Great. This is juuuusst great.

This is what I get for trying. I spent every year of my life since I was twelve, hustling and earning and never having a day of bad karma, and then I think, huh, maybe I should be a COP! Oh, yeah, that's intelligent! Then of course, wham-o, Little Bunny Frou Frou comes walking through the city, bops the WRONG field mouse on the head, only THIS time, it's no field mouse, it's a mad RHINOCEROS- and I'm the one paying for it. Great.

At least I'm fast. When this speeding hunk of horn and muscle comes at me, I can dodge, right? Just like in training...I can dodge. It would be easier if this alleyway was a little bit roomier. It would be a CAKEWALK if JUDY hadn't "borrowed" my taser a month ago and just left it in my belt. But here, squashed between two stinking trash cans, there was no way out. I'll die here, smashed into a pancake, if this dodge doesn't go as planned.

Nick had two seconds to plan; they passed in slow motion. The rhino charged, spit flying, and Nick dove, dodged feet, and skidded out behind the beastly mammal's back. He was even surprised for a moment at his good fortune, but didn't take the time to appreciate it. He sped off as the rhino made contact with the brick wall that stopped the alleyway in a dead end.

Okay. Find Carrots. Find Judy.

He grabbed his radio. "Officer Hopps, what's your 20?"

Silence. All Nick heard was the sound of his own thumping paws and. Distant car.

"Repeat, Hopps, what's your 20?"

Nothing.

"Radio check?" Was this thing even working?

"10-2, Wilde." an unknown officer replied.

"Does ANY mammal have a 20 on Hopps? I lost her in the pursuit."

"Negative," voices replied.

Nick's heart was pounding now- it didn't help that, when he looked over his shoulder, the rhino was gaining ground on him fast.

"What's the status of that backup I called for? I'm about to be roadkill, here-" Nick was panicking. Where the hell was Judy?

He turned a corner, and there she was. Laying in a circle of streetlight. In the middle of the street- passed out, or...?

"Judy!" Nick rushed to her lifeless form. He forgot about the rhinoceros completely. His Judy was down. He fell to his knees beside her. In her shoulder, a tranquilizer dart intended for megafauna. Think elephants, hippos...not tiny little rabbits. "Officer Hopps DOWN!" His voice was hysterical as he ripped the dart out from her fur.

"Say your prayers, Fox!" The rhino thundered up to him.

"No!" Nick scooped Judy up and ran, as fast as he could, when BAM! The rhino fell into the pavement with the force of a small explosive. Judy was still limp. Who had shown up?

He scanned the street. No other officers. No cars. No sirens.

He cautiously approached the rhino. Narcolepsy? Perfectly timed heart attack? Divine intervention?

That couldn't have been it. Divine intervention wouldn't have let Judy...he couldn't think of that just now.

He circle the rhino and saw it. There, in its flat, round foot, was a tranquilizer dart. Just like Judy's...

Just like Judy's...It WAS Judy's. It was the dart he tore out from her skin. The rhino trampled it and fell victim to it. Clearly, it was potent.

It was just like Judy. Always saving Nick at the last second. He only hoped he could still save her, too. He cuffed the rhino by the hands and feet for good measure, then held Judy tightly as he waited for backup to arrive.

"Wilde!" Chief Bogo looked stricken. His vehicle arrived first. "An ambulance is on the way. What happened to her?"

"Elephant tranq dart to the shoulder." He said shakily. Bogo bent to lift Judy, but Nick wouldn't let her go. "She's so small, Chief- what's gonna- what can we-?"

"We wait." Chief Bogo was solemn.

The ambulance arrived. They pulled her out of Nick's paws and onto a stretcher, but he stayed beside her. He didn't leave her side for the next two weeks.

It was nighttime. Nick was dreaming restlessly. Judy was there, she was laughing. She was twitching her nose. And then the dream changed...she was holding him. She was petting his fur and nuzzling his cheek. He'd had this dream many times before; it was his favorite. But it didn't seem to stop, even now, as his eyes flickered open.

"...and I was so scared, Nick, and then everything went dark...god, I was so scared."

She was whispering, letting her paw glide along the edges of his ears. His head was snuggled against her neck. It shot up.

"Judy! Judy! You're awake!" He held her tightly and ecstatically.

"Ooh!" She giggled and rolled to her side to face him." What the hell happened? My head is killing me. I feel like I got hit with an elephant tranquilizer!"

He just looked at her.

"No-" her mouth fell open. "How am I even ALIVE?"

"I honestly don't know. You're a miracle, Judy." He was suddenly breathless. "A miracle." And he was kissing her. And it didn't matter that she hadn't brushed her teeth or bathed in two weeks. All that mattered was that she was there, and breathing, and responding to the kiss as enthusiastically as he felt.