The Conspiracy

by Zanrok

Winter is one of Zootopia's most interesting seasons. It's the time of year when many mammals choose their mate, it's a season with love in the air… except that some are too blind to see it. And others are fed up with those oblivious idiots and are determined to do something about it… at any cost.

10. Chapter 10 - Tunnel of Chaos: Part 1

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CLASSIFIED: DO NOT READ

THE CONSPIRACY

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Operations Clock: +5.5 hours

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Disclaimer:

"What do you mean the Grinch got into the Experimental Weapons Lab?

Yes, Yes. I know. We don't official have an 'Experimental Weapons Lab'. We have a standard disclaimer for that and the other stuff we're also not supposed to have or be stealing, but are. Now what about the Lab?

Uh-huh, really… he told the guard that Cindy Lou sent him to get a glass of water and he believed him?! And why did you have a pirate guarding The Lab?!

I don't care if all the marines are out getting ready for the big raid on Disney, using a pirate auxiliary to guard The Lab was just Stupid! … I DONT CARE IF THE PIRATE SAID HE WAS SORRY! Now, what did the Grinch take?

Uh-huh… and what the hell is a 'Fluffthrower'?

"Sir, Sir! We've got alarms going off in the engine room."

NOT Now Petty Officer, I need to finish this call!

"But Sir, the only report we got from them was one of the engineers screaming 'Oh God, Oh God it's a Fluffy Hell' and then there was some diabolical cackling and we haven't been able to raise anyone else since!"

Deal with it Petty Officer! I'll be free in just a moment!

Now doctor what were you saying? Uh-huh, yes… designed like a Flamethrower but for Fluff? Please tell me you didn't keep something like that loaded while on a SHIP!

*Phone slamming down* IDIOTS! We have enough problems trying to disarm this damned Fluff Nuke!

Um, Sir!?

What is it Petty Officer!

"Sir we've… *gulp* we've lost the engine room, fire control systems are having no effect and the damage is spreading!"

Son of a *****! I'm going to wring that grinch's neck till he turns green!

"Um… sir I think he's already green"

*Glare*

*Gulp* "Um… never mind. Ah, Sir, what do we do about the damage and the grinch?"

We trap him like the rat he is! Petty Officer, go down to the mess and get all the coffee from stores and put it on the deck. *Goes over to vault door, pulling out a key* Master of the guard your key. *master of the guard gulps and shakily pulls out another key*

"Sir *Big gulp* you're -you're not going to… to pull out *terrified voice* The box of funnies"

Drastic times call for drastic measures Petty Officer, now go get that coffee and then get the hell away from the deck!

*Inserts key and warning klaxon starts sounding*

Master of the guard, insert your key please.

*second key shakily inserted, another warning klaxon starts joining first*

Turn on three.

One.

Two.

Three.

---

Chapter 10 – Tunnel of Chaos: Part 1

Fru Fru Big's cell phone beeped and she pulled it out with a high pitched giggle expecting another set of adorable pictures of Judy and Nicholas.

She was really glad now that her daddy hadn't iced that fox all those years ago over the incident with the skunk butt rug and Gram-mama; She'd reminded daddy that Gram-mama had liked him enough to offer him one of her cannolis, and therefore wouldn't have wanted him iced. She'd done it more out of concern from gram-mama's memory than the fox truth be told… but (she let out a little delighted squeal at the thought) it had worked out for the best in the end since her best girl friend (with a space) had fallen so hard for him. And as for Nicholas, well… she didn't think she'd ever seen a mammal fall so hard.

Fru Fru knew her husband loved her and she loved him too, but the way that fox loved that rabbit made her marriage seem a bit pale by comparison. The little shrew shrugged at the thought; those two were like something out of a fairytale, the kind of love that happened once in a millennia, the kind of love that mammals made into award winning blockbuster movies, the kind that inspires an entire generation to write and tell tails about them. Her marriage might be a bit less… epic, but it was a comfortable happy marriage like a warm hearth fire, and she treasured it.

Now if that fox and bunny could only stop worrying that admitting how they felt toward each other might ruin their friendship (or whatever other equally unreasonable thing was holding them back) and just do the reasonable thing and admit they loved each other, the increasing tension in the city might finally decrease. Even her daddy was getting concerned about it, which is why he'd offered her his full support with anything she needed for the little project she was involved in… that and well… she might have also asked him with that hopeful look that never failed to get him to help her. She'd never understand why all the mammals were so afraid of her daddy, he was a sweetheart behind that scrunch scary face of his; from what she'd heard from her newest friend Clawhauser, his boss the Chief of police was the same way too.

That thought made Fru Fru smile. The Chief and her daddy had been bitter rivals for decades but they really were just like each other… even if they were on different sides of the law and the size chart too.

Regardless, even her daddy thought something needed to be done as it was causing some issues for the family, though that might have been just the tiniest bit her fault. She had been the one to mention to Koslov that she wished they would just hurry up and get together so she could help put together the wedding and the faithful bear had taken it upon himself to try.

Daddy hadn't been too happy about the results of that. It had cost them quite a bit in lawyers' fees to get Koslov out of that mess. Though Fru Fru personally thought it had been a good try. He'd faked a robbery at a jewelry store and left clues that lead her two friends to a 24 hour style wedding chapel looking for the 'stolen' engagement rings, where just as Koslov had planned, they had gone undercover as a fake couple to get in. It probably would have worked too but it turned out that the chapel was part of a money laundering scheme being run by a smaller rival crime family. Koslov had almost gotten them to kiss for an 'obligatory' wedding photo as the first part of the package deal they'd had to buy in order to sneak in, when the other family recognized the polar bear masquerading as one of their ministers, panicked and tried to kill him.

Koslov's plan had come apart after that, but he did manage to get one amazing picture of Judy and Nick in a wedding gown and tux, pulling out hidden dart pistols from each other's clothes while jumping into action. After that though, things had gone to hell in a handbasket.

In the end, daddy wasn't too unhappy because shutting down the money laundering operation had put a real dent in the other family's finances and Judy and Nick had ended up saving Koslov.

The real issue was that since Koslov had failed, others lower in the family hierarchy had seen it as a chance to move up in the ranks if they could succeed where he had not. Even other crime families had gotten in on the action trying to show up the Big family by trying to succeed where they had failed.

So far there had been a couple more unsuccessful attempts including one spectacular failure by a temporary coalition of smaller families to try and force the two to move in together. They'd gained control of their apartments, increased their rents astronomically and controlled what apartment availabilities were open in an attempt to force them to move in together by sheer financial necessity. By the time the dust finally settled on that debacle, daddy and a few other families had to quickly get rid of a number of apartment properties they'd invested in or risk getting into trouble for attempted extortion and racketeering.

Now though it was her turn to try and she, the private completely upstanding citizen that she was, was working with a whole large conspiratorial group to make it happen, and if she could call on her daddy and his resources for help, well it wasn't like they were actually doing anything illegal… this time… mostly.

At least this time it wasn't only in the interest of the family, they were doing this for the sake of the whole city.

Fru Fru flicked through the last couple of messages, most of which were pictures, including one truly adorable shot of Nick kissing Judy on the tip of her nose while they sat in a go-kart, and came to the latest message. This one though was a message through the secure app being used by the conspiracy's inner circles.

"Begin Preparations for Option J"

Fru Fru let out such a squeal of excitement that her husband came rushing into the room where she was getting changed into her dress for the concert, worried that something had happened… or that maybe she had just found out she was pregnant again. Fru Fru quickly shoed him out with assurances that nothing was wrong.

That done she hurriedly confirmed the message and started shooting rapid fire messages to Benji and a few of her teams.

Big: 'You heard!? :) '

Claws: ' XD *SQUUEEEL* Yes! Already sent the messages about possible damage to the water mains. They're being shut down until inspectors can examine them. Water will have to be diverted to the Rainforest District and Tundra Town.'

Big: ' Perfect! I knew J's plan was what we should have gone with from the start! Team Yeti says they already have 'Titanic' moving down from the Polar Straight and team Catcher is ready to nudge it into position.'

Claws: 'Good! I thought so too! XD, As soon as it's in place, they'll have to kick up the Bio-Wall to full power to deal with it and hold Sahara Squares climate temperature. What about the Bait and Trap?"

Big: 'Ready as soon as we need them.'

Claws: 'Humm… what about the new tail on the Target? Got any ideas on how we can deal with that if they follow them?'

Big: ' *squinty face emoji* Trap both?'

Claws: 'Works for me, they deserve it anyway for not telling anyone they were going out *huffy faced emoji* '

Big: 'ok. warned the Trap team to set up a second just in case. Think that's everything for now, you going to make it to the concert on time?'

Claws: 'Like I'd ever miss seeing the Angel with Horns? Really Fru? Really?'

Big: ' *giggle face emoji* Hey no names remember what the 'Boss' said! :P '

Claws: ' *sad faced emoji* Opps. :P Well I'll see you there. As long as things stay to the plan, announcements should be going out in just a little while on the news and we should start seeing the first signs of the effects of our meddling around the end of the concert'

Big: 'Ohhh! This is going to be so much fun! See you there!'

---

"So, how do we want to play this?"

The arctic fox looked over and smirked, "Oh come on, Like this is going to be any different than how things always go?" she crossed her arms, her tail swishing once behind her as she looked at him with a chastising expression, though he saw a hint of teasing in her blue eyes.

"You are going to run off ahead, get into trouble, and I'm going to bail your fluffy little tail out of the fire before it gets burnt."

"Hey, I'm not that bad!" he said, popping up his stripped ears indignantly and meeting her stare for stare. Which was a losing battle for him because her pose immediately started to distract him. The way her arms crossed on her chest with her hips angled and her long gorgeous tail swished to the side started making his eyes wander up and down her.

"Jack, You're absolutely reckless, always running right up to the edge of the rules and jumping into messes, although…" The vixen said, shifting in a gracefully, fluid motion to lean over to him and whispered in his ear, "I'll admit that I like when you're a bit reckless with me." If his ears hadn't already been standing at attention they would have been with the way she'd whispered that to him.

There was an ever so faint brush of her tail against the back of his legs and a shiver of excitement shot up through him.

Then she laughed, in that pure sweet way she had and kissed his cheek before taking his paw and starting back down the path.

Jack walked beside Skye as she hummed happily, purposefully brushing up against him and considered just how lucky he was. He would never have imagined where he would have ended up in life, with whom he had ended up with, hell he never would have imaged that winter, a time of the year he had hated with a fervored passion since he was a tiny kit would become his favorite time of the year.

Granted Skye might have had a lot to do with that last one but it didn't diminish the point. Skye was always bubbly and happy but winter brought out an extra cuddly, almost frisky side to her, a side that left even an energetic hare like him hard pressed to keep up. It had been a bit of a surprise their first year together when winter rolled around and his mate, normally one for small advances or hints and planned romantic nights suddenly became a bit more… demanding and spontaneous, not that he minded at all.

He looked over at her, his beautiful vixen, his mate.

Yes. Jack thought, He was one lucky bastard.

"It's a controlled recklessness, Skye. I'm always in control." Jack said as they walked, smiling as she laughed again.

"No it isn't! Jack, you're flying by the seat of your pants most of the time!"

Still grinning, he let out an indignant huff, "Even if I am, I'm still in control of those pants!"

"Um-huh," Skye murmured not sounding convinced in the least, "What about the incident in the southern seas?"

Jack waved a paw nonchalantly, "I meant to sink that ship, completely not an accident. Planned the whole thing, especially that part about getting us a week of time to ourselves on that deserted tropical island. Thought we could use a little vacation after that mess."

"Vacation? Planned?" Skye said skeptically, "I remember being stranded on that island with no supplies and our clothes in rags after swimming to shore hauling your unconscious body."

"And I remember waking up in a tropical paradise with a lovely naked vixen… just like I planned." Jack said relishing the memories.

"I was not naked," Skye huffed, "I was wearing a grass skirt I made."

"for all of about 10 seconds. I clearly remember it disappearing somewhere between the second and third kiss." Jack replied in a delightedly, reminiscent tone that earned him an even louder huff.

"Well, Mr. skirt stealer smarty pants, you sure didn't seem in control when you came stumbling into my garage that first time we meet and I had to save your fluffy little tail from those thugs chasing you."

"Hey, everyone has a bit of a bad day now and then! That one's unfair!" Jack poked her rear and received a whack from her tail for it, which just made him grin more. "Anyway, I was in control of the situation enough to lead them into a trap where a beautiful mechanic was able to clobber them from behind with a whopping big wrench."

"That one wasn't even my biggest," Skye said, preening a bit.

"And then I charmed said beautiful mechanic into helping me and later into marrying me. See, perfectly in control and all to plan."

Skye laughed and shoved him, "That is not what happened, you devious little flirt! I got dragged into that whole savage city mess because I saved you and doctored you back to health, and I might remind you that not a single one of those pickup lines you used the entire time worked on me."

"Oh?" Jack stopped walking and crossed his arms, giving her a smug grin, "Then how do you explain us?"

Skye mirrored his pose giving him her own smug look, which Jack thought just made her look even more cute.

"Because," she leaning in toward him, "after that whole fiasco, after you got chewed out and had your ass handed to you by your superiors, for being reckless I might add, with how you handled that whole mission, I got your crabby old ewe of a boss-"

"Agent U is your boss now too, you know." Jack pointed out.

"And she's still a crabby old ewe, but as I was saying, I got her to tell me where you'd slunk off to so you could lick your wounded pride. I found you down at that bar and decided to cheer you up. And after spending some normal time with you, not running, or fighting, or trying to save our hides, and without you flirting all the time,"

"I thought you said you liked my flirting?" Jack interrupted again and Skye snickered.

"Oh, I do, though only when you flirt with me." she continued in a teasing tone that none the less carried a hint of a possessive growl, "but I wanted to see what you were like when you weren't in Mr. Charm mode while working a crazy mission and I decided at the end of the night that I'd give you a chance." She leaned forward and kissed the top of his head, just like she had that night right before leaving the bar, "That's why I kissed you and told you to take me out to dinner the next day."

She grinned at him in a predatory manner that made his instincts sit up and take notice and his heart beat faster, but in a surprisingly different way than most hares or rabbits facing a fox grinning like that would.

"and because I ended up deciding that I did like you after our dates, I decided to keep you." She leaned forward and lightly rubbed her muzzle against his, "I'm the one that proposed after all." She said smugly, straightening back up.

Jack stepped forward and stood on his toes to give her a quick kiss, "I proposed first, if you recall. You just said no, then pulled out a ring and proposed to me."

He watched as her smile widened and her cute ears perked up, "Well, I am a vixen after all, Jack. Foxes are very traditional and there's a proper way to do these things."

Jack rolled his eyes, though he was smiling as well, "Foxes just have silly notions about courtship." He took her paw in his and started heading back down the small walking path. "Hopps was leading them toward the far corner of the pier, we need to hurry if we're going to head them off."

The was a light feminine snicker, "You bunnies, always in a hurry."

Jack could feel his ears heating up, "I'm a hare, not a bunnyrabbit, if you'll recall," he folded his ears back so the light blush showing on the insides wouldn't be visible, "And lapines might be inclined to be… quick, but you haven't ever complained about that since we're also really good at going repeatedly."

There was another tinkling laugh followed by a pinch on his tail which sent him into a small surprised hop. He landed and shot a stern look at Skye, though his blush had now spreading to his cheeks.

She just smirked in a manner that made his face flush even more and brushed up next to him again, her tail running along the back of his legs.

"As I recall you've still got that adorably cute and soft bunny tail, Jack. I've never heard anyone call it a 'hare tail', and who said I was complaining about hares being 'quick'?" Her smile grew and there was a delighted mischievous sparkle in her crystal blue eyes, "Being 'quick' has it's advantages too…" she continued her tone taking on a pleased edge, "If Hopps is taking them to where I think she is, then I might be able to show you exactly why I like that you can pull a 'quickie'."

Oh!, Jack though, a bit of nervous excitement running through him despite being caught off-guard by her suggestion, but then again... it was winter after all, Well… If we can find a secluded spot…

Skye rubbed up against him, a bit of a growly purr in her voice as she whispered into his ear, "Think you want to be a bit… reckless with me?"

Jack remembered some advice his boss had told him when he'd gotten engaged and decided now would be a good time to use it.

He cleared his throat, "Um, well… Yes, dear."

That earned him a kiss.

Damned good advice.

Jack was silent for a bit, trying to ponder where Skye thought they might find somewhere private enough at the amusement park, and then they came around a turn and he saw where they were headed.

His ears shot back up on their own accord and he couldn't help muttering,

"You've got to be kidding me."

Skye gave a soft chuckle, before whispering right in his ear, "Nope. But only if you're up for the challenge…"

His response was automatic, "Skye, I'm always up for a challenge."

Her tail swatted his as she laughed, "And that, Jack. Is why you're reckless!"

He opened his mouth to retort, but then thought over it and shrugged.

"You might have a point there," he said instead, "But being that way got me you so I think it's worked out pretty well."

"And as long as being like that keeps you with me, I don't mind." Skye replied resting her muzzle on his head with a contented sigh.

Instead of responding Jack looked up and gave the underside of her muzzle a quick kiss, watching as a slow smile formed on her lovely face.

They stayed like that for a moment before her nose twitched. It twitched again and her ears snapped up and then she closed her eyes and took in a long breath, her muzzle angling around like a compass needle which finally came to rest pointing in the direction of a food stand before she took one last long inhale.

Jack just grinned watching her. He'd seen what had caught her attention and even if he hadn't there was only one thing that would make her act like that.

He felt and heard Skye's tail start to wag happily behind her and she let out a delighted groan, "I smell cherry pie!"

Skye's greatest weakness… cherries, Jack though with a chuckle, If our enemies only knew they could stop us by dangling a piece of cherry pie over a trap!

He smiled, looking at his fox, "Do you want to go get a piece?"

She hummed, taking another long inhale.

"grab one for me too?" Jack asked.

Her tail sped up and she kissed him before letting go and heading in the direction of the food stand, though she looked back pointing a finger at him.

"Don't you go and be too reckless now Jack! You've seen that bunny's file just like I have, and if you try to pull that Mr. Charmer act on her, she'll kick you so hard you'll end up 6 feet under and then I'll have to come dig you up just so I can bury you!"

Jack's grin spit his face and he called back, "And don't you go eating my piece of that pie before you get back, sweetheart!"

She returned his grin before turning back and Jack swore that she put a little extra sway in her hips and that stunning tail of hers. Then again she probably knew that he'd take the chance to watch her backside.

Right before she got to the stand she swished her tail, turned and with a wink, blew him a kiss.

Yep, she knows. She absolutely knows that she can wrap me around that tail of hers, Jack thought before finally tearing his eyes away from Skye and casually striding toward the line for the ride that he could now see two other interspecies couples heading for.

The world really has come a long way since I was a kid, Jack though reminiscing on the fact that almost no one in the crowd around seemed to really care too much about the odd couples. There were some stares and curious glances but two decades ago and there probably would have been insults and maybe a few hurled rocks. Or maybe it's just that this city really is a place where anyone can be anything.

He smiled, and recently that's thanks to two bright new stars. Now, let's see if we can give them a nudge to help out with the current issue they've run into.

He adjusted his smile taking on a causal swaggering attitude as easily as if he was putting on a different jacket and headed over to insert himself between the two other couples headed for the line.

As he neared them he considered how he wanted to approach the situation and decided to keep the charm at a mid level.

Skye's right, openly flirting might do the trick but that bunny would probably kick my nose in, her fox would probably go savage on me, and then my fox would berate me for both flirting and getting my tail beat. This is going to be like walking a tight rope.

Jack managed to slip in between the pairs right before they got in line

"Class? class?! Nick what would you know about style or class!" Hopps laughed and poked Wilde, "Have you ever bothered to look at your choice in clothing!" she gestured at his shirt.

"This shirt's a classic! It's the definition of class." the fox retorted indignantly and the bunny laughed.

Jack took the slight pause in their conversation as a chance to interject himself.

"I'd have to agree with the lovely bunny there, she's obviously got better tastes than to pick something like that." He gestured at Wilde's shirt, making sure that his comment had just the right hint of intonation that it might sound like a possible slight against the fox rather than his shirt.

The reaction was immediate.

Both turned to look at him, the bunny's ears dropping down and her face hardening. The fox had a much more controlled reaction though Jack still caught the angry twitch to his ears and how he positioned himself in a protective manner ready to put himself between Jack and her.

"Why that pattern went out of style decades ago, Wilde!" Jack continued before either of them could say anything.

The fox's eyes narrowed slightly as Jack smiled, throwing in some extra charm which bounced off Hopps with absolutely no effect except to harden her expression more.

"I take it you know us but I don't think we've met before Mr. …" Wilde said leaving the sentence hanging.

"Savage, Jack Savage. And not in person, though I was part of the joint ZPD/ZBI mission a few months back. One of the other agents told me about how she got to meet the famous crime fighting duo of the ZPD," Jack turned to face the bunny who had started to visibly simmer at the mention of the 'other agent'

Well, well, what do we have here? He thought, No reaction from Wilde on that, not that I'd expect one, but she doesn't seem happy at all about my mention of Skye, might be able to use that. Humm… poke that sore spot with her and maybe get him into a protective huff and see if we can get some of their feelings out into the open? Might work.

Jack cranked up the wattage on his smile, holding out his paw to shake, "I must say Miss Hopps, that Skye certainly was right on one part. I wouldn't know anything about judging how handsome a tod is," I'm much better at judging how pretty and cute my vixen is after all, he thought to himself, watching how the bunny's ear twitched angrily and her clenched paws tightened, betraying how much that remark had hit its target, "but I must say that she didn't lie when she described how cute you are, and it's a pleasure to finally meet you." He shifted his grip on their handshake and raised her paw up to give it a kiss.

A split second after the old fashioned greeting, Jack realized he might have pushed just a little too hard.

He had to take a quick step back as Hopps all but ripped her paw out of his grip, nearly clocking his nose as she did so and Wilde shifted again putting himself ever so slightly in front of his partner in a way that would have almost casually shoved Jack away if he hadn't moved. The fox's expression remained mostly neutral as he stared at him, but his eyes narrowed further, going hard like two dark green pieces of granite.

Jack had to fight back an instinctual reaction from his hindbrain that screamed DANGER! And forced himself not to take another step back as the fox not quite openly glared at him.

Jack more felt than heard the low, nearly silence, subsonic, and utterly menacing growl that the fox gave off in contrast to his outwardly cool and collected manner and he wondered if he was about to be in a serious fight for his life.

The fox might have looked calm, but Jack could sense that he was like a volcano that about to blow (he felt justified in making the comparison since he had actually personnel seen a volcano blow and could remember the feeling of impending danger zinging through his hindbrain) Jack took another quick glance, analyzing the foxes current posture (one positioned to be ready to attack) and had to wonder if Wilde had even realized that his claws had started to come out.

"Mr. Savage," Hopps said, her voice immediately catching his attention and he realized that, probably just like many of the criminals that these two had faced, he'd made the mistake of focusing solely on the fox,

Another mental alarm joined the first in his mind screaming, Pissed Female! Watch Out!

"You're a hare so I would think that you would know how we bunnies don't. like. to. be. called. Cute." Hopps finished in a clipped frozen tone of voice, not bothering to hide her glare at all. Her foot had also started to thump rapidly which Jack took for a very bad sign.

"My apologies," Jack said backtracking a bit, with a less flirtatious smile.

Careful what you say Savage so you don't step on any landmines, these two are wound far tighter than we even imagined, he thought to himself.

He gave a small nod and grin, "Pardon me if I'm a little forward there, my mother always did say that my manners would get me into trouble, especially when it came to pretty girls."

Jacks attention shifted back to the fox again, as his growl became audible for a split second. Wilde stifled it, quickly recovering from the flicker in his control, but as he took in another breath, the fox's nose twitched. A look of momentary confusion flickered across his face, joining the territorial protective rage simmering in his eyes.

Wilde took another small sniff, his eyes widening minutely for a moment as something seemed to click together in the fox's mind and then his glare shifted to something closer to neutral, matching his face's expression and his body relaxed from a ready to attack posture to just moderately protective.

Finally picked up on Skye's mark, well that makes things easier since he isn't liable to attack me anymore. Now if I can just get Hopps to trip up and give Wilde some sort of signal-

He looked back over at the bunny and swallowed, feeling like she might actually succeed in burning holes through him with only her eyes. She looked far more ready to attack him than to cling to Wilde.

And accomplishing that goal might be a bit harder than I thought.

---

Skye's tail wagged in delight as she popped the last piece of her pie slice into her mouth and savored the delicious taste of the cherry filling. The still warm morsel seemed to melt on her tongue, exploding into a flood of flavor that nearly had her groaning in pleasure. She eyed the second piece on the plate contemplating how she might steal some of it without Jack knowing.

Maybe if I just nibble the edge…

She turned her head looking at the slice from different angles, figuring out just were to start nibbling when something tweaked her danger sense and she looked up at where she'd been heading, only to let out an exasperated huff.

Seriously, I left him alone for what, one minute?! Maybe two!? And he's already about to spark off a fight!

"Maid Marian, save me. Sometimes I don't think that buck has the brains given to a baby duck!... though his cute little tuft of tail does make up for a lot..." She watching as his tail twitched in a nervous tick that was one of his only tells as he tried to figure out how to avoid getting slugged by the bunny that looked madder than a stirred hornets' nest.

All the other mammals around the small group where watching them, though Skye noticed that the other ZPD couple, the tiger and wolf officers, while watching like this was a Saturday TV drama special had taken a careful step back as if wanting to be out of the way if the bunny's fuse on her temper blew.

"hummm… guess I should probably intervene." Skye mumbled and then looked back down at the remaining piece of cherry pie. Coming to a decision, she picked the piece of pie and took a large bite out of the tip of the slice and then headed over.

That's payment for saving his fluffy butt again, she justified as she chewed and let out another delighted sound, after all, I can't have that bunny putting my mate in the hospital right now, we've got a whole romantic evening planned and I need him in working order.

She swallowed, savoring the last of the flavor from her stolen bite of the wonderful cherry pie before stepping up to the group.

"Hey Jack, thanks for holding a spot in line for me," she turned to face the fox and bunny and gave a quick happy wave with her free paw, and tried not to squeal too much as she said excitedly, "Hey! Haven't seen you two since the flying dingo debacle! How have you been Judy on Duty and Slick Nick?" she gave the fox who was now wearing a small smirk a wink. "Given Chief Bogo any more migraines lately?"

"At least three confirmed cases and one of him whacking his head against his desk saying 'Why me?! Why me?!'." Nick shot back, smirk now on full display. "Still holding the lead right now, Delgado's only got two."

Skye giggled, "You all give the Chief such a hard time."

"It's because we all like old Buffalo Butt," Nick said easily, some pride showing in his voice as he continued, "Besides, it would take a hell of a lot more than that to really bring down our Chief." He snickered and then leaned forward to waving for Skye to do the same. She complied leaning in for him to stage whisper conspiratorially, "We've got a plan going between everyone next week, we're going to make sure that everything runs smooth as clock work, make sure absolutely nothing goes wrong. Since he's so used to things going haywire, everyone is taking bets on how long it will take the Chief to freak out because things are running too well. I've got my money that he cracks on day two."

Skye let out a belly laugh.

"You all are just too mean!" she giggled, and then snickered, "I've so got to try that out on my boss."

Still giggling lightly, Skye looked over to Judy, "So are you in on this sly little plot as well Judy?"

The normally overly enthusiastic bunny was just staring at her and Nick with a blank vacant look, like she'd been sucker punched and couldn't draw in any air, not to mention that her ears were drooping so much that they looked ready to fall off.

Skye cocked her head, looking at her with a bit of worry. She'd hadn't worked with Hopps for very long during the joint department case but the spirited and tough little bunny hadn't seemed like one that would ever just freeze up like that.

"Judy?" she asked again,

The bunny's frozen expression seemed to crack like a sheet of ice right before it breaks.

"oh… ah, Skye… yes, nice to see you here… too…" Judy mumbled almost drunkenly, her eye's glossy and a bit unfocused.

Wilde was now looking at Judy, worry and alarm clearly written across his face.

"Judy? You aright?" he reached over putting a paw on her shoulder to steady the bunny as she started to sway on her feet. Wilde's alarm grew and he started speaking faster and faster, "Carrots? Are you not feeling well? Something you ate? Was it that last rollercoaster? You're looking a little pale there! We can go sit down, take a break until you feel better. Sound like a plan?... Carrots?... Judy?" that last part came out as a distraught whine.

Judy didn't quite seem to hear him and looked up past him toward the ride the line was for, and mumbled, "Ride… Nick… Skye…" She blinked once, then again, her eyes looking a bit watery.

After a moment and a shaky breath, she finally focused on Wilde, putting on a forced smile.

"um… sorry Nick, I just…" she looked past him in the same direction she had before and her smile faltered, "just… felt a bit dizzy there. I think I need to get some water. Use the restroom. Here you stay here and go on the ride, I'll… just meet up with you after…"

She turned to leave but Wilde stopped her looking almost frantic, "No, I'll come with you. You weren't looking very good there, Judy. What if you pass out, what if you-"

"Nick." She removed his paw from her shoulder, which only distressed the fox even more, "I'll be fine, you can't come into the women's restrooms anyway. Just stay here and..." she glanced at Skye, "go on the ride… I'll… I'll see you after."

"Wilde," Skye spoke up getting both his and Hopps's attention, "I'll take her, you stay here with Jack and we'll be right back."

"No! No!" Judy said sounding a bit frantic herself now and waving her paws, looking back and forth between her and Wilde, "That's alright, I'll be fine, you two both just stay here."

Skye gave a small delicate snort, "Well Jack can't go with you to the restroom either, cute as he is, he's certainly male. Now, no more arguments, Wilde's right, you looked really pale there, someone should go with you." She turned around to Jack and handed him the plate with the remaining piece of pie. "Hold this, I'll be back in a few minutes."

Jack took the plate then picked up the slice of pie looking at the bitten off tip and then back at her. He raised an eyebrow and ear questioningly in a way that made her giggle.

She smiled at him, and leaned down to give him a quick kiss on the lips before saying, "Couldn't resist."

"I'll happily trade you the rest for another kiss." Jack said, grinning back at her.

She kissed him again, "Save me the last bite for when I get back, okay?" Jack smiled and kissed her back.

"Sure. I'll save you two bites."

Skye turned back around, ready to head off with Hopps and make sure she really was alright, but the bunny was staring at her with her mouth hanging open, her eyes wide as saucers, and her nose twitching at a thousand miles an hour.

Skye cocked her head and frowned, "What?"

Judy's nose froze, going perfectly still and then her mouth flapped like a door with a broken hinge. After a few moments of only squeaks coming out she stopped and looked between her and Jack who was nibbling on the slice of cherry pie as if he didn't have a care in the world.

Judy's paw came up pointing at her

"Y-you," Judy squeaked and then pointed to Jack.

"H-h-him,"

Skye's ears perk up as Judy pointed back at her, but she seemed to run out of words.

"Yes, we're together." Skye said to the shocked bunny, "Been married for almost four years now," Judy's jaw dropped again, swinging like an open gate door in the breeze, and Skye still frowning said, "I thought you knew?"

The bunny didn't say anything but judging by the way her eyes bulged, Skye guessed she hadn't. "Wilde obviously knew, he didn't tell you?"

Now the does eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head and she whipped around to look at the other fox by her side, who while not as distraught as he was a few moments before when Judy seemed ready to collapse, now looked rather confused as Hopps whipped her head back and forth between them a few times.

She finally stopped, staring right at Wilde, her ears snapping up and then down, and then to a sort of halfway point as her face worked through a myriad of emotions.

Finally, she seemed to get control of her voice.

"You knew?" she finally said, almost shouting.

Wilde blinked a bit startled, and finally said, "Um… Yes?"

When that didn't seem to satisfy her, he continued, "I knew she was mated when we first met her during the joint department case, could smell a scent mark on her. Didn't realize she was mated to him," he gestured at Jack, who seemed happy enough to just munch away on the pie slice like there was nothing more interesting going on, "until just a minute ago when I smelled her mark on him."

"But I thought that… but you… But You Flirted With Her!" Judy finally shouted out as if the world was coming apart and didn't make sense anymore, "I've never seen you flirt with any other vixen!" And then Judy's eyes went wide again and she looked at Wilde with an expression of growing pity.

Nick sniffed looking like she'd asking why two plus two was four, "I only flirted with her because she was clearly mated, I do have some manners Judy."

Whatever thought had been going through the bunnies mind apparently shattered leaving her stunned and confused. She looked like a puff of air could knock her over.

"WHAT?!" she shouted coming out of her momentary stunned daze, yanking on her ears, "NICHOLAS That Makes NO SENSE!"

Skye put a paw up to her muzzle covering her sudden grin and giggle, Wilde looked completely perplexed but Skye was pretty sure she understood what was going on now.

She giggled again and Hopps looked at her as if she, Wilde and the whole world were going Mad.

"You thought he liked me?" Skye giggle from behind her paw.

"He said he liked a foxy lady and you're the only vixen he's ever flirted with! What was I supposed to think!" Hopps shouted pointing at her, the bunny's ears vibrating with her confused frustration and Skye fell to the ground laughing.

Skye looked up at Hopps trying to bring her laughter under control as she rolled on the ground and saw Hopps looking at her like she'd lost all her senses. The bunny turned to look questioningly at Wilde as if he might be able to explain her sudden insanity, but the red fox wouldn't meet her eyes, and was instead looking down at his feet, blushing so hard it was even visible through his russet fur.

As Judy turned, it brought her back into view where Skye could see the heart shaped sticker again, and she lost it, falling back and grabbing her stomach, howling in laughter so hard her ribs felt like they might break. Hopps turned back around to stare at her, but as she turned around others in the line and street that had stopped to watch the spectacle started to laugh.

Hopps whipped around to stare at them like they were all going insane, but as she turned again, more mammals broke into laughter.

Jack still nibbling away at the pie piece leaned over Skye, looking down with the tinniest smirk and said to her as she once again tried to regain control of herself and stop laughing, "Told you foxes' notions of courtship are silly."

Skye had almost gotten her laughter fit under control, but broke out into a set of uncontrollable giggles at his smirk.

Jack grinned and nibbled the pie slice a bit more before gesturing back over to where Hopps was spinning around, looking from laughing mammal to laughing mammal and now clearly starting to get mad and said, "You want to finish or should I step in?"

"No." Skye managed to gasp between her giggles and attempts to breath, "No… *giggle* I've got this *giggle* *gasp* *giggle*"

"You sure?" Jack asked again offering a paw to help her up, which she accepted.

"Oh yes," she said, finally starting to get her herself under control as she stood up and Jack brushed some dust off of her, "This *giggle* needs a delicate touch and you Jack, *snicker* are akin to using explosives."

He smiled broadly, kissed her and then pointed her toward Hopps, "Better go disarm that bunny bomb then."

Skye giggled one last time, whipped away some tears with her paw and then went over to the bunny who was now frowning and glaring at the mammals around her, shouting "What's so carrot picking funny?!"

Hopps turned to Wilde desperately, snapping "Nick! A little help here please?!" but the poor fox only glanced up at her, blushed even more, though Skye wouldn't have believed that was possible if she hadn't seen it herself, and then looked back at his feet, his tail wrapping around his legs and his shoulders hunching in.

"Nick?" Hopps shouted in a hurt confused voice.

Skye laid a paw on her shoulder, "Okay, okay. Calm down for a second."

Hopps whipped around to face her, "Calm Down?! How can I calm DOWN?! Everyone is going Bug Freakin Nuts!"

Skye shook her head keeping her smile under control so as to not irritate the simmering bunny, "Hopps, come on, let's go take that bathroom break, get some water and maybe I can explain."

She gently herded the angry and confused bunny out of line and toward some public restrooms at the end of the street. She looked back long enough to catch Jack's eye before looking at the huddling fox in a 'take care of him' gesture. Jack smiled and nodded once, and she turned back to shepherding the bunny who now looked about ready to cry.

---

Jack watched as Skye, acting more like a mother hen than a vixen, ushered Hopps away, the bunny looking like she was going into a state of shock. Watching Skye mother the bunny brought up a slew of feelings that he had never thought he'd have, but had none the less been becoming more common over the years since he'd found his mate.

She was pretty, (more like absolutely stunning or so he thought), vivacious, and sweet with a bit of Amazon like independence and toughness mixed in. But one thing he'd started noticing more and more recently was that she would make a great mother. She had that perfect caring way with other mammals and kits loved her. They had talked about the subject long ago but had decided to shelve the topic since running around the world, jumping from one dangerous mission to the next with only occasional breaks, hadn't been very conducive to starting a family, nor had he ever really considered himself much of a family mammal. Now though… well, it might be just about the right time for them to dust off that particular shelf. Their boss would probably throw a fit about it, but they could probably keep U from going ballistic if they promised that they weren't retiring. It wasn't like there weren't other jobs that needed doing in the ZBI's ZI6 department or that they couldn't take the occasional mission.

Jack smiled, deciding to bring up the topic later tonight and with a shake of his head, stopped watching Skye's elegant tail as she and Hopps headed for the restrooms.

He turned back to see Wilde still looking like he just wanted to fold in on himself and disappear. He had slunk over to the side of the line to get some measure of privacy from the other mammals but the other officer couple had gone over to him, though whether it was to rib him or reassure him Jack wasn't sure. Probably some of both, he concluded.

"Nick, you sly dog," the Wolford said, grinning the whole time as he nudged the fox. "That was brilliant bud, how long do you think it'll take her to pick up on it? I mean you could have just told her you love her; that seems to have worked out pretty well for me." the wolf grinned up at the tiger who blushed and pointed a finger back at him.

"Ralph! That's perilously close to breaking our agreement, don't you go making me revoke your probationary status!"

Wolford's tail, despite the reprimand, only wagged faster than it had been before.

Jack made sure that he had a suave smile on and cleared his throat.

"You've got your eye on quite the firecracker there don't you Wilde? Wouldn't have thought that the Big Bad Fox would have fallen for the cute little bunny instead of eating her up."

Nick's head snapped up and he glared, "Like your one to talk, Savage. You seem to have willingly thrown yourself into the fox's den to get eaten."

Jack smirked, "Yep, and haven't regretted a single moment of it either. Just nice to be able to throw stones at someone else who lives in a glass house too."

Having succeeded in breaking the fox out of his stupor, Jack turned to the other two, looking right at the wolf and in an exaggeratedly excited voice said, "Oh my goodness, if it isn't Miss Ramsbottom!"

The wolf scowled, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms.

"Mr. 'Humper." He said causally, "I thought we had agreed to never speak of that again."

Jack threw up his paws, though he was careful not to spill the pie off the plate, "Mr. Thumper, Th-um-per." He said exasperatedly, "Why did everyone insist on calling me humper?!"

"Oh, I don't know," Wolford said, "Maybe because you were a pimp."

Fangmeyer was looking back and forth between them and even Wilde was paying attention.

"What are you two talking about?!" Fangmeyer asked, and Jack grinned.

"You know of the joint ZPD/ZBI case a few months back?"

"Sure, I was part of the SWAT Team that helped raid the trafficking ring that Hopps and Wilde helped discover. What about it?" The tiger said, giving him a look that said he'd better get to the point.

"Well we needed to get someone into the trafficking rings inner circle to get the evidence to green light the raid. Turns out their leader, that insane little dingo, had a particular… fetish. I suggested a plan and Bogo said he had the perfect mammal for the job, said the officer in question had a lot of experience doing undercover work." Jack pointed over at Wolford with a growing smirk.

Wolford huffed and cut in, "The Chief had me go undercover in that fake rams disguise with Savage. We got the info, you participated in the raid, and Hopps, Wilde and the other ZBI agent nailed the leader when he bolted trying to use his escape plan in that freaking blimp. End of story."

Fangmeyer was looking at the wolf, a small smile breaking across her face like she could smell something juicy he was trying to hide.

"That can't be all there is Ralph," she leaned in toward him, grinning now, "Your ears are going pink."

The wolf quickly folded his ears back but the tigress grin just got wider, "So there is something more!"

"What he left out," Jack said continuing despite the evil eye Wolford shot at him, "was that he went wearing that ram disguise and dressed in drag. Did a whole little pole strip tease routine to keep their leader distracted while I got the evidence." There was a snicker from Wilde while Fangmeyer covered her muzzle with both paws, her eyes going wide as she stared at Wolford, who took one looked at her delighted face and blushed violently.

"I must say," Jack added, "It was quite the… athletic performance."

"Oh shut it, Mr. 'Humper'!" Wolford barked as the tigress tried to stifle a giggle behind her paws.

"Where on earth did you learn to pole dance?" Fangmeyer asked still trying not to laugh.

"Wait," Wilde cut in, "was that what the 'Special training' Clawhauser gave you? Sheesh, I know Benji brags that he knows every move that could possibly be danced to Gazelle's music but… actually, now that I think about it, He probably would go that far."

Jack watched the fox but he seemed to have recovered remarkably fast from his own embarrassment, though he wasn't sure if it was an act or not. He shrugged to himself and continued watching as Wilde smirked broadly, saying, "Did Benji teach you your 'special dance moves' to 'Try Everything'?"

The way Wolford tried to stammer a denial screamed 'YES!' and the tigress started to giggle uncontrollable, her shoulders shaking.

"Oh," she snickered, still giggling, "Ralph pole dancing to 'Try Everything' *giggle*, I'd so pay to see that."

Ralph's head snapped around to the tiger his eyes a bit wide, a slightly shocked expression on his face, and the tigress's giggles abruptly stopped.

"I um…" a blush was visibly racing it's way along the white stripes of her face, "didn't say that out loud, did I?"

"Well," Jack finally said after a few moments, snapping the tiger and wolf out of their game of chicken to see who could stare at the other and blush more, "Why don't you two go ahead on the ride," he gestured to the now short line, "I think Wilde would rather wait for his 'foxy lady' than go on the ride with me," Jack shot Wilde a smirk, "he's not really my type anyway, being a red fox and all."

Wilde put on a haughty look, saying back, "Why would I ever settle for going with you? The worlds cutest bunny promised to go with me."

Jack snorted, "Do you even know what that word means to bunnies, Wilde?"

"Yes. Yes, I do." He said, smirking, though he also gave a wistful, worried look in the direction where Skye and Hopps had gone.

Wolford and Fangmeyer had looked at him and then Wilde and seemed to be having some sort of silent debate with each other that involved a few still concerned glances at Wilde.

Jack rolled his eyes again, "If you two want to stay that's fine too, I'm sure Fangmeyer would like to hear all the little juicy details about that dance."

Wolford actually yipped, his ears snapping back and he grabbed Nadine's paw and all but dragged her toward the ride.

One of Jack's ears swiveled around as Wilde chuckled.

"Please tell me you have pictures or video of that." He said, smirking in the direction of the wolf.

"Now you aren't looking for blackmail are you Mr. Wilde?" Jack asked turning to face him.

"Of course not!" he replied sounding affronted, "I just wanted to get Nadine a gift for her upcoming birthday."

"Sure you do," Jack laughed, then looked down at the last bite of pie on the plate in his paw. His mate did love cherries, and he liked seeing her happy. He glanced back at the food stall she had gotten it from by a small food court area set up with tables chairs and a few TVs where mammals were relaxing, eating there food. Jack gestured in its direction.

"Mind if we go wait over there, I want to get another slice of pie for Skye."

"Oh, sure." Wilde shrugged, tearing his gaze back from where it had wondered to look back in the direction the girls had gone. There had been the faintest look of longing and anguish but he hid it almost instantly behind a cut and paste smile, before asking, "Do they also have blueberry pie over there?"

"Only one way to find out," Jack said turning to walk in the direction of the food stall, and after on more glance toward the restrooms, Wilde followed.

---

Skye watched as Hopps splashed some water on her face from one of the lower sinks in the bathroom and then grab some of the paper towels from the dispenser next to it to whip away the water and tears.

"Okay Skye," Hopps started, taking a deep breath, "You said you were going to explain. So please explain, because none of that," she waved her paw in the direction of the door and where they had come from, "Made any sense!"

Skye was glad to see that the usually upbeat and energetic bunny was starting to recover, bouncing back after her cry. The vixen could sympathies with Hopps after understanding the assumption she'd been under; the whole scene wouldn't have made sense to her. The bunny though, true to her nature, seemed ready to get back up and charge right back into the fray as she continued speaking, now pacing back and forth before the row of different sized sinks.

"Why was everyone laughing?! What did they see that was so funny and Nick! I've never seen him act like that, he never losses his cool! What he said about manners and flirting made no sense but it wasn't that funny, and that's just not like Nick to let others laughing at him get to him." Skye couldn't hold back a small grin as she watched. Even off duty, Hopps seemed to naturally drop into a detectives thought process. Skye sat and watched as she thought out loud, trying to piece numerous questions and bits of information together into something that made sense, "He's been acting a bit strange today. And there was that look before. But it is fox mating season. But I thought he like you." Hopps gestured at Skye, and the vixen grinned more because the bunny didn't seem to notice just how clearly she was broadcasting her emotions and jealously. "But if he doesn't-" her ears dropped.

"He doesn't." Skye cut in confirming what the Hopps was puzzling with out loud because the bunny had sounded rather dubious about it.

Hopps stopped and turned to her. "And that's what doesn't make sense!" she said exasperatedly, "Everything points to him liking you! He told me that he'd fallen in lo-love," she almost chocked up there for a second but continued, "...with a vixen though she wouldn't ever take him, he's only flirted with you, and he's been acting moody almost depressed despite how he tries to hide it and then I find out that the one vixen he's ever flirted with is already mated! All the pieces fit! So why do you think he doesn't like you? I mean seriously! How does only 'flirting because your mated' make any sense?!"

"Hopps, I think you're making some conclusions based off of wrong assumptions." Skye cut in because the bunny seemed about to boil over again.

All the energy seemed to go out of her, like air leaving a sail and she leaned forward thumping her head on the wall with her ears falling down, completely limp.

"Then would you please explain before I go crazy." She said and thumped her head against the wall again, before adding as an almost after thought, "And its Judy please, not Hopps," the bunny thumped her head against the wall again then stopped her brow furrowing, and shot a questioning look at Skye, "Wait a second… You asked us right at the start to call you Skye but I clearly remember your badge saying your last name was Frost, not Savage and," her eyes narrowed nose twitching, "I don't see any ring on your paw, and now that I think about it neither did Savage! What kind of hustle are you trying to pull?"

Smart bunny, Skye thought still grinning. She's got a good eye for details, still working under wrong assumptions though.

"No hustle, Judy." Skye said smiling warmly and pulling a thin necklace out from under her shirt, on the end of which dangled a ring, "Because of our role in the ZBI, Jack and I end up working a lot of… 'undercover missions' let's say. We don't advertise that where married because it could make our jobs harder if it was common knowledge. That's one reason among others, that our boss suggested that I keeping my original badge with my maiden name on it and also the reason why I ask mammals to call me by my first name, I don't really care to be called by my maiden name," she frowned but shrugged, "Damn old ewe was right though; Having mammals assume the wrong thing has come in handy a few times. And with a little extra deodorizer, unless we're near someone with a really good nose they won't pick up on our sent marks either."

Judy's frown deepened though she was no longer looking at Skye distrustfully and muttered a quick apology. The vixen smiled again as the bunny began pacing her nose twitching and burst out agitatedly, "It. just. doesn't. make. sense!"

"Maybe not to you but it would to any fox." Skye said in response.

Judy froze and turned to her even more confused.

"What do you know about fox courtship?" Skye asked.

"Not much… Nick's never really talked about it." Judy answered her frown deepening, "It's not like it can really be all that different from every other species."

Skye raised her paw, waffling it in the air, "Yes and no. All the basics are pretty much the same. But," she raised her finger, "There's a few key differences, and foxes tend to be… very tradition." Skye shrugged, "It's pretty hard to go against the kind of instincts that underlie those traditions."

"So Nick wasn't joking when he said he only flirted with you because you were already mated?" Judy asked still seeming to have a hard time processing that.

"Not at all." Skye said with a huge grin watching the bunnies face as she tried wrapping her mind around that… and apparently failing.

"You're going to have to walk me through that one." She finally said going over to the bench Skye was sitting on across from the sinks and flopping down beside the vixen seeming completely exhausted.

Skye thought for a moment before speaking, "You know how most other mammals think bunnyrabbits and hares are always ready to go 'jumping' off into bed? And not being picky about whose bed they land in either?" Judy nodded, "So why do mammals buy into that stereotype when mated lapines are monogamous?"

"Because," Judy blushed a little, "we have high sex drives and before we marry, lapines aren't shy about…" Judy waved a paw around, " 'playing the field' while looking for their mate. Mammals see that and some of the larger bunny families and think we rut all the time and just about anything too!" her tone had gotten a little peeved at the end.

"Annoying isn't it?" Skye said understanding the bunny's sensitivity to the topic.

"Extremely. Almost as much as being called 'cute'," Judy said, then sighed, "No one ever seems to pay attention to the part about how bunnies marry and form mate bonds for life." She looked at Skye, "but what does this have to do about foxes?"

"Well, stereotypes about lapines come from quirks of your culture that others focus on without bothering to consider the whole picture. The same is true with foxes." Skye said with her own shrug, "What' the common perception about foxes?"

"Everyone says that canids mate for life, but the same is true for lapines with our mates. That and you all get territorial and mood in winter because its 'mating season'."

Skye laughed at that, "Okay, that's true for the most part, though in some cases maybe more literal, especially for foxes than other canids, than you're probably thinking."

"How so?" Judy asked looking a little intrigued but Skye waved her paw.

"Not the point, what have you heard about vixens?" she said, still giggling a bit at the bunny's notions. She still remembered Jack's open mouthed and shock expression when she'd corrected his assumptions, and the memory almost made her laugh out loud.

She can get Wilde to explain to her the difference between choosing a partner and becoming life-mates and 'mating for life'.

Her question though, had Judy stammering and blushing before she finally responded while not quite looking her in the eye.

"Um… well… the stereotype is that vixens are… forward and a little… promiscuous?"

This time Skye did laugh, "You mean that most use 'vixen' to mean a sly, licentious, wanton, female that will push themselves on any male they want and even steal someone's husband out from under them?" Judy nodded and looked down awkwardly not seeming to know how to respond to that, so Skye reached over and patted her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it Judy, we get used to it, and it's no worse than how mammals use 'weasel' to mean sneaky thieves or 'rat' to mean a backstabber."

"That doesn't make it right." The bunny said her ears limp again.

"No, it doesn't." Skye said a bit more soberly, "but you're not going to be able to change those stereotypes."

The bunny's shoulders firmed, her head coming up, "And how do you know that I can't?" she said determinedly, "You never know unless you try. I might not be able to make others stop thinking like that but I can give others an example by not being like that!"

Skye blinked looking at the resolute little bunny next to her. A slow smile spread across her face and then she leaned over and gave Judy a quick hug.

"You're right, that was silly of me. You never do know unless you try, and maybe two examples will work better than one."

Judy might be overly idealistic and optimism but Skye liked her all the more because of it and she thought she understood a bit better why Wilde had fallen so hard for this delightful little rabbit.

She leaned back still smiling at the gray bunny, "But back to what we were talking about, have you ever considered how vixens got that stereotype?"

Judy shook her head, though the hug seemed to have cheered her up as her ears were no longer downcast, "Not really."

"Well, it's because of some quirks with foxes and our culture and our way of approaching courtship." Skye said gesturing at herself, "You weren't wrong before to say that foxes are territorial, particularly about our mates, because we are. Even more so during winter, more than most other predators. It's got a bit to do with our instincts, and that has, in turn, shaped our culture too. So for a fox, courting a potential mate is a really big deal."

Judy looked back at her, confusion write large across her face, before saying exasperatedly, "But Nick flirts and teases all the time! He does it with me, he did it with you, he does it with other mammals too!"

Skye had to hide a grin again at how much irritation slipped into Judy's tone as she mentioned Wilde flirting with her and others. Foxes it seemed weren't the only ones that got territorial over perspective mates.

"Wilde isn't really flirting with me," Skye said, allowing her grin to break through, "teasing yes, but it's not really flirting. He knows that I'm taken, that there isn't a snowballs chance in Sahara Square of me ever leaving my mate for anyone else and that makes me safe to tease." Judy was still frowning so Skye continued, "Judy, think back over all our interactions together. We've traded quips, teases, and such but have you ever noticed how the only time he ever touched me was to shake my paw the first time we met? He makes very sure to leave me my personal space and not accidentally touch me, because that, unlike his teases, would be flirting."

Skye's grin gained a bit of menace, "and let's just say that neither I or my mate would take kindly to such an advance."

"Huh…" Judy mumbled thinking to herself, "I never really thought much about it before, but I've never seen Nick do anything more that flirt verbally with girls."

Oh, I've seen him physically flirt with one girl, Skye had to work hard to hold back a giggle this time, He's practically been glued to her side and hanging all over her!

"Foxes, are very sensitive about touching and physical contact," Skye continued, trying to keep her amusement under control, "because it's crossing into someone else's territory, foxes normally only let a few special mammals such as their family touch them. Between a fox and a potential mate though, physical contact is a pretty serious advance, so touching another or letting themselves be touched by someone they're considering as a potential mate is some serious flirting."

"I kind of wish that was more the case for lapines too." Judy grumbled her ears angling back in an irritated manner, "I didn't really like how Savage kissed my paw."

Skye's head whipped around to look right at Judy, her ears going flat and snapped, "He did what?!"

Judy recoiled slightly, but recovered quickly, "Oh… ah, no. He just ah, kissed my paw," a growl slipped out past Skye's control and Judy hurriedly continued, "Just in a sort of old fashioned greeting. That kind of thing isn't too uncommon among bunnies."

Damnit, Jack! Skye thought trying to control herself, knowing she was being a bit unreasonable, I might give you permission to flirt when we're on mission, but this isn't that kind of mission! Skye closed her eyes for a second and took a few deep breaths, it had only been her paw after all, but that was still pushing it, especially for this time of year. He knew how she got during winter. Skye resolved to remind her buck that he was hers as soon as was practically possible.

"-sure he didn't mean anything by it. Why my Pop-pop is always going on about how bucks now-a-days don't even know what chivalry means."

"It's alright Judy." Skye said waving her paw to cut off the doe as she tried to reassure her, "I know he didn't mean anything by it, I'm just…" she sighed, "as you said, foxes can get moody and overprotective during winter. Though Jack should know that." She added just a touch sharply.

And I'll make sure he remembers it this time too!

There was a moments silence which Judy finally broke.

"Skye, I'm… I'm sorry I made such a scene back there." Judy said her ears down, "I was just shocked to find out you were married because I thought Nick was in love with you. And that whole part about him flirting with you because you where mated, well I can see how everyone else might have found that funny especially with how I made a fool of myself. Even Nick was embarrassed at how I acted."

"Oh honey, there's no need to apologize," Skye said giving Judy a one-armed hug to try cheering up the doe, "He wasn't embarrassed about how you acted; He was embarrassed because you told everyone there that he was ears over tail in love."

"Really?" Judy said looking up and then smiled, looking at Skye's arm, "and I though you said foxes were picky about who they touched."

Skye smiled back, "I said they only let special mammals like family touch them, and between us girls, good friends count as special, plus I know you have no interest in me or my mate so-" Skye was cut off as Judy hugged her back.

"Thanks Skye," she said her voice filled with emotion, "I really needed a friend right now."

"Judy! Judy, a little too tight there!" Skye wheezed out, patting the bunny on the back.

Judy gave a small laugh and let go, smiling now.

"Sorry, Nick keeps telling me that I could out hug a bear." She sobered up a bit after mentioning her fox's name, then looked back at Skye a bit nervously and twisted her paws in a hesitant manner, "If he wasn't in love with you though, t-then who is it? I've never seen him flirt with other vixens."

Skye kept her smile from breaking out into a full smirk, "You know him better than I do," she said poking the bunny in the shoulder, "and you've got the makings of a good detective. I'm sure you can figure it out."

"I've been trying to," Judy said exasperatedly and then her ears dropping back down dejectedly, and she mumbled so quietly Skye almost didn't hear her, "Though I'm not sure I really want to know."

Skye decided that it might be best if she simply acted like she hadn't heard that last bit.

"Well Judy, one of the other quirks that got vixens their stereotype is that with foxes it's usually the female that takes the lead."

Judy blinked, startled again and then looked questioningly at Skye.

"Vixens get their reputation as being promiscuous flirts and homewreakers because a fox won't tease or flirt with someone that could be a potential mate unless they're seriously interested, that's why they feel safe teasing other mated couples, but vixens do somewhat deserve our reputation as being forward. For foxes its almost always the female that asks out the male, why I was the one that proposed to Jack." Skye added preening a bit at the memory, before looking back at the wide-eyed bunny that was paying rapt attention.

"It might not be normal for most mammals, but it is for foxes. If for example Wilde is in love with, how did you put it? Some, foxy lady, it would be pretty normal for him to hang around her a lot," Skye waved a paw in a general motion, "you know do all sorts of stuff together, and generally show that he likes being around her. It would be up to the vixen to make the first real move, though if he's the type to be a bit forward, he'd flirt, maybe brush up against her side or let his tail come in contact with her, maybe drop some sly hints here or there that he likes her." Skye smiled, "Foxes like doing that kind of thing. He won't come straight out and tell her that he likes her because that would be like directly asking her out. Instead, he'll show his interest and wait for her to decide if she likes him. And if she does then, she would ask him out."

"So," Skye said pointing at Judy, "If you want to know who he's in love with then just watch to see what girl he spends most of his time around, with it being winter, he's going to want to be as close to her as possible."

Skye smirked at the look on Judy's face, which was reminiscent of someone trying to see the world from a completely new perspective and having a bit of a difficult time with it.

"Bit different for bunnies?" she asked her smirk growing a bit more and Judy nodded.

I think that might be enough, Skye thought to herself rather pleased with how their conversation had gone, Once she wraps her mind around all that, I think she'll figure out pretty quickly which 'foxy lady' Wilde's following around like a lovesick puppy.

She snorted, at that grievous understatement of a thought, He's so terminally lovesick, he should be dead. Poor fool can't think straight enough about her to realize that she's not operating from the same playbook.

That though, she thought as she considered it, might be doing Wilde a bit of disservice. In her case with Jack, they had both made open moves on each other and it hadn't taken long at all for them to start dating. Hopps and Wilde though, both of them had been waiting for the other and the resulting tension between them was now well past what any sane mammal would consider absurd.

Well my jobs done, let's get her back and see if any fireworks start happening.

Skye stood up, straighten her clothes and gestured toward the door, "Feeling better enough to go back and meet up with our boys? I want to get that last ride in before me and Jack head over to the concert."

Judy nodded again, seeming a bit distracted as if still thinking over what Skye had told her, but followed her to the door.

---

"Ralph, I thought we were supposed to be keeping an eye on Judy and Nick!" Nadine hissed as he dragged them to the end of the line for the ride.

"Nothing is going to happen to them for a few minutes, not with Savage and Skye watching them at least."

The two otters in front of them where directed toward a small sized boat and Ralph pulled her forward.

"You two will have to wait a moment," the elephant attendant running the ride said, stopping Ralph with his trunk, "They'll have some of the large sized boats back around in a minute."

Ralph looked at the boats docked in front of them, which were all mid and small sized ones and then back at Savage and Wilde. He turned back around hurriedly, saying with a bit of desperation, "We can fit in in of the mid-sized boats, no need to wait."

The elephant gave him a glance, then took a longer one at Nadine seeming to debate whether that was true.

"I don't mind being squeezing in with her," Ralph said a bit more desperately and Nadine flushed as the attendant smiled, giving Ralph a nod and not to subtle wink.

"Right, I expect you can, go take that one." The elephant said gesturing at the last boat docked to the side of the small artificial channel leading into the tunnel on the mid and small boat track.

"Thanks!" Ralph said quickly, hauling Nadine along behind him.

"Ralph! Come on, we can't fit in that!" she said looking down at the boat. Two wolves, small wolves, might be able to fit in it but she was a tiger and Ralph was no runt either.

Ralph took one last worried look in the direction of Savage and Nick and back at the boat, his expression firming, "Oh yes we can. Here you get in first." He said moving to the side.

Nadine took another dubious look at the swan shaped boat and then at Ralph. She could tell by his twitchiness that he was still worried that Savage might do something like start telling everyone around about their little adventure.

"Ralph, that story can't be that embarrassing." Nadine said in a last-ditch effort, only to see Ralph's ears and tail drop in alarm as his eyes went wide.

Or… maybe it could. I really wonder just what Clawhauser taught him?

Nadine sighed, and started getting into the boat, since she couldn't stand seeing Ralph distressed like that. She'd have a chance to tease out all the details of that event later anyway.

As she carefully settled herself into the boat she tried to figure out how Ralph was going to fit. If it had been just her or maybe her and Judy there would have been enough room, but… But Ralph scampered in right after her not seeming to want to waste time debating exactly how it would work and a few moments followed were the boat rocked violently and almost tipped.

"Ralph!" Nadine squeaked, quickly grabbed her wolf who'd been trying to squeeze in next to her and pulled him onto her lap, "I swear that if you tip this boat and dump us in the water I won't kiss you after our date tomorrow!"

Ralph stopped squirming, now sitting across her lap and Nadine found that the position wasn't actually that uncomfortable; Ralph was only about two thirds her weight and while a bit heavy to be sitting on her lap it did mean he was cuddled up close to her.

He was warm and comfortable and Nadine felt her whole body heat up as she caught herself starting to stare at his longer fur, peaked out around the collar of his shirt. She had to fight back a sudden desire to nuzzle him and purr.

This is such a bad idea, Nadine moaned to herself.

No, this is a great idea, that bad kitty voice from this morning responded.

How is this a great idea!? I'm trapped on a tiny rickety boat with a wolf in my lap!

A strong and attractive wolf that's in love with you… and that you (*mentally censored bleep*) too.

Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! This is not the time for that!

Why? He's the guy you've compared every other potential date to for the last couple of years and none of them have come close to matching up, hell none of your dates before meeting him at the academy came close either.

SHUT UP! Because We're on a rickety boat above a channel of probably cold water, that's why!

… good point, best just to cuddle against your wolf for now, 'rocking the boat' right now might be bad.

Shut up! There will be no 'rocking the boat' today.

What about 'rocking the bed'?

NO!

What about tomorrow?

'...'

See, isn't that such a nice daydream?

What?! Wait, no No NO! We will not be any rocking anything! Not today, not tomorrow!

You were just day dreaming about him –

SHUT UP!

But that just got you really hot and bothered.

Don't Care!

Working that out with Ralph would be a lot more fun than doing it yourself. And you know you want to…

SHUT! UP!

So how are you going to deal with it then?

… I still have his shirt.

And you also have him in your lap. He's probably much better than his shirt, remember this morning?

That's. Not. Helping! Nadine mentally screamed, shifting on the seat, now very cognizant of a damp feeling between her legs.

Hey! Hey! Watch the boat, cold water remember?! Cuddle now, Rut later.

Shut Up! Stop brining up those mental images! Didn't I shoot you this morning?! Stay dead for at least one day!

The wolf kissed us and brought me back to life.

Stop bringing up daydreams about Ralph and Shut Up or I swear I'll shoot you again!

Fine, but you realize it's too late, right?

And it's your fault I feel like this now! Nadine shifted slightly again, but that didn't help with the discomfort of damp cloth.

Oh… not that, I didn't mean with that.

What?

Ralph's nose is twitching and his tail is thumping.

WHAT?!

Well, he is a wolf, they do have great noses.

No, No, No, No.

Ouhhh! His eyes are getting all predatory in that way you love.

SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT -Ohhhh gods

Nadine shuddered as Ralph nuzzled her in the same spot he'd marked her this morning and then kissed the corner of her jaw.

There was a loud 'Ehem' and both she and Ralph turned to see the elephant attendant, though Nadine felt slightly dazed.

"If you two could hold off for just a minute until your out of sight please," he said and then reached over and pushed the boat out form the dock slot and into the slowly moving stream of the artificial channel. Nadine squeaked as the boat rocked and clutched Ralph hard against her chest. But after a few moments, which set Nadine's heart racing, the rocking motion settled down to a smooth sway as the boat drifted along toward the tunnel mouth.

Nadine relaxed slightly and took a deep breath, only noticing as her chest expanded that what she'd taken for the rapid thrumming of her heart was actually Ralph growling in in a low contentedly happy way. It was more audible and rumbly and had a flare of possessiveness that a cat's purr didn't and to Nadine's alarmed dismay she found it to be extremely sexy.

Then she looked down and realized that her tight hold on Ralph had forced his muzzle right in between her breasts again.

She squeaked and pushed him away from her chest, causing the boat to rock dangerously again. Nadine let out another louder squeak and only then realized that she'd desperately clutching Ralph back to her.

Ralph's possessive growl from between her breasts grew louder.

---

A/N

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Operations Clock: +6 hours

…

Petty Officer: "Sir! That Fluff Nuke timer is still ticking down!"

...

Secret Squirrel Division Report:

Successfully stolen Skye's cherry obsession and original last name from Starfang's Secrets 'Embrace it'. Also found some rumors suggesting she's starting another awesome tale soon. Request sent to pirate division to monitor for more opportunities to steal other great bits of her rumored upcoming work.

Inspiration for part of SavageSkye's back story taken from an awesome little comic that can be found here at 'replytoanons dot tumblr dot com/post/149823893595' it's ridiculously cute. Request sleezy pirate lawyers try to steal *ehem* get permission to feature it on Ao3 site version of story (since they allow pics to be added)

…

Supply Division Report:

*Hossa!* Resupplies of coffee inbound. Ridiculous delays for the next chapter should be averted!

Bad news, this chapter got split in two.

…

...

A Big Wedding, or a Bigger Wedding, that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to 'help'

The shrews and bears of outrageous family fortune,

To take arms against a sea of troubles

And by opposing end them. To 'ship' succeed — To Kiss proceed

-Quote from the upcoming summer blockbuster hit 'A Zootopia Hamlet: Icing Tragedy', Directed by Fru Fru Big (Movie Poster Image – Koslov's picture)

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