Chapter 13: Two Officers Savage

Nick's radio transmission cut out, leaving Fangmeyer and Judy in a stunned silence. There was no hiding that the fox officer was not just scared, but was completely terrified of what was happening deeper in the tunnels.

Even as Fangmeyer adjusted the settings of her tranquilizer darts to match Wolford's size and build, Judy glanced at the closed door that was where Nick was supposed to come from. "S-should we go after them?" she asked hopefully. "Nick's in serious trouble over there!"

Giving her tranquilizer pistol a final check, Fangmeyer let out a long breath. "I would normally agree with you, but he specifically asked us to remain here," she answered gruffly. "I'm not about to change things on him just like that." Flipping the tranquilizer pistol around, she handed it over to Judy. "As much as I hate to admit it, but your accuracy and aim scores are better than mine," she admitted with a shy grin, "and considering that's my partner we're getting ready to shoot, I want it to be you that does it."

Judy took the pistol, finding the larger size odd, but not unfamiliar. In the academy, she had to use equipment that wasn't sized for her all the time, and she still ran into those issues time to time at the ZPD. She can work with this. "I won't let you down," she said with a confident tone, nodding her head. "But what are you going to do?"

Fangmeyer returned Judy's nod before standing up. "I'm going to make sure my partner won't hurt anyone." Grabbing her radio, she transmitted over to Nick. "Wilde, what's your status? Where are you?"

The radio reply back was an incoherent mess of noise, mostly Nick's heavy breathing and the faint angry growling of Wolford from somewhere behind him. A second or so later, and the transmission cut out. It wasn't the answer they were looking for, but it was good enough to tell them that for now, Nick was all right.

"Got it. Stay safe." Fangmeyer carefully pried the door open and propped it open. Taking a peak around the edge, she couldn't see anything yet, but she swore she could here something further ahead. She craned her neck, and yes, she could hear it. Nick and Wolford were coming.

And judging by Judy's reaction, the bunny could hear it too.

"Okay Judy," Fangmeyer said, standing close to the doorway but out of sight to anyone in the hallway. "When they come in, you dart James. I'm going to stop him from hurting anyone while the tranq take effect. Don't miss."

Judy nodded. "I'm ready." Propping herself behind a desk, she used the flat surface to steady her aim. Just in time too, with the noise of Nick and Wolford's chase getting louder and closer.

"Judy!" As soon as Nick came running around the far corner, he spotted his partner and hunched over as he bolted even faster towards safety. Right behind him, with an angry snarl, Wolford charged after, bouncing off the wall and running on all fours after Nick.

Judy forced her breath to steady despite the frantic beating of her heart now that it was up to her. "Get clear, Nick!" Slowly letting go of her breath, she carefully aimed Fangmeyer's tranquilizer. The basic police uniform wasn't meant for stopping anything serious, but its baggy nature and often filled pockets and gear covering most of the exposed areas meant that landing a successful tranquilizer dart was going to be difficult. But Judy didn't have one of the best marskmammal skills in the ZPD for nothing… There! That's a good spot to aim for... Carefully matching her attention to the running motion of Wolford, she waited just long enough to make sure that Nick was safely out of the line of fire before easing gently on the trigger.

Thump!

Then a tiny moment later, a startled yelp as Judy's dart struck true.

Nick used the opportunity given to him to vault over the same desk Judy was hiding behind and collapse on her side, quickly propping himself up like her, his own tranquilizer ready in his paws and pointing towards Wolford.

The savage officer had stopped the chase upon being hit, but recovered quickly from the relatively painless distraction and started sniffing around for his target. Nick's scent was found almost immediately, with Wolford letting out a cold and eerie growl as he started to approach Nick's and Judy's desk. Narrow slitted eyes locking onto the rabbit on top of the desk, and the fox next to her.

"James! Over here!" From behind, Fangmeyer made her presence known. As Wolford turned around from the noise, she spread her arms out wide to show him that she was unarmed and not meaning him any harm. She took a small step towards him. "It's just me, James. Dahlia, your partner."

With a loud growl of warning, Wolford charged at the tiger. But Fangmeyer was ready and planning on him doing exactly that. The two collided, Wolford going for Fangmeyer's head only for her to use her paws and greater strength to clamp his jaws shut.

As the two tumbled to the ground, Judy jumped on top of the desk to find a way, any way, to assist.

"Stay back Judy!" Fangmeyer shouted back despite her current struggle with her savage partner. "I got him!"

With his jaws useless, Wolford tried to claw at the tiger, tearing at her uniform and whatever else he could reach. But as she rolled and moved in such a way as to minimize the chance of him hurting her, the sedating drugs from the tranquilizer dart started to do their work. His fighting became weaker and slower, his growling quieter and less angry. Several tense seconds more, and Fangmeyer felt the pressure in his jaws cease along with the rest of the tension in his body.

Carefully letting go of his jaws, she gently pushed Wolford off her and immediately began to inspect him, rolling him around and looking for any signs for a telltale purple entry mark of a Nighthowler pellet. Then she remembered about the other two officers. "Judy, Wilde, all clear. He's safe now."

From the desk, Judy hopped off and approached Fangmeyer and Wolford. That was when she realized that someone didn't come over. She turned to look back and found Nick, still panting hard and eyes wide, pointing his tranquilizer at Wolford's direction. Even despite his heavy breathing causing the aim to vary widely between floor and roof, Judy found the sight unnerving. "Nick? Nick, are you all right?" She went back to the desk and hopped on, reaching out and pulling Nick's muzzle away from Wolford's direction and forcing him to look at her.

Blinking a few time, Nick took a deep breath to try and calm his nerves down. His paws unclenched from the grip he had on the tranquilizer and allowed it to drop to the table. "Ju-" he blinked again. "Yeah, yeah, I'm good now," he breathed out, leaning back and propping himself up against the desk. "I'm good," he repeated, "just need to… catch my breath."

Hopping down to sit next to her partner, Judy grabbed one of Nick's paws with her own. To her delight, he allowed her to do so, even twisting his paw around so that he can grab hers instead. She grinned at him, feeling relief wash over her as he returned the gesture.

"What? You were worried about me?" Nick joked as his breathing and voice both started to return to normal, "should know better about what I'm capable of, Fluff." His head tilted back as he started to laugh quietly. "Wow, what a chase! Should have been there, Carrots! Pity you missed it."

Judy didn't echo Nick's laughter this time around. Even though she was glad that her partner was all right, they were still in a potentially dangerous situation. "Nick, what happened back there? How did this happen?"

Nick stopped laughing, lowering his head and turning it so that he can look straight into Judy's eyes. "I honestly don't know," he replied calmly, "we were racing after that mouse… then he got away." Nick returned to resting his head on the desk as he recalled the events to Judy. "Wolford was fine if rather disappointed at having the guy escape from us. I was too. We were still on the radio during that part. But then, I don't know, he just got angrier and angrier." Letting out a sigh, Nick closed his eyes to help him think. "I don't recall seeing anyone else. Or anywhere that someone else could have hid to shoot Wolford with. But I dunno, we were running fast during the chase and weren't looking too closely at what we ran past."

As if to prove his point, he opened his eyes again and looked down at the floor in front of them. Immediately, his eyes latched onto a large circular mural on the floor. "Is that the government seal I see?" He tilted his head back and started laughing again. "Wow! Talk about feeling like we're in a conspiracy! You could almost say it's… that it's…." He raised the pitch of his voice and started to sing horribly off-key while Judy tilted her head to look at him with a confused expression. "..It's more than a a feeling! More than a feeling!.."

Nick let his voice fade out as his laughter also settled down, lowering his head to look at Judy again. "Sorry Fluff, just needed to release some stress," he admitted, "getting chased by Wolford isn't something I recommend you trying out." For a second, he almost wore a guilty expression as his eyes darted in the direction of Fangmeyer and Wolford. "Uh, hey, Fangs, is everything all right over there?" Nick called out as he stood up, Judy following suit. The two officers walked around the desk, stopping close to Fangmeyer.

The sight of Wolford caused Nick to freeze. The tranquilized officer had all of his limbs locked down with pawcuffs, but that wasn't what stopped Nick's gaze. No, it was the cold steel muzzle clamped down over Wolford's head. The fur on the back of his neck rose with an unpleasant feeling from the sight.

"Is that all… really necessary?" he asked before he could stop himself. As a cop, Nick already knew the answer. Yes, it was necessary. But just because he knew the justification for it, it didn't mean that he was simply able to ignore the revulsion towards the things ever since he was twelve.

"We can't take any chances," Fangmeyer replied quietly, almost a whisper. She gently ran a paw between Wolford's ears. "I'm not taking any risks. Not with James."

"Right. Uh, sorry," Nick mumbled and then fell quiet, simply staring at Fangmeyer and Wolford.

She glanced up at Nick and Judy. "I searched him all over, but..." her ears fell as she struggled to maintain her composure. "I can't find any entry marks… no signs of..." she clutched Jame's head closer to her. "I don't know what happened to him," she concluded.

In this awkward silence, Judy took a step forward. "Dahlia, I don't want to-"

With an angry huff, Fangmeyer nodded. "We're still in danger here, I know. And… it's only a matter of time before he wakes up. Need to get him out of here." She motioned towards Wolford's gear that she took off him, lying in a pile next to them. "Wilde, grab this. Hopps..." She glanced between Judy and the way back where they came from. "We need to get James to a hospital as quickly as possible, so Judy, you take point."

She took her ballistic gun and was about to hand it over when she decided that it was perhaps too big and cumbersome for the significantly smaller bunny to use. "Actually, use your own. If you see anyone, scare them off – we..." her eyes fell down to her partner. "We're not in a position to do anything else. Wilde, cover our backs." As Nick nodded and grabbed the gear, Fangmeyer picked Wolford up and carefully slumped him over her shoulder. "Everyone ready? Let's go."

Judy pulled her own gun out, but eyed it wearily. "Won't using these risk escalation? These are dangerous enough on their own, but we're also just asking anyone we might run into not to hold back."

Fangmeyer let out a long sigh. "Judy, I understand that you don't like guns, but we're not in a position to sit around waiting for tranquilizers to take effect." Despite holding Wolford up, she was able to point down the hallway that Nick and James had run off to, and where Wolford had went savage in. "But whoever is down here is not friendly, and we are no longer in a position to fight back. Scare them off if you can, but if it moves, you shoot first, and ask questions later. Got it?"

Judy nodded, her ears slumped low at the prospect of the clear hostility towards the city.

This earned her a sympathetic look from Fangmeyer. "Judy… chances are, we won't even run into anyone," Fangmeyer said. "and believe me, I understand. But we can't call for help down here, so James depends on us, and only us. And… I don't like killing mammals either. Never even had to do it. And... I am proud of that. Very proud..." Fangmeyer's eyes wandered over to her partner's closed ones by her head. "But if that has to end today if it means protecting James, then I am willing to do so. If it were possible, I would gladly be the one leading us back, but I don't think even with Wilde's help, that you would be able to carry James back." As Judy nodded, she quickly added, "not quickly enough that is. And then there's the ladder we need to climb up..."

"N-no no, it's okay, I get it." Judy hastily muttered. "It's best if I'll be in front. And James really does need us to hurry. Nick? Ready?"

"I'm ready, Carrots. No time to lose."

"Okay. Let's go." Gun in one paw and phone in the other recording everything she saw, Judy proceeded at a swift but careful pace back in the direction of their way out. If anything, the once again empty corridors felt even more eerie and foreboding than before. Whereas the way in was filled with mystery and a large amount of uncertainty as to what lay ahead, the way back was far worse. It was impossible to ignore Fangmeyer's labored breathing from carrying her partner, and Nick was also only just able to keep up between carrying Wolford's gear and protecting their backs.

The group's pawsteps echoed quietly down the halls around them as Judy lead them, if memory served her correctly, the quickest way back. In the long concrete hallways, it was comparatively easy to make sure that the way forward was clear. But when they re-entered the large room with the drone, she had to fight not to be overwhelmed by a feeling of dread. Not only were there so many different places to hide here, but this was also where Nick and Wolford has spotted the mouse that lead to the chase ending with Wolford going savage. Was it here that he was shot with a pellet, or somewhere else?

Mentally plotting a course through the room, Judy motioned for the others to follow her as she carefully proceeded forward. Eyes and gun scanning all corners and angles, it was a strange mixture of relief and fear of the uncertain when the room remained as empty and silent as she remembered it from the first time.

Moving in between structures supporting the drone above them, a sudden ad very loud thud from right behind them caused Judy to spin around in place, eyes widening in fear as her sensitive hearing pinpointed the exact location the noise and she found herself pointing her weapon at her own partner.

One of Nick's fists was in contact with the dull gray surface of the drone where he had punched it.

"Nick!" Quickly lowering the gun away from him, Judy rushed back to the fox and grabbed him by his shirt, pulling his head down to her level. "Nick, why in the name of all that's holy did you just do that?"" she hissed, "I-" her voice faltered, "I… I almost shot you!"

Judy was more than ready to continue shouting at him, expecting some sort of snarky response from her partner as he would evidently find a way to justify his actions to her. Instead, he stared back with her with a mixture of regret, uncertainty, and even fear. She let go of his shirt, allowing him to stand back up.

"I uh… I'm sorry Judy," Nick stammered, glancing between her and an equally unamused Fangmeyer. "I don't know what came over me. I uh..." he motioned at the drone. "We were walking past this, and I don't know..." he shrugged, "I just felt so… angry. Can't even explain why. But I just had to punch it as hard as I could." He showed them his knuckle, bits of red appearing underneath the glove he was wearing. "And so I did. Sorry..."

Judy shook her head. "Sorry doesn't even begin to cover it, Nick," she replied coldly. "But now's not the time." She turned back to Fangmeyer. "Dahlia? Do you need to take a break?" She eyed the tiger with concern – Fangmeyer was trying to hind the fact that she was using a desk next to them to help her support Wolford's weight.

But Fangmeyer shook her head in a negative. "James is going to start waking up soon. I want to get him into the car before that. I can keep a eye on him and restrain him further if I have to." Her eyes dropped down to Judy's dart gun hanging off her hip belt. "Tranquilizers are too much of a risk to keep dosing him up. I don't want to use them any more than we have to." With a fatigued huff, she straightened herself up and adjusted the weight of her partner. "We should be close. Please, let's get out of here."

Judy nodded and gave another glance back at her own partner. "Nick? You good now?"

Nick nodded sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm better. I uh..." he huffed. "Let's just get out of here."

Only a bit longer, and the impressive looking airlock was never such a sight for sore eyes. As if sensing how close they were to escaping this underground labyrinth, the group moved quicker now, stuffing themselves through the airlock all together and out the other side as quickly as possible. A few more gray corridors, and the lone stairway up was the last thing between them and the city above.

Judy got on the first rungs to start climbing when Fangmeyer's voice stopped her.

"No, Judy, actually, let Nick go up first."

Judy hopped off the ladder. "Nick?"

Fangmeyer nodded. "Yes. Nick, the car is adjusted for Wolford to drive. While we get him to a hospital, I will need to stay in the back with him. So if you..." A sudden movement from Wolford caused her to glance at her partner with worry. "He's starting to wake up. We only have several more minutes, at most. Nick, get to the car, adjust it so that you can drive, and-"

"I got it, don't worry about me, Stripes," Nick answered, cutting her off and taking Judy's place on the ladder. In a matter of moments, he was gone, climbing over head into the darkness above where the light didn't reach.

Judy craned her neck up to look up. "Nick!" she called up, "Call Bogo!"

"Already on it, Fluff!"

The darkness above broke into a bright light as Nick reopened the closed trapdoor they used to get inside. In an odd moment of random though, Judy realized that she didn't actually remembered them closing the door on their way in. But then again, Nick did go in after her, so he might have been the one to close it.

Then only a few moments later, the radio crackled as Nick transmitted through it. "You reading us, Spots? Foxy Wilde here. We're back on the surface. Is Bogo available for a call?"

Clawhauser's reply was almost completely drowned out by static, but enough of the reply got down to the base of the ladder that Judy was able to make out the words."Good to hear from you again, Nick. How did it go down there? And Bogo is… yeah, he's good for a call. But why?"

"He asked us to call him once we get back topside as to not occupy the radio channels while we inform him of everything down below."

"Uhh… okay. I'll let him know."

At the base of the ladder, watching Fangmeyer slowly climb up, visibly straining from the effort of lifting both herself and the barely-conscious Wolford up the ladder, Judy couldn't help but smile at Nick's reply. Bogo most certainly did not ask them to give him a call when they got back up – anything he needed to know can be told at a debrief at his desk and then written into the reports. But there was also no reason to spook all of the officers listening in on the frequency by announcing that one of their own had gone savage without realizing it.

And Judy felt a pang of fear creep through her that she realized that had she been the one to climb up the ladder first, she would have told everything through the radio in her haste to get everyone back up to speed. Then Fangmeyer's voice broke Judy's train of thought.

"Hopps! Ladder's clear. Get up here!"

A short climb later, it honestly felt weird to be standing on regular ground again. To feel wind blowing through her exposed fur and to see the blue sky above their heads. Reaching up to her face, Judy removed the mask, nose instantly noting the difference in scents now that a layer of filtering cloth was no longer blocking it.

The sound of a car approaching alerted her to the fact that Nick was back with their vehicle. As he got out, he was already speaking to Bogo through his phone.

"...Yes sir. No… no, not like that sir. Please sir, I'm actually being serious here when I said that I was more busy running away from him than checking on his status." As he talked, Nick's eyes caught those of Fangmeyer. "Listen, here's Fangmeyer, she can give you a better assessment..." With a grim look on his face, he handed the phone over. As she took over explaining the situation to Bogo, he helped her load Wolford into the car, gently closing the door in behind them after she climbed in after her partner.

With the savage officer, already noticeably more conscious than at the base of the ladder, safe inside the car, Nick took a moment to stretch his back and look around him. "Why would anyone want to set up shop at a dump like this?" he asked no one in particular, now looking for Judy. He found her taking more pictures of the area, no doubt to use for her report and gather whatever more evidence she can before they had to leave.

Which was now.

"Carrots! We need to go!"

Judy hurriedly put her phone away. "Err, right Nick! I'm going!"

Climbing behind the driver's seat, Nick was just about to set the car out of park when Judy slipped into the passenger side next to him and closed her own door. Turning the car around, Nick started to search for an immediate way out before Fangmeyer, still on the phone with Bogo, can tell him where to go. Not wishing to incur their boss' wrath on him, Nick let her continue to talk. Next to him, Judy already had her phone out, searching at the possible destinations they will need to drive to. From behind, Fangmeyer as finishing her conversation with Bogo.

"… James is waking up, sir. Yes, his eyes just opened up. James? Can you understand me? Blink if you can understand me..." The crunch of tires on gravel gave way to the much quieter sound of smooth pavement as they left the dilapidated warehouse behind and got onto a proper road. The smoother ride also allowed Nick to hear Fangmeyer's disappointed sigh. "...No sir, he's not responding. Eyes are still narrow slits."

In the driver's seat, Nick was starting to get annoyed. Letting out a sigh of his own, he turned around to glare at Fangmeyer. "Damn it stripes, get off the phone or at least tell me where we're going!" he complained, "we can play twenty questions with Buffalo Butt afterwards."

Fangmeyer returned the glare, but at least answered the question without a fuss. "The station. Drive us back to HQ." her gaze then softened, not that Nick was able to see it. "Nick, please, calm down. James is going to be awake enough soon to start causing trouble. I don't need your sass right now as well."

Turning back around to face the road, Nick flipped on his mirrored aviator sunglasses, mostly so that anyone looking at him won't notice as much the angry scowl on his muzzle. "Oh, yes, let's take him back there," he grumbled, "what are we going to do there? Arrest him and lock him up?"

Punching in the directions back to Precinct One, Judy didn't bother answering Nick's snarky question. "Phone says we'll be there in about fifteen minutes." Her ears swiveled towards the back of the car when a low growl was heard.

"James just noticed me," Fangmeyer announced. "He's secure, so don't worry about me. He can't move even if he will want to..." She paused as another, louder growl was heard. "...Which he definitely wants to. James, quiet!"

As her stern warning failed to yield any results, Nick gripped the steering wheel harder, his claws digging into the vinyl covering. The noise in the back, even though it had only just started, was already well on its way on getting on his nerves. As he forced himself to ignore the noises the trapped savage Wolford was making, he ground his teeth as he glared out the windshield at the pathetic loser of a driver in front of them who only had the nerve to drive only five miles an hour over the limit! He slammed a paw on the front of the wheel, triggering the horn to go off in an angry buzz. "Hurry up to moron!" he shouted at the driver in front.

The shouting only caused Wolford to try and move in the back even more. Still unable to free himself, all limbs locked and mouth kept closed by the muzzle, the wolf was only successful in growling and snarling louder at Fangmeyer, the closest being he could find. His angry slitted eyes didn't do anything to prevent her own uneasy gaze from leaving his, one of her paws half way over to him to try and calm him down, but kept away to give him just a tiny bit more space.

When a traffic light in front turned red, Nick snarled in anger and slammed on the brakes hard, causing everyone to shoot forwards, kept in place only by their seatbelts. "Hurry up and change, damn it!" Nick shouted at the lights, causing the growling in the back to again increase. "And shut up back there!"

The light turned green and he floored it, almost ramming into the car in front of them as it failed to accelerate as quickly. He swerved around it and overtook it from the side, ignoring the loud complaining from both Judy and Fangmeyer over his reckless driving.

Judy, eyes wide at her partner's behavior, reached out to touch him in the arm. "Nick… Just, calm down-" she tried to say softly, only for him to turn on her, teeth bared and an angry growl of his own directed at her. "...Nick-" His angry glare forced her to look away, her eyes leaving his and turning to look out the windshield.

And just in time to see at the stopped traffic they were heading straight towards.

"Nick!" Without thinking, she reached down and tugged hard on the manual brake, the rear tires groaning in protest as everyone were slammed forward. They hit a slight bump in the road and the rear tires lost their traction, the back of the car sliding out sideways as momentum pushed it past the front.

At the driver's wheel, Nick was only just able to swerve the car to the side of the road, jolting everyone hard as he drove onto the sidewalk and colliding with a parking meter, denting it.

A few pedestrians stopped to look at the scene, but kept going when they saw that the only thing really hurt was the parking meter. Not even the car looked too much worse for the wear.

But inside of the car was a whole different story.

Nick's breathing was deep and heavy as he sat there, glaring outside.

Judy was watching him, eyes wide and nose twitching as she wondered what had happened to her partner. Sure, they always joked and poked fun at each other's driving skill, but this… She didn't even know what to describe what just happened, or why. "...Nick-"

The fox growled as he turned suddenly on her. "What'd you- you-" In his anger, he struggled to speak, his words fading in and out of snarling as he leaned over Judy. She leaned away from him in turn, keeping her distance from him.

"Nick..."

One of Nick's paws closed into a fist. "You fu-"

"Back off, Wilde!" From the back, Fangmeyer had enough of the fighting. Having made sure that Wolford was only going to be able to make some noise at worst, she unbuckled herself and was leaning over the rear seats. "If you didn't notice, Judy had to intervene in order to stop you from rear ending a family!" She brought her face right up close to his, seeing herself perfectly in the reflection on his sunglasses. "So if you can't drive, switch seats right now and-"

His fist flew in from the side straight at her head, but she was able to move her head just in time to only feel a minor graze. In turn, her own arm shot out and grabbed Nick's, forcing it down despite his loud yell of anger and pain from the force being used. "Nick!" she yelled again, right at him to make sure that she had his full attention. "Calm down right now, or I will have Hopps tranq you straight to Bogo's office!"

Nick continued to struggle, freezing only when a particularly loud growl from Wolford diverted his focus. For a moment, the anger faded from his face as his free arm reached up and pried off his sunglasses.

Fangmeyer let out a terrified gasp. "Oh, Nick, not you too..."

Flipping the glasses around to see his reflection, Nick brought them close to one of his eyes. His grip tightened around the frame, bending it from the pressure when he realized that he was looking at his own pupil.

Which was definitely no longer round like it was supposed to. But stating to narrow into a slit, just like those of a certain bound wolf in the back of the car.

Spinning around, Nick curled up in his seat, arms grabbing at his ears. "Fu- f- f-" Again words failed him as he let out another angry growl. Glasses still in his paws, he slammed them hard against the dash of the car, breaking them. Only for him to bring his arm back up, then slam it back down repeatedly, ignoring the glass as it shattered and shards dug into his fur and skin. His growl turned into an angry yell of despair as Nick continued to hit everything in his reach, denting the paneling of the interior.

Fangmeyer reached out and grabbed his arms once again, hoping to calm him down and keep him from hurting himself. But the action only brought Nick back to a state of rage as he again started to fight and struggle against being held captive. Standing up from the back of the car, she used both of her large arms to force Nick back into the driver's seat to prevent him from escaping. "Judy, tranq him!" Fangmeyer ordered, quickly removing an arm out of the reach of his teeth and quickly bringing it back to clamp his mouth shut. "Wilde, it's us! Calm down!" But it was no use. Nick continued to struggle against her restraining, alternating between snarling and yelling.

Despite the noises in the car, a soft thump of a tranquilizer dart was heard, instantly followed by a loud yelp of pain from Nick. Judy lowered the gun, eyes wide as saucers and brimming with rapidly filling with water from having to target her own partner. No, her best friend.

It took some time for the drugs to go into effect, but when they did, Nick's struggling ceased and Fangmeyer loosened her grip of him when his breathing finally evened out and his muscles relaxed. With gravity now the prevailing force, he slumped to the side, his head landing on Judy's lap. She immediately reached out and clutched his head, hugging it as she fought to contain her fear. "Nick…" she whimpered, "why did it happen to you too?"

The immediate threat in the car over, Fangmeyer checked on Wolford. Now with the noise in the car over, he too quieted down. Though when she reached over to touch him, he let out a loud growl of warning, telling her not to get any closer. Leaving him to himself, she leaned over the front seats again. "Judy," she said gently, "we need to restrain him. Just in case… if he waked up before we get to a safe place…"

"I know," Judy whimpered, nodding slowly. "Just… give me a moment. Please."

But she wasn't given a moment, as her phone started to ring loudly. It was the tune she set to tell her when Bogo was the one on the other end of the line. Hurriedly grabbing the device, she brought it over to her ear. "Ch-chief?"

"Hopps, mind telling me why I just received a call from a concerned citizen about an erratic car that crashed into a parking meter?" While Bogo was always made a habit of sounding angry all the time, this time he really sounded angry. "And the plates matched those of the car you lot burrowed for today? Or why Fangmeyer failed to pick up when I called her? Twice!"

"Ch-chief, w-we-" Judy struggled to speak, finding the effort of forcing words out of her mouth without starting to cry too difficult to do at the same time.

"Hopps?" Instead of angry, Bogo's voice was now a lot softer, filled with concern. "Hopps, is everything all right over there?"

"Judy, let me talk to him." Judy found Fangmeyer's outstretched paw waiting for her phone, which she handed over.

"Hey, Chief," Fangmeyer winced at the casual tone of her own words. But a job-trained ability to sound calm even in tense situations meant that sometimes, like now, she spoke in the wrong way out of shear habit.

"Don't you 'hey' me, Fangmeyer," Bogo's voice answered her through the phone. "Just tell me what happened. Why your car rammed a parking meter. Did Wolford get loose?"

At the mention of her partner, she looked over, but he was still in his corner of the car where she had left him. Not that she expected him to be able to escape with how she had restrained him.

"Fangmeyer?"

"N-no, chief. It wasn't James," she finally replied. "It's…" She ran a paw over her eyes in frustration. "Wilde was driving… and then..." Looking over the back seats, Fangmeyer watched as Judy carefully and gently made sure that Nick was also restrained. She had moved him over to the passenger side seat, and while she used her cuffs to chain his wrists to the car door, and used a set of zip ties to lock his legs together, the set of metal muzzles lay crumpled on the center console untouched.

"Fangmeyer? Talk to me. Wilde what…?"

"He turned savage, chief!" Fangmeyer forced out quickly. "I don't know how, but he also turned savage. Judy had to dart him. He's unconscious now… But damn it, chief. He was talking to you!" She tugged at one of her ears, not able to believe what she was forced to say. "All the doors and windows were closed, so there's no way that someone could have shot him with a pellet, but… he was talking to you! He was talking to us! And then… He almost rammed into traffic, Hopps had to engage the manual brake. That's why we drove into that parking meter… Chief, I- I'm sorry, I don't know what happened. I can't explain..."

"I am not going to worry about how or why two of our officers went savage, Fangmeyer," Bogo said, his tone going back to his rare gentle one. "What's important right now is that we get both Wilde and Wolford back to the station as quickly as we can. How's the car? Can it still drive?"

This was when Fangmeyer realized that in all of the 'excitement', she forgot that the engine was still running. "I- I think so, chief. Don't think we bumped it too hard."

"Don't worry about any minor damage. I already called for an escort. Andersen and Johnson should be arriving at any moment now. They'll clear the traffic out from in front of you."

Fangmeyer nodded. "Understood sir. We're ready to go."

In the front, Judy finished adjusting the driver's seat and gave Fangmeyer a nod of confirmation. Nick's head lay resting on the center divider next to her, where she kept an arm resting between his ears, stroking them slowly. From outside the car, a low wail of a police siren slowly rose in volume as the source came closer. Their help arrived.

"Don't let this get to you, Fangmeyer," Bogo added, "Hopps too. Wilde and Wolford are depending on both of you keeping your cool and getting them back. I'll be waiting for you in the underground parking garage."

Fangmeyer nodded. "Underground parking, got it." She was about to hang up when a question stopped her. "...Sir? Andersen and Johnson. Do they know?"

Bogo sighed on the other end of the line. "No, no they don't," came the reply. "Do they need to? If so, I'll go ahead and tell them. You two will have enough to deal with without need to reexplain everything."

Glancing at the two savage officers, Fangmeyer gulped nervously. "No sir, they don't. We have them under control. No reason to scare them."

"Good. I'll see you soon. Stay safe."

The phone beeped and the call disconnected. She handed it back to Judy, using the opportunity to hold onto Judy's shoulder. "You all right, Hopps?"

Judy even managed to return half a smile, but it was more of a grimace than anything. "Yea- no, not really," she admitted. "But we're not going to help them by having a nervous breakdown."

Next to her, the car's radio to buzz to life. "Fangmeyer? Hopps? Bogo informed us you need an escort back home." A police car pulled over next to them and stopped just in front. "Nice parking job there."

Judy grabbed the radio. She hesitated, taking a few deep breaths to steady her nerves. Reaching down, she patted the unconscious Nick between his ears. "Don't worry, Nick, everything will be okay soon," she murmured. "Just hang in there…"

"Hopps? Fangmeyer?"

Another deep breath. "Hopps here. Copy that, lead us back."