A/N:

Sooooo... This chapter was delayed a lot. I blame the flu kicking my tail for about three weeks of it and writer's block for the rest. That said, sorry for the wait. I hope it's worth it. On we go!

Fear is a funny thing.

Soldiers, emergency responders and officers of the law are trained to handle it; channeling or discarding it in favor of staying alive on the battlefield or saving lives in an emergency. There are rules, techniques and endless scenarios that are called upon. Judy had trained in as many as her schedule and her CO's allowances permitted. However, in her current situation, Judy came to realize two simple facts.

The first was that she was in a situation she couldn't have ever trained for. How could she have even conceived of this situation, let alone trained for it? Searching the city for a fox, so she could prevent him from overworking himself to death, while racing through the electrical grid like a stricken lightening bolt? There was no class for that.

The second was a lesson she'd been taught so many times but never thought she'd be in a position where it would be relevant to her. She never got close to people. Coworkers aside, she had few friends. No husband. No kits.

No longer.

Now, Judy understood.

When it was someone you cared about, it didn't matter how hard you trained, or how much you thought you were prepared. Rational thought went out the window. That wasn't to say, however, that she wasn't thinking.

Judy skittered through the wires at the speed of her own synapses, leaping from place to place across the city. As she ran, she wracked her brain for anyplace Nick might be. Without leaving the wires, she looked in on his favorite hangouts; the little kebab shop by the precinct, the strange footbridge by the warehouse district and the taqueria where they had danced were all checked in the space of as many heartbeats. The rest of the city followed, right down to the graveyard where the Memoria had passed through and even the construction site where she had gotten her first taste of what he really was.

Nothing.

In each district, she let her senses roam, but not a trace of the fox was anywhere she looked. Nowhere is the city at all. Judy was getting frantic. Nothing in the RD, Tundratown, The Square, city center, or Meadows. The Nox, Bayou and Docks were cleared next. Judy leapt out of the wires in the Alpine district, trembling. She didn't know what else to do; where else to look. While she'd been busy protecting her career, she'd neglected him and now he was gone.

Horrid possibilities inserted themselves into her mind at every opportunity. Imagined scenarios popped into her awareness and had spurred her frantic search to the edge of mania. She kept seeing her fox dead in her mind's eye; burned from the inside out by magic overload, or vacant and staring like Liam. Each possibility was more horrible and more crushing than the last and every one would have been preventable if she had just stayed with him.

Feverishly, she scrolled through her memory. All the places, every neighborhood she'd searched, filling in a mental map of the city. There were no blank spaces. Just the climate wall bars separating the Districts.

It dawned on her.

When preparing for an accident, there is one thing that is most important to protect. The spine. The backbone of the city was its walls. The incoming shockwave was comparable to a truck about to tram the city, so where else would the only city sorcerer be, but safeguarding its backbone? Ignoring the rest of the city's structure, Judy reached out to the walls that abutted the base of the mountains she stood on. Seconds later she found him and all that was left of her on the mountainside was ozone.

Seconds later, though it felt like years, her paws found concrete again, but only for a moment. Her foot touched only long enough to launch herself bodily at the flabbergasted fox as he stood, sipping a soda through a crazy straw. Both the soda and straw went sailing over the side of the maintenance walkway he stood on as they collided.

"Carrots! What-!"

Her arms wrapped around his neck, tighter than she probably realized. "Nick! Are you ok?"

"I'm-"

"I'm so sorry I disappeared!"

"It's-"

"What can I do?" she asked with fervent sincerity.

"L-"

Pulling back just enough to look him over, she ran her paws over his head, shoulders and chest. "Are you hurt?"

"Wh-"

"Answer me!" she huffed impatiently.

Two red paws clamped over her jaws stemming Judy's machinegunned questions. A moment of flailing and confusion ended when she saw the nonplussed expression of the fox upon whom she was seated. Once she stopped twitching and blinked expectantly a couple times, he spoke.

"I'll answer in the order you asked. Fine, just a little tired. Your text from a week ago was very explanatory of your absence. Let me up and, why, yes, my ribs are sore from where a bunny cannonball hit me a few seconds ago. Now, will you behave and let me up?"

Judy nodded a little sheepishly and was rewarded with having her head released. She dismounted her companion and helped him to his feet, while trying and failing to surreptitiously check him for injuries. He looked rough. Nowhere near as bad as he had been when he'd knocked over a building to prove a point, though. His clothes were stained and a bit worn, but not ratty. He had bags under his eyes instead of steamer trunks and the set of his shoulders didn't have his old stress, even if they were riding higher than she liked.

"Hopps, do you want to just give me a once over so you can stop panicking?"

"Am I being that obvious?"

"Excruciatingly," the fox chortled. "I'm not hurt and while I'm glad to be missed so enthusiastically, I have to wonder what set you up for such an extreme presumption."

"Sorry, what?"

"What made you think I was hurt, rabbit?"

"I heard about the earthquake…" Judy began, feeling somewhat subdued.

Understanding dawned on the fox and he smirked down at the bunny. "And assumed I'd be doing something insane to protect the city, yes?"

"Yes." The more she thought about it, the more Judy realized she'd only been working herself up based on her assumptions, not evidence. She didn't even try to hide the embarrassed blush that suffused her face. "You aren't, are you?"

"Something like pulling enough of the city into myself to become an eldritch colossus and smite the incoming shockwave before it can cause wreck and ruin?" Seeing her wringing her paws with eyes the size of dinner plates made him feel a little guilty for winding he up. But only a little. "I'm not, Carrots. Deep breath."

"Then what are you doing?"

"Well, now, we're having an awkward conversation dancing around what you're actually curious about before I ask about your conversation with the Chief and that Swinton character."

"You knew?" She blinked up at him, surprised.

In response, Nick held up a finger. "Prior to you appearing like a panicked bullet, I was enjoying a soda and waiting for the wave to hit."

Now, Judy had a quandary. There were two lines of questioning she needed to pursue, but she only could handle one at a time. Police procedure usually dictated that the most urgent took priority and, in this case, she agreed. However, she was not pleased at the implications of the second. "I'm assuming that the city is safe, then?"

"You already know the answer to that," he replied.

"You wouldn't be so relaxed if there was a threat."

"This isn't the first earthquake to hit the city," Nick explained. "Old news."

"So what did you do?" she asked, curiosity peaked.

"The city is designed to handle events like these; fail-safes and redundancy systems all over. All I did was reinforce the Walls and safeguard a few of the more sensitive points of the infrastructure. In a few hours the waters will recede, the cleanup crews will move in and then life will be back to normal with minor property damage and a little inconvenience being the worst of the damage, all billed to City Hall and applied to the Emergency Events Fund."

Judy felt ridiculous. He was right, of course.

The brow he arched at her emphasized her over reaction. He was anything but stupid and she had no reason to believe that he was suicidal. "Did you really believe I was going to do something like that?"

Judy crossed her paws and eyed him. "The first night we went out together, you knocked over a building to prove a point."

The fox at least had the decency to look a little sheepish. "Fair point. Though, I would like to point out that I was also showing off a little."

"You don't say…"

"Did it work?"

She rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling. "You certainly accomplished the showing off part."

"Oh, come on. You were impressed."

"How could I not be? That, however, isn't the point." Nick raised an eyebrow at the pointed shift in conversation. "How did you know I was in a meeting with the Chief and that pig?"

Nick shrugged. "Your text told me to stay away after I told you I'd give you some space. It was a little out of character, so I checked in, quietly."

Long ears perked in surprise. She hadn't noticed him around at any point. "When?"

"When you were talking to Nads," Nick explained while Judy attempted to cover her laughter with a cough.

"It's Officer Fangmeyer until she gives you permission to call her anything else."

"Then, I'll have to wait until our double date, won't I?" Nick waggled his brows.

Her ears turned red. "That depends. I may have to suspend those privileges depending on how the rest of this goes."

"I knew it!" he announced dramatically, throwing his paws into the air. "You're tired of me already."

"What? NO! I haven't even…" Judy saw him fighting not to laugh at her reaction and slugged him in the shoulder. "Jerk. I'm not sure I'm happy with you spying on me."

"First off, ow!" Nick said as he rubbed his shoulder. "Secondly, I didn't spy on you. I checked in on you, but once I saw you weren't hurt I backed off. I heard your masterful abuse of position in forcing Naddie and her new boyfriend out on their first date. Well done."

"Hang on. They really did?"

"Exactly as ordered," Nick confirmed

"I couldn't expect more, I suppose." Judy nodded her head, somewhat mollified. That was, until Nick held up a claw.

"I said they went out as ordered. The night didn't end as ordered, even remotely."

"They didn't…"

"They didn't."

Judy punched him, again. "Tease."

Nick flinched, rubbing his arm this time. "You have no idea, but I never said it didn't end well. Naddie Fangmeyer had been waiting for that goodnight kiss for a long, long time. When she got it, it quickly got out of paw…"

"You better not have spied on their evening together."

As Judy side-eyed him, Nick held up his paws innocently. "Believe it or not, the City herself sent me to avert a small issue or two on their evening out."

"She didn't…"

"She didn't," he assured her. Judy wasn't sure, but his ears may have gotten a little redder as he continued. "Ahem, but I did make sure the sprinklers didn't soak them on their walk after dinner. There might also have been a voucher for a wine tasting on a RD dirigible flight for that night only that may or may not have found its way into Greg's mailbox that morning."

"You are such a sap."

"Tell that to the claw marks on Fangmeyer's front door." Judy's slack-jawed look of delight had him grinning in turn for the results of his efforts. "I told you it got out of paw."

"What happened?"

"A gentlemammal doesn't speak of such things." Nick replied with an attempt at a snooty, upper-class accent.

"It's a good thing I know you aren't one, then." Judy snarked back.

"Madam, you offend! I am a gentlemammal of the first water."

"You can be. You're also a first class jerk and a complete tease when you in the mood, Now drop the act and tell me how it went!"

"You really care about your coworkers, huh?"

"I care about my friends, yes. well?"

"I only checked in as I could during the night, but I caught a few good highlights. The winetasting loosened them up enough that they left the dirigible ride holding paws. I missed dinner, but caught them trading bites from their desserts." NIck grinned down at her. "Feeding each other. So cute."

Judy squealed. "What next" what next?"

"Are you the gossip queen of the precinct or something?"

"That's Clawhauser, no give!"

Nick sighed and smiled. "Alright, alright. After dinner, they went for a walk in the RD. I tampered with the timers to give them an extra couple minutes to get out of the way before the hourly rain."

"Sap."

"Shut up." Judy stuck out her tongue and Nick rolled his eyes before continuing. "Everything went swimmingly until he got her back to her front door. Did you know she owns a townhome?"

"Yes, I did, now get to the good part!"

"I believe they'd been teasing each other throughout their walk home. Something about canid and felid dating customs, but it came to a head at her door. She said something about, and I quote, "Wolfies needing a girl to do all the work". Then, he reached up and pulled her into a kiss that surprised her quite a lot."

"He didn't."

"He did. He's a pretty good kisser from what I saw. She grabbed the door frame to steady herself as her knees gave out and peeled a few gouges out of the wood. When he broke the kiss, he said "that's just to get us started. We're pretty aggressive once we know it's welcome." She seemed to like that."

"What did she say?"

"It's welcome."

Judy was hopping for glee and squealing. "What next?"

"Nothing."

"What?"

"I didn't stay for the makeout session. I felt creepy as it was seeing that much."

Judy could only shake her head. In a few short minutes, her panic had turned to good humor. The relief was sweet, but not without its drawbacks. In the absence of her fear, Judy knew it was only a matter of time until Nick worked out what it meant. If she stopped lying to herself, he probably already knew. He'd been miles ahead of her at every step. She was just starting to realize it and appreciate his patience and discipline when he demonstrated it again.

"So… How was work?" he asked, deftly turning the conversation away from himself.

Her eyeroll was adorable to him and accompanied by a groan that bespoke of ultimate suffering. A gross overstatement, perhaps, but her hamming it up made it feel theatrical enough to fit the film.

"That's your segue?" Judy grouse around a bemused smile. "Couldn't you be mildly serious?"

"Inconceivable."

"Oh, fine… It was work," she replied with a shrug.

"Really?"

Judy smiled and hummed her satisfaction at irritating him in turn. "You started it."

"Then, I'll ask the relevant question." His expression became serious as he asked her, "Is it still Officer Hopps?"

"It is!" Judy crowed triumphantly.

"Is it Detective Hopps?"

"Most definitely."

"If you're still Detective Sergeant after all this, I'm jumping." One foot raised, he pantomimed going over the edge of the wall.

Judy snorted at him, nose twitching slightly with amusement. "You'd land safe and sound, so big whoop."

"Will you just spill, already?" he asked insistently, playing it up for her. The giggle and a wide grin he got told him he did something right.

"How much do you know?"

"IA, pig, load of BS," he counted off on his fingers. "The punchline, please?"

"For one thing, It's not Detective Sergeant. I am now Detective Lieutenant Hopps of the Interpol Task Force," she reported proudly.

"My, my… Moving up in the world, aren't we?"

"I wasn't finished," she chastised him lightly by waggling a finger at him. The rabbit then straightened to her full, diminutive, height, hands on her hips and shoulders back. "I am now Detective Lieutenant Hopps head of the Interpol Task Force."

The look of shock on his face was picture perfect. "You're what?"

"You heard me. My task force."

"Don't those go to Captain, or higher?"

"My captaincy is contingent on six months of successful work at the helm. Someone finally decided to give a little guy a real chance to lead. It just came with a big, fat load of cross-checking and a pathetic attempt by an IA special investigator to push her personal political agenda. I am on 100% probation for the duration of this command, but if they think they're getting rid of me after all this, they can kiss my fluffy little tail."

"Wow, fluff…" he began, voice cracking. "Congratulations." So many expressions flitted across his face that Judy had a hard time separating them all, but she didn't need to. Opening her senses, she read his aura and winced slightly at what she saw there. There was genuine happiness for her, though it was overwhelmed by something close to despair.

Judy's ears fell to half-mast as she leaned forward to meet his gaze. "Now, why do you look so sad? It's not like I'm going anywhere."

"You made your Choice."

"I did, but not the one you're assuming."

"Oh?" A tiny ray of hope curled through him, despite all attempts to suppress it.

"I fought like hell for my job, yes, but it was with you as my partner on the books. I'm not doing this job without you."

"That is a relief. I've rather gotten used to getting a paycheck." The attempt at a joke fell flat at their feet and the forced chuckle came out sounding like a croak.

"I'm still not finished." It was heartbreaking to see the assumptions clouding around him; loss, resignation, loneliness. All things he knew well and expected back at his doorstep the moment she gave him the final blow. He didn't see how she would ever choose him and she hadn't, as far as he saw it. She felt cruel for going about it in this way, but she deserved a little payback for his endless teases and remonstrations for patience. Her patience was at an end.

Before he could start closing himself off she grabbed the lapels of his shirt and yanked him down. His paws reached for the railings to catch himself, leaving him wide open for a crushing kiss. Gone was her fear and hesitance. She knew what she wanted and he was damn well going to get that here and now. She opened herself completely and put everything she had into the press of lips.

Nick wanted to react, to do anything, really, but his mind was taking messages. He was too busy being overwhelmed by a tsunami. The shockwave made landfall when their lips met and Nick knew which was the greater force of nature to be reckoned with. Whatever darkness had been in her was gone and he was finding out firsthand how strong she was. Their lips parted and one dip of her tongue had him hooked.

His brain melted.

When she pulled away, he was on his knees, holding the now partly melted railings for support. It pleased her to see his fur really was sparking.

"While I have your attention, there are three things you should know. One I know foxes mate for life culturally, not by nature, so I know it was a bluff. Two, you make a lot of assumptions. Three…" Judy held his face so they were eye to eye. Her gaze bore through him like a diamond drill. "I made my choice. I'll have my badge and my magic." She kissed him again; a crushing, bruising expression of how serious she was and, she hoped, enough to convince him. Breaking the kiss, she pulled him down hard and growled into his ear, "And I'll have you. Now, come and get me."