"Dispatch, this is Wilde - we're 10-23."

"Copy - Advise caution." Clawhouser responded, making a quick note in his logbook of the time Nick and Judy arrived on scene.

A suspicious individual had been reported creeping around a disused building in the textiles district, so Hopps and Wilde were sent to go check it out. The caller hadn't offered much in the way of details, but nine times out of ten these calls turned out to be nothing. At worst, it was probably some homeless mammal looking for a place to sleep. Either way, Ben expected to get the all-clear any minute now.

"Hopps here - 10-32. Possible armed suspect."

Or not.

"Understood – directing backup to your location." Ben replied, smoothly hopping to the ZPD Tactical frequency.

"Adam 1-4, Dispatch. Proceed to a possible 10-32. 1477 East Baobab."

"Dispatch, Adam 1-4. Acknowledged." The roving SWAT unit responded immediately. "ETA, twelve minutes."

In the wake of the Nighthowler riots, the ZPD had enacted a new policy of having at least one quick-response tactical element in the field at all times. It had been a controversial decision to say the least, and many mammals - including a few members of the city council - were uncomfortable the more aggressive posture. The more extreme detractors decried it as the transformation of the city's police force into some kind of paramilitary organization.

Placing those thoughts aside, Clawhauser switched back to the regular patrol frequency. "Dispatch for Officers Hopps or Wilde - request status update."

Not receiving a response, he tried again. "I say again, this is dispatch for Officer Hopps or Officer Wilde - send status update."

Regular procedure was to rule out any technical issues before getting concerned, and with the speed and efficiently that comes with deep familiarity, Ben checked over the hardware and verified the frequency settings.

"All units, this is Precinct One Dispatch. Radio check."

"McHorn - Loud and clear."

"Delgato here - Loud and clear."

"Fangmeyer – You're five by five."

"This is Wolford – You're coming through clear as a bell, Benji."

One after another, the officers on duty verified Clawhauser's transmission; he acknowledged them each in turn and tried again to reach the unresponsive team. "This is dispatch for Officer's Hopps or Wilde – request immediate status update."

Once again, the channel remained silent. Frustrated, Ben mashed his paw down on the transmit switch. "Wilde! Hopps! What is your statu..."

"10-33! Officer down! I say again, officer down!" The jarring transmission ended with the unmistakable crack of a standard issue ZPD taser.

In a flash, Ben switched back to the tactical frequency. "Adam 1-4, Dispatch! Shots fired at 1477 East Baobab! Officer down!"

"Dispatch, Adam 1-4. Acknowledged." The officer's professional tone now accompanied by a rumbling growl. "We're code 3 - ETA, three minutes."

ooooo

Dammit! Judy cursed silently. Why did I have to be such a dumb bunny?

There hadn't been any signs of suspicious or unusual activity when they'd arrived on scene. They'd both been ready to write the call off as a nervous mammal jumping at shadows, but procedure was procedure; they decided to do a quick walk-around of the building, just to be sure.

They'd found the open window almost immediately. It wasn't much of an opening – just a few inches – but she'd insisted that they check it out. She was just about to call it in on the radio when Nick pointed out the damage to the window frame. He suggested that the window might have been forced open by a pry bar or possibly a large knife. Deciding to err on the side of caution, Judy notified dispatch of a potentially armed suspect. Deciding to do a sweep of the interior, she got Nick to push the window the rest of the way open. She'd climbed in with her sidearm drawn, the fox reluctantly following close behind her

We never should have entered the building. Why the hell did we split up? Judy asked herself, as if it hadn't been her own ego that got them here. As if she hadn't acted with impulsive stupidity just to prove she didn't scare easily.

The horror flick they'd been watching the night before has been especially scary, so much so that she'd spent half the movie using Nick's tail to cover her eyes. Nick had been teasing her all day about being a 'scaredy-bunny', so she'd turned off her radio in a pointless show of bravado– so they 'wouldn't alert the suspect' – and suggested they separate and sweep the building floor by floor.

She'd been clearing the second level when she heard Nick speaking loudly from the floor above. Gripping her weapon firmly in one paw and cursing her own recklessness, Judy cautiously made her way to the stairs. She switched her radio back on to notify dispatch and her ears were instantly assaulted by Nick's distressed howl. "...ay again, officer down!"

The bunny instantly abandoned any semblance of stealth, tearing through the darkened building. As she burst out the third floor stairwell, her sensitive ears picked up the sound of a discharging taser and pointed her to a room at the end of the hallway. Judy broke into a full-on sprint, leaped at the closed door and drove both feet into the handle with all the strength she could muster. The latch was torn free of the frame as the door swung open violently. Judy let the momentum carry her through the entrance, landing gracefully on her feet and sweeping her weapon over the room – and discovered nothing but a few boxes, a half-dozen display mannequins, and one very embarrassed-looking fox.

Lowering her taser, her brow furrowed as she attempted to decipher the scene before her. Slowly, she reached up to key her radio. "Dispatch, this is Hopps. Disregard last transmission. We're...um...we're all clear here."

"Hopps, Dispatch. Acknowledged." There was a brief pause. "What happened?"

Good question. She scrutinized the stuffed toy bunny at her partner's feet, her eyes moving to the taser in his paw, then following the deployed leads across the room to...

What the heck...

The fox aimed a scathing glare in her direction as the grey bunny began to laugh as he sent the equally grey toy flying across the room with an annoyed kick. Grasping his shoulder mic, he responded to Clawhauser's inquiry. "Dispatch, this is Wilde. There was a...misinterpreted situation."

Judy managed to get her amusement under control, shaking her head at the fox. "Oh no, Slick. You're not getting off that easily."

Peering at her quizzically, his eyes went wide when she reached for her mic. "Carrots, please don't."

"Dispatch, Hopps here."

"Hopps, Dispatch. Go ahead."

"Carrots...come on."

"Dispatch, Hopps – Be advised that Officer Wilde..."

"Judy, I am literally begging you..." He pleaded.

"...mistook a dummy for an assailant..."

"You're a monster."

"...and a..." Despite her efforts, a snort of laughter escaped. "...a children's toy for myself."

"Hopps, this is Dispatch...please say again?"

The fox glared at her balefully.

"Dispatch, Officer Wilde just tasered a mannequin to save a stuffed animal." Glancing over her shoulder, she added, "Please be advised that it was a very scary looking mannequin."

"Hopps, Dispatch. That's...er...acknowledged."

"I hate you so, so much right now."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" She asked as the petulant look on his face brought forth another peal of laughter. "It sounded like you said I'm a great, big scaredy-fox!"

"You're just loving this, aren't you?"

"Oh, Nick!" She pretended to swoon. "You're my hero! You saved me from that awful plastic demon!"

"That's rich coming from you, Carrots." Smirking, he jabbed a finger in her direction. "You sure came blasting through that door with a fury. Were you worried about little old me?"

"Wilde, Adam 1-4. Acknowledge." They both winced at clipped tone, Judy's grin vanishing as Nick's ears pinned back sharply. He tentatively reached up to toggle his mic. "Adam 1-4, this is Wilde. Go ahead."

"Wilde, Adam 1-4. You realize we were about twenty seconds from kicking in the door on a 10-33."

"Acknowledged, Adam 1-4. Won't happen again."

"We're not beat cops, Wilde." The SWAT officer made no effort to conceal the snarl in his voice. "We don't carry tasers."

Nick blanched at the implication. "U-understood, Adam 1-4."

"Do you still need backup?"

"Negative, Adam 1-4." He confirmed. "We've got things under control."

"Glad to hear it." A hint of amusement crept into the tactical officer's voice. "I expect to see your suspect in a holding cell by end of shift. Adam 1-4, out."

Nick pinned his partner with a scathing look. "See what you did?"

"How is this my fault?"

"How do you think, little miss tattle-tale?" He rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Look, let's just get this thing down to the car."

Resignedly, they each took an end of the tiger-sized mannequin and began carrying it toward the door.

"You really think they'll make us carry this thing all the way to the holding cells?"

"Carrots, I think they're gonna make us write up an arrest report and book this thing into the holding cells." Nick grumbled.

The door to the service elevator had been chained up, forcing them to take the stairs. Despite only having to descend three floors, they were both exhausted by the time they finished awkwardly cramming the dummy into the back seat of their cruiser.

Settling themselves in their customary seats, they took a moment to catch their breath. Judy fidgeted with the car keys for a moment, then turned to face her partner. "Hey, Nick?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you really think I look like a toy?"

He shook his head. "Of course not, Carrots."

"But you..."

"...just screwed up on several levels." He cut her off. "Not least of which was acting as though you were a damsel in distress."

Her ears drooped a little further. "But when you looked at that toy, you saw..."

"I saw a giant figure looming over grey fur," He interrupted her again. "And I freaked out a little."

She cocked her head to one side, a little confused. "Why?"

"Look, I realize this sounds stupid," He explained. "But I do worry about you sometimes, especially when we go up against large predators."

He raised his paws, forestalling her predictably annoyed response. "I know you can handle yourself, and I'd never imply otherwise. But that's not going to stop me from worrying every now and then. I care about you and I don't know what I'd do if something happened."

Judy's annoyance melted away in a heartbeat.

"I'll do my best to keep it from affecting how I act." He assured her, smiling embarrassedly. "But I hope you'll forgive the occasional act of misguided chivalry."

"Oh, Nick..." Smiling softly, she leaned over the centre console and planted a gentle kiss on the fox's cheek. "My hero."

Surprised, he lifted his paw to the side of his face. "...wow."

Judy felt herself start to blush. "Wow?"

"Wow." He nodded, then his signature smirk reappeared. "So should try to save you from scary things more often, then?"

"And he's back." Judy rolled her eyes, starting the car and pulling away from the building.

"Admit it, Carrots. I'm your knight in shining armor."

"Yeah." She laughed. "You're a regular Don Coyote."

"Does that make you my damsel in distress?"

"Said the mammal that needed a taser to take down a department store mannequin." She pointed out.

"Heh... Snarky bunny."

"Scaredy-fox."