[A/N] This begins part two / book two of my Wildehopps story. I chose to keep them together instead of as separate stories so that everyone who has followed and favorited this story can continue to get updates.

Title: Loves Bond

Summary: Nick and Judy are now dating, but how will their blooming relationship influence their jobs and how will it effect the city as a whole?

A fox is a curious thing. As a canidae and a predator they are quite strong, but they are also quick and agile. This deft agility, combined with their nimble wits and artful cunning has helped them to survive in the modern mammal world, but it has also allowed them to be given harsh and unjust labels such as 'thief' and 'liar.' The truth is that they are quite intelligent and beautiful mammals.

Red foxes, also known as a reynard, from an old world myth, have a very attractive pattern in the colors of their fur. A burnt, reddish-orange covers most of their body and is where the species gets its name. As if to add an accent to their beautiful fur, the ends of their extremities deepen from dark red to a rich black. Their forearms and forepaws, hind paws, tops of each pointed ear, and the tips of their long, bushy tails have this dark red coloring.

Fox fur isn't all red and black, they have a softer, more playful side as well. Starting from under their chin is a pale streak of cream-colored fur that runs all the way down their neck, across their chest and under their waist. Everywhere this lighter fur touches, is also extremely sensitive to scritching, even the long, thick tufts that fill their fascinating, triangular shaped ears likes to be scratched.

Delicately perched on each side of their long, elegant heads are two round, green eyes which seem to take in every detail that crosses their path. Fox's eyes are so sensitive that they can almost see perfectly well in starlight as other mammals could at noon. During the day, the bright light can cause those sparkling green gems to burn and water until rivers of tears run down their fluffy, red cheeks, matting the fur as it goes. Many foxes that are forced to venture into the city during the daylight hours will wear dark glasses to protect their precious vision.

A long, noble snout protrudes from their prominent muzzle with an ever present, yet dignified smirk. Three colors define and accentuate a fox's jaw. Red-orange covers the upper jaw and long nose like a warm blanket, while a shiny, coal-black button sits on its very tip. Soft, cream-colored fur surrounds the lips and covers the protracted chin where the todd loves a good scratching by letting out a soft whine and twitching a hind paw. As elegant as the fox's snout may seem, it holds a dangerous secret.

The sharp teeth that are used to cut and slice the fox's food, are perfectly polished, gleaming in the midday sun whenever they smile. They always bring with them a sense of danger and excitement when they choose to make an appearance. Over the centuries it has been taboo for many predators to show their teeth openly, and in recent times it has even become a harsh insult. However fox teeth, when properly cared for, can be quite attractive, especially the longer, front canines.

The most charming feature of the fox is also the most honest. His long, bushy tail gives him a great deal of balance and is so fluffy it can be used as a spare blanket. He always takes good care of his tail, but at the end of the day it is always full of knots and tangles and needs to have a good brushing each night before bed. As useful as the long brush may be, it also tends to have a mind of its own and expresses louder than words what the fox is feeling. The tail is always very truthful and honest.

Foxes also make very good runners when they want to be. He has a lot of endurance which allows him to keep going when other mammals would quickly tire and give up. With only a minimal amount of physical training, the fox is able to run for miles without slowing or breathing heavy. Despite being in his middle years, he is in the best condition of his life.

City foxes also have very good memories, they seem to remember the smallest of details about their surroundings and can perfectly describe someone they have only just met, even weeks after that meeting. They can devour an entire textbook full of rules and regulations then, days later, still summarize its contents. It is quite scary how they can recall even the smallest detail of a case, or what the witnesses said months after that case has been closed.

Despite all of their sleek intelligence and charm, fashion is still lost on the fox. Dreadful, might be a good word to describe his poor sense of fashion, or maybe even horrific. His choice of flashy pawaiian shirts is tragic and the way he can't even tuck in the tails of those shirts makes him look like such a deplorable slob. The fox seems to put a great deal of effort into trying to impress his fellow mammals, but at the end of the day, he fails every time.

And those horrible ties! With their awful patterns that must have been deliberately chosen to clash grossly with his bright green shirts. In no way do they add any improvement to the fox's outward appearance. And to add insult to injury, he simply cannot properly tie one to save his own life. It is always lopsided and the knot seems to hang loose, in a sloppy, uncaring fashion. It's such a shock that foxes can even dress themselves at all without the help of a caring paw.

Foxes are also quite charming and witty. They always know how to tell a good joke to brighten your day when you are feeling blue, or gray. Even after years of being downtrodden by the city and treated like dishonest scum, he still has a heart of gold and will often go out of his way to help a mammal in need.

The entrancing way that he snores at night can be quite adorable at times. It starts with a deep rumble in his chest that slowly rises up his long throat and escapes through his jaws as a boar-like grunt. Next, on the exhale, it becomes a stuttering whine that causes his entire body to shake, leaving his tail twitching. The whole effect is quite charming and dare say, "Cute."

Kissing the fox's long muzzle is such a wonderful experience that it can tickle the toes. His lips are warm and soft while his sharp nose is particularly cold and wet. The teeth are sharp but feel exhilarating to press against inside his long muzzle. It's easy to pull him closer while grasping his muzzle and soft cheek fur. He will close those enchanting, green eyes as he puckers his lips and his tail will begin to swish back and forth to a rhythm all its own. Fox kisses are truly an amazing experience.

"Devilishly handsome," a soft voice drifted across the car, like a distant breeze floating up a narrow valley.

"What?" the uniformed police rabbit looked up from the steering wheel like she was waking from a long dream and turned to the fox sitting in the bucket seat next to her. Judy had been driving around Savanna Central uneventfully in her large police cruiser for what felt like several hours and her mind had wandered off again, while her paws continued to control the car instinctively.

Nick laid the cell phone he had been holding down onto his lap and turned his long, sharp snout to look back at the rabbit. With a bright sparkle in his emerald green eyes he opened his jaws and spoke, "You forgot to add that foxes are also devilishly handsome, Carrots."

This fox was dressed in a rich-blue police uniform that had been hastily donned earlier that morning. The tie barely met the ZPD's standards of acceptable dress and his shirt seemed to be coming loose in the back and Judy's fingers itched every time she saw them. Several bulky items of police gear were strapped at his waist, making him look wider than he actually was. His badge hung proudly on the front of his uniform, causing the fox to subconsciously puff out his chest whenever he wore it.

The ZPD's first fox officer shared in his partner's boredom. They had driven from one side of the city district to the other without encountering so much as a routine traffic stop since breakfast. While the rabbit drove, he had spent most of the morning on a new phone app that let him buy and sell virtual coins any time of the day. Judy, on the other paw, was stuck behind the wheel and got the exclusive privilege to stare at the morning traffic all day and it was obvious to anyone who knew the high-strung bunny, that she was looking for something more exciting than today's routine patrol.

Excitement in their line of work was usually a bad sign and the fox always savored any downtime that came their way. His small, gray partner, however, was quite the opposite, she thrived on danger and turmoil. When the world was in chaos, this rabbit was at her best, she practically fed off of the stuff. It wasn't that she would go out of her way to cause trouble, but she often had a hard time sitting still.

Gripping the steering wheel tightly in both paws, Judy stared blankly at the street ahead. Her mind lost in the distance, she even failed to notice as the light that hung across the intersection changed from yellow to red as her cruiser passed underneath. "Foxes are not made by the devil," she declared under her breath.

"Wait, what?" It was the fox's turn to stare at the rabbit in puzzlement.

"Oh, it's nothing," the rabbit shook her head to clear the fog as she stopped the black and white police car at the next intersection before the light could change. "Just something my Pop-pop used to say."

The fox's jaw dropped and his eyes opened wide. He placed a paw over his chest and the hurt in his voice seemed sincere, "Your dad thinks that foxes were made by the devil?"

"No silly," she reached across the empty space between them and placed her paw gently on his arm. "Pop-pop was my great grandfather and was never afraid to share his opinions with the world, whether we wanted to hear them or not." She squeezed his arm and gave him a warm wink, "You have nothing to worry about, because I know it's not true."

Looking down at the small, gray paw resting on his arm, he grasped it with his much larger one while a smirk crossed his sharp muzzle, "And how would you know if it's true?"

She squeezed her tiny fingers between his much larger ones and returned his sly smirk with one of her own. Tilting her head, she threw back her ears and made a clicking sound between her tongue and cheek, "I know that foxes aren't the devils my Pop-pop believed, because I'm in love with one."

With a slow blink, Nick licked his lips to replace his smirk with a genuinely warm smile, "Has this cute little bunny finally admitted that she's in love with a fox?" His pleasant chuckle echoed around the large car, filling it with a joy that was rarely heard in the vehicle dedicated solely to the pursuit of justice.

A happy tingle climbed up Judy's spine and tickled her tall ears for a few seconds before her fist slammed swiftly into his shoulder like a surface to air missile hitting the side of a mountain. As the collision of her tiny fist made a loud crack against his uniform, the gray rabbit glared at her partner, "Don't call me cute."

"Ouch," Nick cried, rubbing his sore and bruised appendage. "Your fists still hit like a ton of bricks."

"And don't you forget it," she stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Turning back to the street ahead of them, she pushed down on the gas pedal as the light changed to green.

"Sly bunny," the fox added with a single raised eyebrow.

"Dumb fox," Judy replied, while trying to hide the glowing smile that crept across her lips.

The car hadn't even cleared the intersection before the pair of cops burst into a gale of snickers and giggles. A tear even rolled down the fox's cheek from the cheerful laughter before he wiped it away with a dark red paw. "I love you too, Judy," he said quietly, his muzzle only inches from her long ears.

Looking at her fox with a bright smile, she winked at him before her expression returned to a cold and serious professionalism, "I know, and we can talk about it later, but for now we're still on the clock." She swatted his muzzle away with a free paw, but he was too quick and easily dogged the soft appendage.

"Right. Ahem." Nick picked up his phone and returned to tapping it with an extended claw, while any sign of their pleasant banter was wiped from his muzzle.

After driving through another intersection, Judy tilted her head and turned both of her tall ears to face the fox. "So remind me again, exactly what did your informant say about this shipment? Isn't it about time that we start heading that way?"

When there was no reply from the fox, Judy turned right at the next corner where the street sharply descended down a steep incline. Between a row of red brick buildings, a large body of crystal blue water came into view. Every size and shape of seagoing vessel floated across the narrow, busy harbor in front of her.

As she reached the bottom of the hill, the gap in the buildings widened to reveal the full extent of the large inlet, she could see tiny, private sailboats, huge, commercial luxury liners and the much larger, international cargo freighters. Yet even the largest of these ocean-going vessels was dwarfed next to the tremendous desert flower that bloomed over them on the opposite bank of Mole Harbor. The Animalia Stadium's immense, purple petals, stretching towards the cloudy sky, filled the city's skyline and reflected off the water below.

The road Judy followed, curved around the edge of the water, hugging the shoreline. On the far side of the harbor, where the largest of ships docked under the shadow of those giant petals, the road led to a series of long piers, each one topped with their own small, bustling cities. Along the edge of each pier, were several huge cranes that were busy either loading or unloading truck sized shipping containers from the vessels parked next to them. One of these cranes was their current destination.

Passing the first pier, Judy reached across the car to give her silent partner a quick shove, "Nick."

"What?" the fox asked looking up from his phone.

"What did the informant say?"

"I thought we talked about this over coffee this morning."

"Well remind me, what are we looking for again?" Judy asked with a scowl across her muzzle.

Nick continued to tap on his phone with a claw as the rabbit's scowl deepened and her eyes narrowed. When the tapping finally stopped, he focused his gaze out the car's front window, "The drugs are supposed to be in one of the crates on a ship called the Huang Guo. It should be arriving this afternoon on pier 37." He quickly ran a sharp black claw across his phone from the bottom to the top several times before continuing, "Oh excuse me 3 dash 7, not 37. So let's head there first, then we will have to find a crate numbered 697826."

Passing a large sign that read "Pier #2," Judy looked at her partner with a hint of amazement, "That is awfully specific for a small-time street dealer."

The fox shrugged and replied, "Not that I would know anything about smuggling, but when your business depends on breaking the rules, you tend to learn all the ins and outs first."

"Ok, I guess that makes sense," she said with a tilt of her head. "So when does our ship get here, Clever Fox?"

Nick pointed his claw out the window nearly crossing his paw in front of Judy's little pink nose, "That is it right there."

At the end of the largest pier, a very old and rusty freighter that had obviously seen much better days, floated a few meters from the edge of the dock. Across the pier, Judy could barely make out the words Huang Guo painted on the bow of the ship.

"Nick!" the rabbit exclaimed after taking a second look at the ship. She noticed the distance between its hull and the edge of the dock were widening. "That ship isn't docking, it's leaving!"

"Well, then we better hurry, Carrots."

"You got it," Judy declared, while pressing her hind paw hard into the floor. Judy sped through the wide-open gates and neither officer noticed the tough-looking sports car that was parked along the chain link fence running the length of the pier. The driver's window was down, giving the mammal inside an excellent view of the passing police car.

Sitting in the slick, black, vinyl driver's seat, was a middle-aged ibex with a pair of heavy binoculars in her fluffy, brown paws. One of her long, crescent horns seemed to be either broken or missing and the fur on top of her muzzle was loose, creating fuzzy ripples across her nose. A hard, techno beat drifted from the car's radio as the black and white passed in a cloud of dust.

Flying down the pier, Judy looked around at the hundreds of warehouses and thousands of shipping containers stacked along its edge. "How are we ever going to find one crate in all of this?" she asked, waving a paw around the dock.

"Head for the pier master's office," Nick pointed at a large, gray, cinder block building that was poised precariously on the edge of the wharf, like a pelican waiting for a passing meal to swim by.

Inside, they were quickly directed to the harbor security offices. The office itself was a tiny, little, cubby hole in one corner of the squat building where a single hippo sat shuffling paperwork. When they approached, the desk was so tall that only the tips of Judy's ears could be seen over the edge among the large stacks of shipping documents.

"Hello officers," the young hippo greeted cheerfully after stapling a large stack of papers together. "How can Pier 3 Security help you today?"

Hopping back and forth on her paws to better see over the desk, Judy spoke first, "We are looking for a specific crate, and we could really use your help."

"Oh?" the large, round and furless security officer asked with a raised eyebrow. "Why would the ZPD need to sniff around with foreign imports?"

Nick stepped up to the edge of the security officer's desk in response, "We have reason to believe that a shipment of illicit drugs is being brought into the city from this very pier."

"Our evidence points to a specific crate, but were going to need help finding it," the bunny added fiercely.

"Do you have a writ or a warrant or something?" The hippo's cheerful demeanor was replaced by a firm determination. "We can't just go rifling through mammals' property without just cause."

"Of course." Seemingly out of nowhere, Nick pawed over a large slip of paper that he could have almost used as a blanket.

Before the sheet hit the top of the desk, Judy noticed a hint of Chief Bogo's signature on the bottom. "How did you get a hold of that? I never saw you speak to Bogo this morning," she looked up at him curiously. "Unless..."

"Shh," the fox cut her off by placing a dark-furred finger on the end of her short muzzle. "A fox has his ways, Sweetheart. And yes, before you get any more crazy ideas in that little head of yours, I spoke with Bogo about this a week ago."

The broad smirk that crossed the rabbit's lips revealed her large front teeth, "Clever Fox."

A simple wink was his only reply.

"This all looks in order," the hippo declared, running a large, hoofed finger across the document the fox had handed him. "Now which container were you two looking for?"

Judy leapt forward placing both paws rhythmically across the top of the desk as she continued to hop on both hind paws, "Crate number 697826."

A frown darkened the hippo's snout, "Was that all you have to go off of?"

"Just a sec," Nick said while holding up one finger. After a few moments of browsing through the screens on his phone, he added, "PFPZ 697826 dash 0 from the Huang Guo."

"Ah, yes. Now that I can work with," the huge security officer said with a nod. "Give me just a second to find the proper manifest."

Piles of steel shipping containers were stacked across the wharf like mountains strewn about by the hand of some giant child. The two small cops would have never found anything amongst the chaos without the help of their huge friend walking beside them.

"You can call me Hank," the young hippo said while he followed the pair and chatted along cheerfully. He was wearing a yellow, hooded blazer with a large radio strapped to his hip. In one hoof, he held a stack of papers that he would occasionally hold up and read as they walked. "Um, section 12A should be right over here, then down this way to row 7 and then unit 15, that should be on the far end over there."

"Zootopia Customs doesn't usually inspect every single container that gets offloaded," Hank continued pleasantly as he led the small cops through the giant maze. "Especially from trusted shippers, unless there is something suspicious about them of course."

The trio of uniformed mammals turned a corner and followed a long line of stacked containers while the hippo continued to talk, "Everything seems normal about this particular container." He flipped a few of the sheets in his hoof, "The bill of lading was signed by someone named Hogenshaw. All this says is that it's just a collectors car and something else that's listed here as an off road recreational vehicle, whatever that could be."

"You mean like a dune buggy?" The small rabbit officer asked.

"Could be." Hank replied with a shrug.

"Cars have so many places to hide things," Nick added flatly. "Drug dealers can't seem to resist using them for smuggling."

Judy tilted her head and twitched her nose wondering how her fox seemed to know so much about smuggling contraband inside of cars. The question never made it to her lips as the hippo continued to chatter.

"Really?" The hippo asked with a slight shiver as the fox nodded. He flipped a few more pages and pointed his hoof at the page. "The only thing odd with our container is that the longshoremammal wrote in his report that it was off balance. Not a serious offense, and is a regular occurrence with many foreign imports. Nobody bothers to balance their containers anymore, or maybe they end up getting shifted around in the rough weather. It's never enough of an issue to cause any suspicion so no one usually bothers with searching all of the unbalanced containers we get."

The hippo suddenly stopped at the end of the row, flipped the sheets in his hoof back to the first page then tapped the tip of a finger on his lips. Looking up at the numbers written plainly on the doors of the rusty old container, he read them off to himself. "PFPZ," he mumbled, "yes, then 697, mmhmm, and 826 dash zero." He slapped the stack of paper with his hoof before exclaiming, "This is it, we found it!"

Nick handed the heavy pair of bolt cutters that he had been carrying to the larger mammal, "Here, you should have the honor."

"Oh, thank you," Hank replied with a nod. He took the large tool from the smaller mammal and handed him the stack of shipping documents in exchange. "I'll have this lock off in a snap," the hippo declared enthusiastically. A quick moment later the lock fell from the latch with a loud clank and the rusty, steel doors swung open with a loud creak. Even though the sun was covered by a thick layer of clouds there was still enough light to illuminate the gloomy interior.

Inside, they could make out the front end of a sleek, sky-blue, sports car built for medium sized mammals. It had a slightly rounded front end that made it look like it had a permanent grin with beady little eyes on each side. The thin bumper was made of pure chrome and two hooks on each side made it look like the car had boar-like tusks.

"Oh, how cute," Judy cried as she stepped inside and ran her tiny paw over the car's shiny hood.

"What? This is an absolute classic!" Nick exclaimed. He circled the car and peered in each of the windows. "And it looks like it's in mint condition too. Is that an original steering wheel?"

"Stop drooling over the car, Nick. And remember why we are here," Judy chastised the fox as she laid down on the floor of the container to look under the vehicle for any hidden contraband.

"Hey. The keys are still inside," the fox called out as he opened the driver's side door. "Oh, wait, the steering wheel is on the other side," he mumbled, closing the door and walking around to the other side.

Getting back up on her hind paws, Judy rolled her eyes at the fox's antics, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Investigating, Carrots." Nick rebuked as he climbed into the shiny black seat. "Besides I just want to hear how this baby purrs."

"Nick. Don't"

"Hop in, Carrots," he slapped the seat next to him. He looked like a child sitting behind the large wheel, but his long paws could still reach the pedals. Ignoring the rabbit's protests he turned the key and slid off the large seat to press down on the gas gently.

The car instantly roared to life with a fierce growl and the fox had to lift his paw off the pedal letting the engine return to idle. Beaming, he exclaimed, "This car is over 50 years old and yet it runs like it was brand new! I would love to know who restored it."

Judy tore open the passenger door, leapt into the seat beside him and reached for his arm, "Nick, stop! What in the compost pile do you think you're doing?"

Nick barely pressed down on the pedal again causing the engine to scream in protest, "Wow, she is gorgeous and powerful. Just like a certain bunny I know."

Despite the fox's excitement, Judy grasped the keys and turned off the car, "Stop it, Nick." She pulled the keys from their slot and swatted at her partner with them.

"Why did you do that?" the fox asked, climbing back into the driver's seat.

"Shh," she placed a finger against her lips and her ears rotated back and forth around her head like a pair of radar dishes.

Recognizing the expression on his partner's face, Nick immediately dropped the playful attitude. He was now all business and his paw slowly reached for the weapon at his hip. "What is it?" he whispered.

"I heard something," the rabbit replied cautiously.

"Where?"

"I'm not sure, but when you turned on the car I thought I heard voices."

Whispering so that only the rabbit could hear, he said, "I'm going to open the trunk."

Judy nodded in reply and slid backwards out of the car as the fox pulled a lever under the dash. A loud click echoed around the container and she saw the back panel of the car pop loose from its latch.

Hank stepped up to Nick once the fox had climbed out of the car. "There is something wrong here," he noted, pointing to the sheets in his hoof.

"Not now," Nick hushed, waving his paw signaling the hippo to back off.

"But," the dock security officer started, but closed his huge mouth when the fox put his fingers to his lips.

Nick and Judy crept around to the back of the car with their weapons drawn and peered into the trunk. When they saw that it was empty and perfectly clean they let out a sigh and re-holstered their tranq-guns.

The fox gave his partner a nudge and spoke in a normal voice, "You really had me going there for a second, Carrots."

"I wasn't kidding, Slick," she punched him gently on the arm. "I really did hear something."

"Hey. guys," Hank called, stepping up to the pair of diminutive cops as they stared into the empty trunk. "Something is missing."

Tilting her head, Judy looked up at the huge mammal with a curious expression, "What do you mean?"

"The other vehicle is missing," the hippo stated waving his hoof at the back of the crate.

"He is right," Nick turned his emerald gaze to where Hank had gestured. Along the back wall, was a stack of professional tool chests and spare car parts. It looked like any car fanatic's garage, only far too clean, but there was no other vehicle. "Something really is wrong here," Nick echoed the hippo's earlier words.

"What does that mean?" Judy asked again, puzzled by the fox's new behavior.

"This just feels odd," the fox walked from the rear bumper of the car to the tool chests like he was measuring the intervening space. "There is no room for another vehicle, and these tools are brand new," he lifted a wrench that was hanging on the wall. "Not a single scratch on any of them. No self respecting mechanic would keep their shop this clean."

"So, what are you saying, is this staged?"

At her words, Nick immediately ran outside the container and walked along its length before rushing back inside. When he returned to Judy's side he rapped a balled fist on the back wall with a soft, dull thud. After several more knocks he stood with both paws on his hips and declared, "This wall is fake."

"Are you sure," Judy started to ask before her ears perked up again and her nose twitched violently. "There is someone behind the wall, Nick."

Without hesitation, the fox began to pull open every drawer and cabinet on the wolf high tool chest. After each drawer had been opened, he called to the hippo that had been casually standing back and watching him with curiosity, "Hey, can you help me with this?"

Together, they managed to move aside the heavy, metal chest to reveal a door latch that had been hidden behind it. Nick easily pulled the latch till it clicked but the door remained stuck. "Another paw, if you don't mind pal," he asked the large, grey mammal in the yellow blazer.

"Sure thing," Hank grabbed the latch and easily pulled on the door. It creaked and groaned in protest as the entire wall moved a few inches on rusty, old hinges. All of the tools and auto parts slid along with the giant door.

As Nick and Hank were trying to open the door, Judy pulled out a small flashlight from her utility belt and shone the light through the slowly widening opening. Beyond the corrugated metal door, was a ramshackle apartment crammed into a tiny space only half the size of her old room at the Pangolin Arms. Peering into the dark, Judy suddenly grasped her nose and began to cough, the smell was absolutely atrocious.

Strewn about the floor of the dark and tiny apartment, were several large mattresses that looked no better than bedrolls. Sitting against one wall was an ice chest that was larger than the rabbit's own dresser back home. Empty bags of chips, water bottles and the remains of other processed confections were scattered about the floor along with piles of dried leaves and heavily chewed bamboo shafts. In the far corner, was a rusty, iron bucket that smelled worse than the compost pit back on the Hopps Family farm.

A very large mammal stood in the middle of the hidden room looking down at the rabbit. At first glance she appeared to be some kind of ursine, with black and white fur and an almost ball like shape. However this mammal did not have a muzzle like any bear Judy had ever seen before. The snout was broad and elongated and her large teeth were flat and heavily broken from misuse. Her arms were very thin and ended in hooves instead of the normal clawed bear paws. Judy thought the large, fluffy mammal standing before her might have been a giant panda crossed with some kind of strange equine.

There were two other mammals, identical to the first, huddled together in the cramped, dark space. The second was much smaller, about half the size, and probably half her age. She wore a thin dress that had once been pretty but it was now tattered and stained. This younger half-panda was kneeling on the floor next to the last of the three strange mammals. The final mammal was laying on the floor wrapped in a pile of blankets and seemed to be groaning in pain.

The first not-quite-panda, was holding a hoof to her eyes as Judy shone her small pawlight around the hidden room. She seemed to be fairly young, possibly about the same age as Judy, or even a few years younger. She wore loose-fitting clothes that were held together with bits of string and had been patched in many places. Judy thought they might fall from the poor mammal's body at any second, but they moved smoothly with her as she took a step forward.

Taking a step towards the opening in the wall, the half-panda lowered her hoof and spoke, "Qing bangzhu wo men." Judy could not make out what was said but it sounded like a plea for help.

"Oh look, stowaways," Hank blurted out as he stepped around the corner. "Maybe they know where the drugs are."

Holding his nose and looking at the three panda-like mammals, Nick shook his head and mumbled, "I think they ARE the package we're looking for."

Seeing the three mammals standing around the entrance to what had been her home for the last three months, the large panda repeated her last statement, "Qing bangzhu wo men." She then stepped over to her sister and gently pulled aside some of the blankets, "Wo men de jie jie bing le, nimen keyi bang ta ma?"

Uncovered, the prone mammal began to cough and sputter as the younger child pulled the blankets back across her sister's rotund form. The few moments that it took to move the blankets back was more than enough time for Judy to notice the oldest sister's large, distended belly.

"Nick," the rabbit grabbed the cuff of her partner's sleeve, "this one is pregnant. Keep an eye on them, and don't let them leave." She then raced out of the large shipping container with her shoulder radio in paw.

Keying the talk button, she yelled into the mic, "Clawhauser! We need a paramedic at pier three, dock 7, STAT! There are three panda stowaways here, one of them appears to be seriously sick and she is also very pregnant."

"Copy that, Officer Hopps," came the cheetah's voice over the radio. "Paramedics are en route."

"Thanks, Clawhauser," Judy replied trying to catch her breath. "Oh and bring a translator. We can't make heads or tails of what they are saying."

"Roger," was the only reply.

Turning around, the rabbit officer watched their hippo companion exit the rusty steel container and head back down the row. It only took her a few short hops to cut him off. Paws on her hips, she glared up at the huge mammal, "Where do you think you are going?"

Hank looked down at her, unperturbed by the diminutive cop's fierce stance, "It is my duty to inform the IA of any and all stowaways we find here."

"Don't worry, Hank," she waved a paw trying to slow the huge mammal. "That will be taken care of, but first, those mammals are sick and we may have been exposed. It is our DUTY to stay here until the paramedics can clear us of any possible infections, or we risk spreading it to others."

A shy blush crossed the hippo's cheeks and he replied, slightly ashamed, "Oh my. I really hadn't thought of that. It's only my first month on the job. Oh my. Do, do you really think I could get all my friends sick too?"

"Let's just wait here and see what the medics have to say first."

Minutes passed before several police vehicles blazed across the pier and screeched to a halt in front of the open container where the two cops, and their security guard friend waited. While the paramedics were checking out the three officers a large, black-furred buffalo stepped out of his giant cruiser and approached the trio.

"Wilde," he bellowed across the empty space. "Give me a report. This was supposed to be a simple drug bust. Why all the radio chatter about spy-cars and stowaways?"

"Chief," Nick nodded to his boss as a young deer took his pulse and stuck a cotton swab up his nose. Coughing, the fox continued, "It looks like the package my informant mentioned was not drugs like we thought after all."

The chief snorted through his large nostrils and glared back and forth between the small, red fox and his long eared partner, "Go on."

"Well, I think we may have stumbled across some kind of mammal trafficking ring," the fox began without any hint of his usual smugness. "These pandas have been stuck in that crate for months with barely anything other than junk food and bottled water and there's no way to open that door from the other side. Nobody does that on their own, unless they are being lied to or promised something on the other end."

"All right then," Bogo folded his huge arms across his broad chest. "I am taking you two off the drug case for now."

"But, Chief," Judy began to rebuke, but the chief held up a hoof to silence her.

"I want you to look into where these pandas came from, for now," he waved his hoof as a gurney wheeled past with a large panda like mammal resting on top, a long, plastic mask covering her muzzle. "There hasn't been a case of mammal trafficking in this city in years, so why now all of a sudden?"

Admonished, Judy glared up at her boss. Realizing it was futile to argue with the giant buffalo, she raised her paw in salute, "Yes, sir." The fox quickly followed suit with his own salute.

"Oh and Wilde," Bogo added before his two smallest officers walked away. "Start by bringing in that informant of yours."

"Yes, Chief," Nick replied then joined his partner as she walked down the pier to where they had originally parked their car.

During their conversation with the chief, the two younger pandas were led to an unmarked black sedan by a panther and tall maned wolf. The imigration agents both wore coal-black suits and dark sunglasses and had large lumps on their hips with indicated concealed weapons. A short, red-furred mammal that seemed to be able to converse with them, followed the panda hybrids as they were carefully guided into the dark vehicle.

The pregnant half-panda was separately loaded into a large ambulance by a young deer and an antelope. Her two sisters kept trying to reach her but the panther kept blocking the way until the ambulance doors closed and the vehicle began to drive off.

When the ambulance slowly drove through the gates and left the pier, the one horned ibex slid her binoculars back into their case. She turned down the radio and pulled her sports car in behind the ambulance and followed them around the harbor, up the hill and out of sight amongst the multi-colored buildings that sprawled across Savanna Central.

[A/N] A great big thanks to everyone who has stuck through the last four years with me and finally gets to see Nick and Judy together at last. Writing a Wildehopps fan fiction story is a lot more work that I anticipated and I greatly appreciate all the support from all the readers and the community as a whole. It has been a long road, but now were into the second story. I started this out as a bunch of random ideas of what would happen if Nick and Judy had strong feelings for each other but were afraid to even think about those feelings. Those random ideas eventually evolved into a story with a bit of a mystery going on in the back ground. The whole thing was written one chapter at a time and as I go back over it again it feels a bit disjointed. This part I have actually spent several months laying out a complete outline before even starting to work on the first chapter so I hope the story has a better flow to it. I have even spent some time on developing our villian for this part so the final bad guy doesn't feel like a fastball out of left field like I did at the end of part one.

So once again, thanks to everyone how has stuck with me. I do hope to pace myself with this part, and plan to post updates about once a month. Even with that said, I have around 24+ chapters planned out so that will still take two years to get everything finished. Luckily this isn't a novel where you have to wait all 24 months before it gets published. Hopefully I don't encounter to many life changing interruptions along the way like I have with part one, but who know what can happen tomorrow ...

I hope you all enjoy Loves Bond

OneWolfe~