Chief Bogo pushed aside his reading glasses to rub his eyes. Hours on end of sitting in his office looking over a seemingly never-ending stack of paperwork and reports left his eyes strained. He was relying on the damn glasses more and more. Tedious at the best of times, the explosion of paperwork, forms, press releases, and public relations events that had followed the Night Howler Incident continued to roll in day after day. So, a psychotic sheep had developed a drug that turned mammals savage in an attempt to force a Predator/Prey war, yep, that's a really bad day in Zootopia. Oh, that psychotic sheep was the vice mayor of the city? And the actual mayor was arrested for trying to cover it all up? Yeah, not a great way to build trust in government leadership. And all I did was tell her to write parking tickets! Bogo thought with a tired smile.
The knock at his door offered him some relief, and Benjamin Clawhauser opened the door. The roundish cheetah couldn't claim to be much of a street officer, but he offered a friendly face at reception, and right now Bogo needed more friendly faces. Besides, Bogo always suspected that the large cat was just a little bit smarter and more perceptive than he let on.
"Bullpen's full and awaiting your command, chief. Also that squirrel from city forensics called again for a meeting, persistent little dickens, isn't she? I ought to introduce her to my Aunt Brenda, she always says that the doctors give up too quickly when she's telling them what's wrong with her, this one time she had a headache for a whole week and—"
"IS that all, Clawhouser?" Bogo interrupted as he gathered up a stack of files and headed for the door.
"Oh nooo, chief, there were actually a lot of things wrong with Aunt Brenda. She had this one spot, well, she had lots of spots as a cheetah, but this one that looked like a porcupine and—" The hefty cheetah finally caught the look on Chief Bogo's face. "Oh, right, yes, well, you do need to assign Hopps another partner rotation. She finished with Francine yesterday."
Traditionally, new ZPD officers spent some time rotating amongst more experienced officers and assignments. A month of patrol with officer Delgato in Sahara Square would teach you many things, but not how to deal with a canopy collapse in the rainforest district. The academy did its best to train all officers to operate in all conditions, but a degree of specialization was inevitable and sometimes invaluable. Due to her rather unique situation, Hopps had seen her rotations speed up. 'The higher ups know no other officer is going to give that fox a chance.'
"Well, maybe it's time we throw our bunny into the deep end," Bogo said stepping out of his office and heading towards the bullpen. "Radio Russano and let him know he's going to have some company for a while, so he should actually be in his office today."
"Russano!" Clawhouser said with a squeak of surprise. "You're going to give the bunny to Stonepaw? Sir, as if the night howlers weren't enough, you want her to survive that old badger?"
"Yep" was his simple response. She and that fox will have to deal with far worse soon enough.
Judy scrambled up to her customary seat at the front table for the daily brief. She had enjoyed her time with Francine despite the fact she was starting to develop a crick in her neck from looking up at the elephant. Living as a smaller mammal could sometimes give the impression that life must be simpler for the larger types, but a few weeks working with Francine and watching her navigate crowded streets without leaving a crushed ferret or mole behind proved that bigger wasn't always better. Well, until you need a door knocked down. Elephants are handy for that, she thought to herself. Still the large elephant could be remarkably nimble.
The thunder of paws, hooves, and growls brought Judy's attention back to the door as Chief Bogo came into the briefing room. Judy slapped the table herself a few times in solidarity.
"All right, settle down!" he grumbled. Both the ruckus and Bogo's feigned distaste for it were long established procedure.
"Listen up, looks like it's another day in paradise for us. Got a prey rights march next week coming down Kinabalu Street. Francine, you'll be working with two officers from Precinct 3. I don't want any repeat of the smashed windows like last time." Adjusting his small glasses, Bogo continued. "Snarlov, Grizolli, we've got reports of break ins in Tundra Town, high end electronics and cooling systems."
Judy listened as Bogo assigned everyone in the room. It's like the first day all over again, she thought in puzzlement as the room cleared out. She had hoped that along with cracking the missing mammals case and saving the city from a power-hungry sheep, the respect of her fellow officers would naturally follow. Sure, there were fewer looks of outright hostility and more of amused curiosity, but Judy still caught the looks and eye rolls that followed her through the Precinct halls. Hell, even that car thief started laughing when I cuffed him. Climb one hill and another awaits.
"Sir?" Judy called as Chief Bogo started to walk out of the room. "You seem to have forgotten one officer." She had to walk quickly, almost bouncing as she followed him out into the hall.
"Oh, I didn't forget you, Hopps. Till my dying day, I won't forget you. I'm naming my carpal tunnel after you and the fox." His tone was characteristically gruff, still Judy suspected that he was one of the few in the station who's respect she had earned, somewhat.
"Besides exposing a conspiracy that has decapitated our city's leadership, bungling a press conference, and nearly setting back interspecies relationships by decades, you've proven to be an adequate officer, so it's about time we take the training wheels off."
"Thank you for the praise, sir, I think. So does this mean no more rotations, full assignment?"
"Nope. Not just yet," was all Bogo would say, heading downstairs towards the old basement.
"I'm ready, sir! I don't need another babysitter." They were in the oldest part of ZPD Headquarters now, far below the newer glittery public entrance hall. Looking around, Judy wasn't sure she had even been down into these mostly dark offices. Winding around another corner Judy nearly ran into Bogo, who had stopped in front of an old wooden door. Its label had long rusted, or fallen off.
"One last partner to season you up, Hopps. Besides, if the fox makes it through the academy he'll need a partner with fewer rough edges."
"When he makes it, Chief."
Bogo shrugged and swung open the door. "Russano, I've brought you a bunny."
The office was sparse. A mostly empty bookshelf ran along one wall and a few metal filing cabinets took up the back. A large desk and a few upholstered seats sat in the middle of the room, but it was the large badger who drew Judy's attention. With fur that may have once been black but was now turned grey except for one midnight black circle around his right eye, Russano appeared to be an officer who had simply been too busy to attend his own retirement.
"Bogo… we have an agreement," the badger said, his voice low but resonant, his eyes locked with the buffalo.
"She doesn't have time for the usual training… you know what's she'll face out there better than anyone," Bogo said, not breaking eye contact.
"I'm Judy. I can hold my own if you haven't noticed," she said striding forward her paw outstretched towards the badger hoping to break the tension. Neither looked down at her.
"And when they peel this one off the street, if there is even that much left?" Russano asked not bothering to glance at Judy. The badger loomed over Judy but was himself dwarfed by the Cape buffalo. Yet glancing between them it struck Judy that she was witnessing a metaphorical horn locking of two equals. To her surprise, it was Chief Bogo who broke eye contact and glanced away.
"Russano, please, I don't have any great options. It's not like I bother you a whole lot down here," he gestured around the old office. "I have to ask the maintenance zebras to check that you're still alive."
Russano let out a grunt that may have kindly been called a chuckle before finally glancing down at the bunny standing between the two of them. "So this is the shining light of tomorrow, huh? Got the lion and the lamb to lie down and share a prison cell, saved the city?"
"Well, I had help, but yeah, we took down Bellwether," Judy said. This day was turning out to be a bit more complicated than she had expected. "And yeah, I suppose we did something to save this city," Judy finished, stubbornly meeting the badger's eyes. If this was another test she sure as hell was going to pass it.
"Don't see why you bothered." Russano fixed his stone-eyed gaze on Judy, and now it was her turn to lock horns with the old badger. Trying to put on her most determined look Judy stared back into the black pools of his eyes. Searching her face for what felt like minutes, Russano apparently found what he wanted.
"Change into civvies, loading dock in twenty minutes or I leave you behind," he said, turning his back on them both and walking towards his desk. Judy glanced up as Bogo let out a small sigh of relief.
"Dismissed, Hopps, and I suggest you be there early."
Judy didn't need any more prompting to hurry out of that basement office. She'd have to ask Clawhouser where the hell the loading dock was.
"I think this one might surprise you. Not a lot of fear in her," Bogo said to his old comrade as he walked out the door.
"And that's why she'll get herself or someone else killed," Russano muttered after him.
Alone again in his office, Russano sat down and let out a long exhale before looking up towards a spot on the top of his bookshelf, only then did a small tired smile form.
"Fine, one last time…. again."