"Discretion"
"Got one! Finally!" Judy said as she held the speed gun out the window of the cruiser. It had been a particularly slow day enforcing the speed limit—literally, as every driver had seemed to be obeying it. Until now.
"Come on, Carrots," Nick said. "Pulling someone over for going three miles an hour over the speed limit? This guy isn't exactly Flash."
"Would you rather we ask Bogo to put us on parking duty?"
Nick chuckled. There was nothing worse than parking duty. "The speeder it is!" he said as he pointed up the road. He put his sunglasses on.
Judy shifted the cruiser into drive and turned on the lights and siren. She drove about twice the speed limit to catch up.
No chase ensued; the driver of the yellow pickup truck pulled over upon seeing the cruiser in his rearview mirror. Just another routine traffic stop, it seemed. "Coming?" Judy asked her partner as she opened her door.
"Nah," he replied as he shook his head. "I don't think you need backup right next to you unless a driver is going at least five miles an hour too fast. I'll run a check on the license plate, though."
Judy nodded and then walked toward the truck she had pulled over.
"Come on! Come on! How fast was I going?" the driver started through his window the moment he lowered the glass. "Don't give me a ticket. I don't need a ticket right now. If I get even one speeding ticket I'm going to violate my probation. Four years, the judge said! I don't want to go to prison! I've heard what they do to mammals like me in prison! I'm not going! I'm not! Not! Not!"
Judy took a deep breath. "OK, relax, sir. Right now I just need your license, registration, and proof of insurance. Have you recently used alcohol or taken any drugs?"
"No," the driver replied as he pulled out his license. He slapped it in Judy's paw before getting the other documents from the glove compartment and thrusting them at the officer.
Judy kept her composure, not letting the driver's rudeness get to her. "Thank you." She skimmed his information. "I just need to check our police database now and check with my partner. I'll be back in a moment, Mr. Moonack."
The driver punched his steering wheel three times, his horn sounding with each blow. "What's to check! You're gonna give me a warning! Come on!"
Judy ignored his protests as she walked back to the cruiser.
As soon as Judy opened her door, she found Nick staring at the computer screen, his ears pinned back, his bottom lip quivering, his whole body trembling. She knew his eyes were wide even though he still had his sunglasses on. "Nick? Are you OK?"
He didn't respond.
Judy tossed the driver's documents on the dashboard and gently touched her partner's shoulder. "Nick?"
He jumped with a gasp as he turned to her, but he relaxed when he saw who it was. "Carrots!" he said, panting.
"Nick!" Judy said as she put her paw back on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"
Nick took a moment to catch his breath. "I just had another flashback, that's all," he said, his heart rate still elevated but on its way down. "I'll be all right."
"What happened?"
Nick shook his head. "Forget it."
"Nick, it's me. You can tell me anything."
The fox was silent for a moment and then removed his sunglasses. He took a deep breath. "The driver is a woodchuck, isn't he? Bart Moonack?"
Judy nodded. "You know him?" She paused for a moment. "Wait, you know everybody. What is it?"
"All I wanted to do was join the Junior Ranger Scouts."
In an instant, Judy remembered the story Nick had shared about his childhood. His mother had saved enough money to buy Nick a scout uniform so he could join the local pack, only for Nick to be bullied by the other scouts the night he was to be initiated. The woodchuck boy had been the worst of all, muzzling Nick and leading the other pint-size thugs in their torment of the young fox for being a fox. Nick was never the same again.
"I don't know if it's any comfort," Judy said softly, "but he's still a jerk now. But look what you've become." She reached for the badge on Nick's shirt and gave the gold shield a gentle tug. "You're brave, loyal, helpful, and trustworthy—everything in that Junior Ranger Scout oath, and so much more."
Nick raised his paw to meet Judy's over his badge. "Thanks, Carrots. I wish I had had a friend like you back then. Maybe I wouldn't have wasted so many years believing I was none of those things."
"I wish you had too." She turned her paw over to hold Nick's, and held it tight. She knew what she had to do. "Nick, I can't give you back those years. But there is one thing I can give you."
"What?"
"Justice."
Judy let go of him and started opening her door, but Nick pulled her back into her seat. "Carrots! No! Whatever you're thinking, stop! It's not worth it!"
"You're worth it."
"Judy!"
"Don't worry, Nick," she said as she wriggled out from under his paw. She took Bart's documents off the dashboard and opened her door. "Trust me."
Now knowing that he had once hurt a friend, Judy approached Bart's window with feelings of disgust and contempt. But she remembered Nick's advice and didn't let it show. "Here's your license back, Mr. Moonack. And your registration and insurance information. For going just a little over the speed limit, enforcement is really at my discretion."
Bart snatched the documents from Judy's paw. "So I'll take my warning and be on my way now."
Judy shook her head. "Not so fast. Keep your paws where I can see them and slowly exit the vehicle." She reached for her cuffs. "You're under arrest."
The names of Nick's bullies were not revealed in the movie. I am calling the woodchuck Bart Moonack, moonack being a rarely used word for the animal.