick had given her, or when she needed to make notes of her own. She had to admit that without Nick's inside knowledge it would have been impossible to glean anything from the bat's notebook. It seemed Brisa used aliases for everyone. Mammals. Places. Even popular holidays. That was bad enough, but she also seemed to change them on a whim if she came up with a better one.

For example, there was "TT", who Nick had helpfully identified as Finnick. Brisa then switched to "Bat Guy", then "Big Angry", and finally "Bluster Fluff". Judy couldn't help thinking that every nickname seemed to fit the fennec even if she wasn't sure what TT stood for (although she had a few good guesses). That made it a nightmare to keep track of who was being referenced in the notebook. In theory the phone numbers would address that problem, but many of her clients dealt at best in the gray areas of the law and thus changed their numbers frequently. Untangling it took almost constant vigilance.

Still, she was slowly building a timeline of Brisa's activities over the past month. They were only really interested in the days leading up to the attack. If they could figure out which of Mr. Big's associates she'd been working for at the time that might tell them what she'd been carrying, which might lead them to who had attacked her. It was a long shot, but until the bat was well enough to answer their questions it was their only shot.

However Judy couldn't help looking for patterns as she worked. Several practically leapt off the page at her, and after it was difficult not to dig for more. Apparently even independent couriers had clients that needed deliveries to be made on a regular schedule.

Which made the last job Brisa had run seem especially out of place. A completely new name with a completely new phone number. Of course, she couldn't know for sure that meant this was a new customer. It was possible Brisa had changed the nickname she was using for this client at the same time that the client had gotten a new number, but that would be quite the coincidence. The possibility that the fruit bat had been working for someone she didn't know terribly well was undeniably compelling, and also meshed with Mr. Big's claims that he hadn't been expecting anything that day.

According to Nick, the mob boss had been remarkably truthful in his answers. Not that Mr. Big didn't carefully sidestep some of the questions she'd asked, but apparently nothing he'd said seemed like an outright lie. She was willing to bet that everything he had said was true, but that his answers had been carefully tailored to avoid addressing any illegal aspects of his dealings.

Her stomach growled. She tried to ignore it, but the unexpected discomfort derailed her train of thought and she glanced up at the clock to find it was nearly seven in the evening. Her ears came up and she blinked a few times. It wasn't unusual for her to get so caught up in a case that she stayed late. Nick always teased her about how she always seemed to bury herself in her casework, but he always stayed behind so she'd have help if she needed it and to gently remind her to call it a night before she wore herself out completely. In fact, she couldn't remember the last time she'd worked this late without Nick breaking in to make her stop. It wasn't like him to let her keep going this long. Normally he would've started reminding her about the importance of work/life balance at least half an hour ago.

A light groan slipped from Judy's lips as she slipped out of her chair and stretched to help restore circulation to her legs, then looked around. Nick wasn't at his desk. She vaguely remembered him saying something about some evidence he wanted to look at. That had been awhile ago. During normal working hours, she thought. Could he still be doing that?

She quickly tidied up her desk and gathered her notes into a folder before heading to the evidence lockers, taking note of how different the precinct felt at this hour. There were still plenty of officers around, but it was noticeably more empty and most who remained showed signs of being near the end of their shifts. Every last interview room was dark, and even Forensics had began to wind down as they prepared to hand over to the night crew.

As she'd hoped, Nick was still in the evidence room seated at one of the counters along the wall and looking at something with his brow furrowed. She watched him stare at whatever he was examining, then hopped into the chair with him.

"Find anything?" she asked as she stood beside him so she could see what he was doing.

Nick let out a yelp and recoiled briefly, ears back and fur puffed out. "Judy?! Jeeze!" He paused to take a breath. "Sorry, you scared the bejeezes out of me. I didn't hear you come in."

"Not surprising. You were really focused on…pictures of Brisa's injuries?" Judy stared at the photos Nick had out, eyes wide as she took in the slashes that covered the bat's back. Thankfully the pictures had been taken after the hospital had gotten to clean up and stitch the wounds, but they still made for a gruesome sight. "Nick, are you really okay looking at this?"

"Probably not," he admitted while rubbing his face with one hand. "But I just couldn't help…I mean…I had to know." He sighed again, ears back. "Although I think I noticed something. Look at this."

He then reached out and put his hand over the picture, putting one claw on each of the scratches. Each of his three fingers found their place easily, but when it came to his thumb he had to twist his hand and stretch the digit quite a bit.

"I can get my hand in place to do something like this, but it is kind of hard and doesn't feel very natural. Plus, I doubt I could make the slashes look this clean. These were made by very sharp claws," he said.

"So these weren't made by a fox," Judy guessed, then looked up at him. "Were you worried about that?"

"A little bit," he admitted, then tapped the photo with his other hand. "But not just a fox. I don't think any mammal could have made these. Hands just don't work that way. Most mammals with claws would swipe at you, but this was more of a grab. I would expect this lone slash on the bottom to be off to one side and at an angle—" He lifted his hand up in front of her and mimed trying to grab someone with his claws as he spoke. "—like this. See?"

"So, what? You think these are fake? That someone cut her up to try and mislead everyone about what happened?"

Nick shook his head. "I doubt it. Or if someone was doing that, they'd have to be pretty perverse. A knife would leave cleaner slashes than this. I think maybe some sort of bird got her. Something with really large claws. A raptor of some sort. Maybe an Owl? I don't know, I'm not a bird watcher."

Judy found herself nodding in agreement as he explained his reasoning. "That's what you've been trying to figure out? What kinda bird it was?"

"Uh…" Nick hesitated, then glanced to one side. "Not exactly. I realized it couldn't be a mammal pretty quick, but after I realized it was a bird I just…kept staring at the pictures."

She hesitated, then reached out and rested a hand on his forearm. "Why?"

"Because I know how things are out there, Carrots." He looked away from her. "I don't know what things are like in Bunny Burrow, but other than the looks you and I get things seem much more friendly out there than in the city."

"Only because you haven't seen some of the low-key feuds that are going on," Judy assured him, giving his arm a light squeeze. "If someone gets upset at you out there, there really isn't a way to avoid them, and everyone knows everyone else's secrets. You haven't seen petty until you've seen small town pettiness."

"Maybe, but everyone knows each other so I doubt things ever get that violent, and not to say that the city is all that dangerous or anything but…" Nick rubbed his neck, closing his eyes. "But it can be very mean. And there are times when it can be very dangerous. Usually mammals don't go out looking for that sort of trouble, not even those on the shady side of things, Carrots."

He stopped abruptly then looked her in the eyes, nearly whispering. "When they do, though, they make sure to bring a…a tool that is up to the task. I mean, if you're going to be doing something stupid and dangerous and expect there to be trouble you're going to want some insurance and an edge. So why would they use some sort of bird for their attack?"

"You think she was targeted specifically," Judy guessed, her ears back.

"Yes. No. Maybe. I mean…" Nick struggled for a moment. "I think they were targeting a bat. They knew Mr. Big was going to get something. Something they wanted. And the fastest way to get it to him would be a bound courier. And the only way to be sure that you intercept a bat courier would be to get them before they land. And there aren't many bats that are going to fly into someplace that cold."

Judy looked into Nick's eyes, her lips pursed and tail quivering, then tilted her head to one side and gave his arm another squeeze. "Nick, you know that thing you're always telling me I need to do?"

"Fluff, I'm not sure—"

"Ah ah ah," she interjected, reaching out to cover his lips with a finger. "Sometimes you need to turn off your cop brain, remember? How about you put all that up. It'll still be here tomorrow. Once we have everything squared away, we're going to leave here and meet up with Clawhauser and company for Thirsty Thursday, then we are going to head home and relax for the rest of the night."

"Judy, I really don't—"

She tapped his lips again, smiling. "No. I'm pulling rank this time, sweetheart, and if that isn't enough then I'm willing to bring in the Chief too."