The Fox, the Bunny, and the Zootopia

File #04: Covert and Covered

It's about time to run a case. Well, read it out!

It was roughly five in the morning. The sun hadn't risen yet. The streets were quiet as the stars, contrasting how loud and full they were in the day. Some people already awoke and were doing their agenda for this morning whether it was watering the garden, washing the cars, jogging, cleaning shops, and so on. Barely any star could be seen in the sky because of the streetlamps, shining every day, beating the starlight, making the stars disappear in the night like they always were in the bright of day. No one in the city was in a serious business at this time except for the cops.

It was early morning for a special occasion in the ZPD. There were about twenty officers in the briefing room all fresh already. Some of them were sleepy, but they were ready to work. Among them all, in the front row sharing the same chair were Officers Judy Hopps and Nicholas Wilde. Judy, as always, was energetic and enthusiastic for her assignment. She wore her uniform with tie and belt as the one she usually wore was being cleaned. Beside her was Nick, ZPD's only fox and he made his face with half-eyes, this time though, he was truly sleepy.

Judy already told Nick to sleep early yesterday so he could wake up early and follows the briefing with easy. But apparently he didn't hear her. He was a total mess. His badge was upside down, his hat was off angle, his belt wasn't tight, and all the worse he couldn't seem to stay awake a lot longer. Judy constantly shakes his body, slap him, pinching him, practically everything she could do to keep him awake. Really, Judy knew Nick was a con artist, specifically a lazy con artist, which means that his every day was in his control and he could take a rest anytime – and that more or less made him lazy – but she really hoped that would change when he became a cop. Well, he didn't.

Several minutes went away and right then Chief Bogo came in, as fierce, tough, and menacing as always - a total opposite of Nick. He went to the front of the room where he put down the folders in his hooves. "Okay officers, sit down," he said and everyone that hadn't get their butt on a chair immediately sit down. "First of all I want to apologize for making this emergency briefing, which is out of schedule," then he had his eyes sweep the room as the officers before him nodded in understanding. "Okay, so this information arrived last night at nine from one of our informants. He-," the chief suddenly stopped when his eyes landed on the sleepy – well, now sleeping – fox. The chief reached something from under his table and threw it at Judy. "Hopps, wake him up."

The chief couldn't blame Nick for being sleepy. It was five in the morning. The fact he was here was enough to proof that Nick was adjusting with being a cop, which was waking up earlier, being discipline, etc. Newbies came to work sleepy, but after a while, they'll get used to it. They just need time, and Chief Bogo knew very well how it felt to come to your first morning call.

Judy caught the thing Chief Bogo threw, which was a water spray. The bunny looked at the buffalo with a raised brow and he just nodded. Judy took aim and unleashed barrage of water shots which knocked Nick awake, gaping in surprise.

"Bloody-!" he shot up and looked around him where all beings in the room look at him and he sit down, eyes open.

"Okay. I'll continue with the information," the chief said as he opened the first folder and put his glasses on. "Deal at twelve in the alley beside Beau Plains hotel. Dealer is Costra Barata. Hostiles seen are three panthers, a bear, and two wolves. Armed with medium-range guns. Two cars. Bogey-One in the second."

Everyone in the room even Nick – now fully conscious – except for Judy gasped when the name mentioned, making the bunny swinging her head in confusion. "Who's Bogey-One?" they all stopped talking and looked at her.

The chief peered at Nick and nodded. "Remember when I told you about crime bosses? He's one of them," the fox explained. "He is known for illegal weapon dealership and he got a number loyal body guards to back his up during a transaction."

"Originally operated in the Rainforest District, Bogey-One was as slippery as soap," a wolf officer with gray fur in uniform said from the back row. "Many times we tried to grab that soap, but as it kept slip away, it kept going on far. One day after several attempts to arrest him, we found an evidence of his presence just five blocks from here."

"Why couldn't we catch him?" the bunny asked, turning her body to the wolf's direction.

"Apparently his deals are made just one to three days from the transaction date. When we actually find the evidence, he was days away."

Judy crossed her arms. "Well, that's fast." A spice of disbelief was in her voice.

"Yeah you can trust, Terra," a hippo a row in front of the wolf said. "He was assigned to arrest this slippery dealer since the first case but he failed each time." The wolf, Terra Veil, narrowed his eyes at him. "Whoa chill out. We know how hard it is to catch that criminal. The officers in this room, but you two, were assigned to catch him, but they failed too." The other officers were a bit annoyed but could only nod in agreement.

"Okay, got it," Judy said, registering the information in her brain. "Continue, please."

The chief continued flipping pages. "Costra Barata is a honey badger that works as chemistry. I don't know what Bogey-One wants with him, but we have to take this chance to arrest Bogey-One. This criminal got away from our hands too many times he must've let his guard down. As this is our first fast information on Bogey-One, we'll act ASAP. Understand?" The officers nodded in unity.

"Our operation involves our fox, Officer Wilde, to go undercover." Nick's grin appeared suddenly. "Found out that our friend is quite famous among the city bends and criminals, including Costra. We'll have you convince Costra to assist him when he made the deal. The others are to go undercover as well and guard the surrounding area of Beau Plains. Hopps, you're assigned to patrol the other side of Savanna Central with Officers Drennan and Trist." the buffalo said but quickly peered at the bunny, seeing a negative opinion from her face. "It is possible that it would end up a shooting, but don't worry. Just try to tranquilize them and stall them. Your backs are covered."

Nick grinned ear-to-ear seeing Judy's face. "Come on, he has a reason," he whispered.

Judy sighed lightly. "It better be a valid one."

The chief roll called the officers as they got up and picked up their files, leaving Judy and Nick the last.

Before he could continue, Judy stood on the chair and raised her paw. "Sir, why didn't I get assigned to catch Bogey-One?"

Chief Bogo raised a hoof. "Let me finish the briefing." Judy sat down, waiting for an explanation. "You're pretty famous as well as the police that solved the Night Howler case back then. Bogey-One must've watched the news too. That's why I'm assigning you to the other side so you could create a diversion which, coincidentally, is in the direction that wasn't covered by our guys just now. So as soon as Bogey-One realized that there's a gap in the encirclement . . ." he slammed a fist his table. "You arrest him. Don't tell Drennan or Trist. Wilde, your job is to plant this . . ." he picked up a small rectangular object. ". . . to Bogey-One's car."

"And what in the world is that?" Nick said as the clock ticked to six.

"A tracker and taping device. We will take a chance of his words in there before we arrest him and we won't take any risk of him getting away again. Got it?" he said as he handed a folder to each officer.

Judy sighed in relief. At least she got some action. She and Nick both gave the chief a salute and they got out from the room. Judy was thoughtful and Nick decided to ask her what she had in mind. They stopped at their desks while other officers were entering work.

"What's up?" Nick said, snapping Judy back to real world.

Judy took a drink of her water bottle before answering. "I'm worried about you, Nicky. If this ended a shooting you could get shot. I knew it, I should make the chief reconsider putting me in the encirclement," she stood and went past Nick but was stopped when the latter grabbed her hand. She looked at him and he shook his head.

Nick gestured for her to sit down. "Here are some things to think: you know well how good my aim is." Judy frowned at the memory when she and Nick had a showdown in the shooting range. "Besides, I'm a former con artist, remember? I'm used to get meddled up in this kind of mess and handling blockheads," he explained, trying to get Judy to understand. "Just focus on catching him, alright?" He stood and walked away.

Judy went silent to think for a while before sighing. "Fine. Make sure you get back in one piece!" she raised the volume a bit because he was getting farther. She got an 'OK' sign of hand from him.

Really, that one fox could give her heart attacks sometimes, but that's why they're very close. She knew she could trust him and he knew he could trust her. Sometimes, though, their lives were the cost. It was hard, trusting and such while their very job was practically facing danger every day. It would be fine if they were in an assignment together, they wouldn't have to worry much. But when separated, each couldn't help to worry about the other. That's where trust must remained strong.

It was midday. Judy and her companions were in her car with her driving them toward the area they were assigned with. They were surprisingly silent, making Judy nervous as she wasn't really comfortable with silence, at least for a long time. Judy looked at them several times and when she did, she found them rather annoyed for something. Maybe because they were assigned to something that have to relation to Bogey-One. If they don't get to catch him, then why the heck they were included to the list of officers to be there?

She had to try to talk. "So you guys are Travis Drennan and Lahar Trist, right?" she said, not letting her sight off the road. "Which one of you is which?"

Both peered at her. Then, the tiger said, "I'm Travis, he's Lahar." But just that. He didn't even ask her name or something to prolong the conversation.

"Well, uh, nice to meet you," Judy said awkwardly.

They were doing their assignment of patrolling when several minutes then, a report of an accident caught their ears and the location was directly on the area they was assigned in so the chief decided to have the three help the officers there.

A few minutes then, Judy walked out from the car followed by Travis and Lahar, observing the surrounding environment. This case she was assigned to was an accident downtown. Bus versus car. Not good. There were glass shrapnel everywhere on three roads. The bus ran onto a large tree while the car splashed into a lake.

"Who are we looking again?" Judy asked to her companions.

"I forgot," Travis said before glancing at the other. "Lahar?"

"It's Garret. You won't miss him. Big bulky bear," he said to Judy, hands crossed.

Then, Judy saw a bear in uniform overseeing the scene. She approached him, trying to look as professional as possible. "Excuse me, are you Officer Garret Whiteout?"

The bear turned around after he heard a voice. "I am. What can I help you?"

Judy shivered when she heard his answer. His voice was very deep. Not to mention his strict expression that was colder than what Chief Bogo make most of the time. Behind her, Travis and Lahar chuckled at her reaction. "Officer Judy Hopps, sir, assigned here alongside Officers Travis Drennan and Lahar Trist under your command to work on this case." She said that all while keeping a straight face, not wanting to be seen as just a dreamer bunny.

Silence persisted for almost a minute when Garret burst out laughing. Travis and Lahar couldn't help themselves from laughing too, leaving Judy dumbfounded. "Chillax, Judy. No need to be that formal," he said while softened up. Judy just sighed off while easing her stance. "Only a handful of officers actually care about formality, like our chief. You know, that 'sir!' and stuff. But not me and neither Travis or Lahar over there." He pointed at the two.

"Yeah, we just like to mess with green leaves," Lahar said.

Travis crossed his arms. "No offense."

Judy giggled in her own amusement. "You got me." She put up a smile, which they returned genuinely. "Well, what's the status?"

"Bus versus truck. A drunken zebra struggled to control his car when a bus with seven passengers came by. Nearly avoiding collision, the bus crashed onto a tree while the car submerged in the lake," he explained quickly.

"Nasty," Travis put his paw to his chin. "Any survivor?"

"We're evacuating the bus' passengers and driver. The drunken driver was missing, though. An eye witness saw him jumped from the car before it submerged."

Lahar walked forward to have a better view of the lake and the car's back end sticking out from the water surface with officers surrounding it. "It's a perimeter search then."

"Looks like it."

Before Garret could say anymore word, a loud sound was heard, an explosion. It was from the other side of Savanna Central. A pillar of smoke went up to the sky. Everyone in the area instantly had their sight to the smoke. Some even recorded it with their phone. The vehicles stopped moving, the drivers got out to see what happened, of course it made the traffic jammed and horns were noisy.

"What is that?" Garret said, putting his hat on.

Just after that, Judy gasped as realization struck her mind. Without second thoughts, she rushed past the three officers and the crowd toward her car.

"Nick!"

And cut! It's split into two, my dear readers! Stay tuned to know what happened! Let's just hope Nick's OK there.