Disclaimer: All cannon and copyrighted content of this story belongs to Disney, I appreciate your reading and hope you enjoy. Irual

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Leaning casually against the light pole next to what he could only call a quaint little market stall sized for smaller mammals, complete with a sloping cloth roof and an irritated beaver woodcarver sitting on a stool behind his wares. Detective Russell Wolfard was careful to maintain Pred Protocols as he watched a master at work and it wasn't the beaver at his six. Officer Nicholas Wilde might be only a five month rookie as far as active duty went but his previous street experience was clearly an asset as he and Hopps went about their duties as not only public servants but the current faces of the ZPD and city hall's primary media darlings.

The squad had been stuck in the Burrows District for a little over a month and this was their eighth sting so far. That fox was one slick piece of work when it came to reading mammals and finding connections that was for sure. Russ snickered to himself as he noticed a group of goats moving a bit differently through the crowd and reflected while he tracked them both visually and by smell since the breeze was headed right for him. The wolf's eyes went just a bit brighter as he thought about his little brother. Granted, it wasn't likely that the smaller predator had realized exactly how personally his fellow canines were taking his new found relationship with them or Judy yet but that was fine for now. If the past couple of moons had taught the wolves anything it was not to underestimate or assume anything about their trainees.

Still trailing the goats and keeping an eye on how far from his post he was, Wolfard had to control his expression so he wouldn't laugh out loud. He had just realized he was assessing the threat potential of nearly every mammal he passed. Granted, he had always been observant and detail oriented. Most Predators were and no ZPD officer made detective grade unless they paid attention and learned their way around the city and it's citizens.

Ever since they had learned more about the grim reality that Nick had not just survived but excelled in, as both a con mammal and as a fox in Zootopia though. Russ had to admit he was much more alert while on duty. He had to admit as strong, healthy pack wolves both he and Scott had slacked off some occasionally, but with the kits to see too now they had both sharpened up.

If you could get past the smart mouth and Nick's almost instinctive need to push boundaries like rules, regulations and even Pred to Pred Protocols if he thought he could get away with it, Nick was actually a very good teacher as well as a very fast learner. The fox was not only intelligent, he was smart and anyone who wanted to keep up with that mammal had better be too. He was just as clever, intense and inclined to mischief as foxes were reputed to be. He was also almost frighteningly motivated to acclimate Judy to the city and to defend her as well. Most of that could be chalked up to the fact that they were already very heavily emotionally attached and it was almost winter but not all of it.

Wolfard's ears twitched as he meandered along and ruminated, absently panting a little before he caught himself. Once they got enough time in on the force Wilde and Hopps were almost guaranteed a shot at taking the detectives exam.

Wolfard stole a glance at his targets who had stopped a short way ahead and casually accepted a flyer from one of the street venders. Letting his tongue peek out of his lips just a little, he pretended to look it over before stuffing it casually in his pants pocket. Sticking his hand-paws in his jacket pockets he wandered over to a store window and watched his targets in the reflection.

He also knew Scott had strongly suggested to Chief Bogo that the two smaller mammals go to the academy and teach a couple of supplementary courses when the new cadets started the training cycle in January. He grimaced and shook himself slightly to settle his fur under his clothes, if that DID happen it was likely that the squad would be split up after the Winter Solstice, at least temporarily. Wilde and Hopps wouldn't have enough seniority to take the detective exam for at least six months or in Nick's case a year so the commandant of the academy would object just on the basis of their lack of experience but…the sooner the whole ZPD adapted the better and at least that way he and Del would get a breather. Wolfard knew the Commandant Hathi was a very old fashioned pachyderm, but he had seen both Wilde and Hopps from the beginning of their careers and he was anything but a fool. The bull elephant was stubborn though, so if the Chief decided to do something like that before having Nick and Judy certified he was going to have his Hoofs full.

And that didn't even take into account politics OR Hopps and Wilde. He couldn't hold back a small whine and a snicker at THAT thought. If it wasn't for their natural advantages as wolves he doubted that they would be keeping up with the two smaller mammals as well as they were. His tail lowered slightly as he admitted ONLY to HIMSELF that was actually kind of embarrassing. Then again all four of them were getting better at this whole teamwork thing so it was all working out.

Thinking of teamwork lead him to the other area of their relationship, the one off duty. Having a fox and a bunny for friends especially THOSE two was nothing like he'd imagined. If he wanted to be honest, he hadn't even considered that he'd want much of an off duty relationship with the them but they were actually fun to be around.

Even though nether of them really understood any of the subtleties of wolf culture, Nick was a canine and he tended to smooth things over for all of them, especially for Judy. The two of them had developed a penchant for little pranks and jokes when they were off duty that had actually backfired yesterday. His tail wagged a little as he recalled what had happened. Sharna had been in the safe house when they had gotten back from the precinct and the poor bunny had been a bit overwhelmed with the whole aftermath of Scott being reunited with his mate after almost three weeks.

Wolfard smiled a little more and slouched against one of the decorative fences along the alleyway as he waited for his targets to decide where they wanted to go. Sharna had stayed with them for a little over a week when they had first settled in since the Chief had assigned her to be security for the house. Then she had been recalled back to Precinct One when Sargent Sheila Roo, the female kangaroo who headed the records department had gotten sick. Judy WAS a bunny and a country one at that. While he was sure that she understood multiplying as well as any mammal could, life bonded canines tended to be hyper focused if they have been separated from their mates for very long. That poor Bunny had been so embarrassed when she had come upon Scott and Sharna that the canines had been afraid she was going to faint but she had soldiered through it.

Wolfard straightened up with remembered pride as he recalled that Judy had even acted almost normal this morning around all her canine housemates. He focused on his task again and grimaced in disappointment as the group of goats broke up. Several of them went into a cafe that he made a mental note of while the last three continued on, all three of them on their phones. Unfortunately the ambient noise level meant he couldn't make out more than a word or two and he was tempted to give this up as a bad idea.

His hunting instincts were whispering to him that he was getting too far from his pack mates this made him pause in mid step. Shaking himself slightly and glancing around to gauge how far from the park he had actually gotten while following the goats, Russell privately figured that Nick was planning on keeping close to his bunny career wise as well as personally but that didn't mean the fox was devoid of ambitions. That reminded him of Judy again, the bunny was just as atypical as her fox. Rubbing his forearm where he had several bruises after sparing with the rabbit a few days ago. Russ added in his head that the gray furred doe was just about as far from the common stereotypes of her species as she could be and still be a bunny. She packed a lot of power into such a tiny body as well as having a quick wit and a solid grasp of police work. While it was true she was compassionate and kind, she was very ambitious so as far as her career as a cop was concerned, all bets were off.

He actually pitied Chief Bogo a little since they tended to alternate between being absolutely adorable and causing complete and utter chaos while still managing to be a really impressive team and accomplishing whatever their goals were on and off duty. Given how strongly they had marked each other it was only a matter of time until someone at city hall decided to make them a feature of the foundation festival too and wouldn't THAT be fun NOT!

He grinned to himself as he touched the rim of the hat Judy had given him last weekend while they had been stuck in the safe-house on their off days. Judy was absolutely determined to make detective as soon as she and Nick were eligible but at least now she tended to pause off duty. She was healthier mentally since joining the squad but she needed a break, maybe Nick could turn his talents to convincing the Bunny to visit her family next month on their off weekend. If he did, that would be an ideal time for Scott to arrange a meet with the Akela and the Raksha of the pack.

Shaking his fur to settle it he focused on the feed from Judy and Nick's radios since he had heard the siren from the squad car and decided to head back toward the park, speculation of that sort was going to have to wait. He made sure to take a few pictures of the neighborhood and the cafe though in case he needed to refresh his memory for his report and shifted into a ground eating lope.

Scott Delgado's eyes narrowed a bit as he kept a careful watch on the various mammals taking pictures and video while he shifted to stay downwind of the park as much as possible as he looked for their target. IF they could get a few days or a week away from the city proper or at least the media then maybe they could actually finish a case instead of digging up leads, filling out endless paperwork and doing the footwork and then handing the case off to other officers and detectives to close. Until then though it looked as though today's leads if any were going to once again be handed off to one of the detective pairs in precinct six since he recognized four different reporters in the mix of mammals around Nick and Judy as well as the regular crowd who were using their smart phones to post online.

The muscular, pale gray furred wolf shook off his discontent, they were all part of the same team after all and as long as the quarry was caught the whole force benefited. But Darn IT! He WANTED to catch that ram.

Delgado focused on his squad-mates as the younger mammals in the crowd swarmed the muscular cruiser parked by the fountain. Most of them jumped and made excited squeals and shrieks when the running lights flashed, the siren whooped and the red and blue flashing light bars went off before they gathered back around the small duo holding court in the crowd. Wolfard and Delgado knew that Nick or Judy had activated the lights and siren as their prearranged signal. It meant at least one of the rams they had been trying to get some evidence on was somewhere close since Wilde or Hopps had either seen, smelled or heard him or some combination of the three but neither the bunny nor the fox broke their cover as they continued their P.R. activities.

This was Wednesday and the weekly art walk and street market for the Burrows District was set up among the vaguely dome shaped mega-complexes of the neighborhood nearest the elevated and subway train maintenance lines. These housed literally thousands of Mammals who worked in and around the inner city and it's infrastructure and as a consequence most of them were Tinys, Smalls and Mediums with the Larges being hoofed equines and bovines although most of them tended to actually live nearer to The Meadowlands along with the sheep and goats. The sidewalks and alleyways here were teaming with prey of all descriptions as well as the usual small scattering of Predators.

Scott snorted to himself and stepped out of the way of a family of porcupines as he continued to ruminate. All that meant really was that the squad didn't stick out too badly. Other than the whole custom built Z-240 patrol car by the fountain and the fact that Nick and Judy were in full ZPD uniform including their protective gear and non-lethal armament instead of civilian gear as they worked the crowd that is.

The majority of mammals in this particular part of the neighborhood seemed to be from the Leporidae and Bovine families since there were Rabbits, Hares, Goats Sheep, Antelope and even some smaller Wildebeests, Zebra and several types of Buffalo assaulting his nose and ears from all directions; but the wolves and fox were Zootopia born and bred and they were used to the crush of mammals and moved with the ebbs and flows almost effortlessly.

Scott adjusted his Kevlar vest under his shirt, shifted his dark brown jacket and adjusted his trucker cap that to His amusement had the logo of Hopps' family farm emblazoned on it's front since it had been a gift from Judy. His two much smaller squad-mates were working the crowd like pros. His eyes narrowed a bit and his ears flicked back then snapped back to upright as he tensed seeing Judy being questioned by one of the paparazzi who were staying just outside the range that would legally be too close.

As the senior officer of the squad alternated between wanting to howl with pride or snarl with frustration he kept scanning the scene before discreetly touching the on button to his radio and checking in with his partner who was watching from another angle while they cased the park. Glancing over at them again, Scott felt a bit of pride in their trainees. Judy looked to be handling the crowd well this time especially since most of the mammals around her were kits, cubs and pups but she still had a ways to go to remember about city protocols and being so small meant that she needed to be even more careful around the bigger mammals.

He hid his teeth and grinned, as usual Nick was working every civilian around him like the pro he was, and with the cameras rolling he was being very subtle when he gave Hopps support too. Scott's ears pricked as he saw several rabbit kits tugging on the fox's pant legs and tail but the fox just crouched down and stroked their ears before bowing to the anxious doe who had frozen at her kit's actions and handing them to their mother while another pig reporter tried to shout a question and jostled the rabbit.

At this the doe actually glared at the pig and he could hear her over the open channel of the radio as she demanded, "Where are your manners? And watch your tone, the officers are here to talk to us NOT to give you a reason to trample others."

Scott Delgado glanced around again and thumbed the response button on his radio before lifting it to his muzzle and speaking quietly into the mike.

"Delgado here. What's our status partner?"

Wolfard spoke quietly "I picked up on a herd of goats that are tickling my need for action but nothing concrete. How are our kits doing? And I heard the siren What's your status on that sheep we've been tracking?"

Scott replied, "The dynamic duo is still going strong."

He nodded to himself approvingly as Judy and Nick politely asked the pig to move back with his camera and posed side by side for pictures with the mother rabbit and her now wildly excited litter. Just then the crowd behind the open area of the fountain shifted. He smelled the distinct odors of nip and poppers along with the expected ones like wool, lanolin and the musty odor he had been hoping to pick up and froze to pin point the suspect. Scott Delgado was dressed in his undercover civies but like the rest of the squad he had his non lethal weapons and several pairs of adjustable paw-cuffs hidden under his civilian disguise as well as his badge and radio.

Tapping his radio button to signal Wolfard that he was hunting. The pale furred predator switched it to send mode on silent. Then he moved away from the park staying downwind and continued to track a very small hornless ram with dingy white wool who was moving calmly away from the commotion in the park. He was dressed in dark trousers and a HERD liquor t-shirt and after shifting free of the crowds he began heading away from the street market and moved briskly down the sidewalk.

Tucking his radio into it's holder Scott moved carefully after the sheep sternly suppressing a surge of excitement. If their tip panned out this ram might lead them to the underground club they had been searching for since Bellwether's trial. Doug, Bellwether's chemist and marks-mammal hadn't been apprehended yet and his cohorts Woolter and Jessie had been distinctly uncooperative and entirely silent after being apprehended even after being offered deals to reduce their sentences.

Russell looked over the crowd and marveled at just how well Hopps and Wilde were doing. Close, multi-sized crowds still tended to make the bunny a little nervous since she had been raised without large amounts of larger mammals but you'd never know it from how she was acting and Wilde was clearly running just as much interference for his partner as she was for him.

Russell bristled slightly as an older bunny stepped out of the crowd and shook his cane at the duo and the wolf's sharp ears distinctly heard something along the lines of 'Foxes being red because they were modeled after a devil' and at that Hopps tugged her partner closer to the litter of little rabbit kits who were clearly wanting to touch him and made all of them laugh as she tickled the fox making him drop to the ground and 'beg' for mercy from the tickle attack.

What amazed Wolfard even more as he moved in closer to the squad car was just how easy Wilde made what he was doing look. Officially Wilde and Hopps were currently being besieged by a fairly large contingent of mammals who were crowding around to see the duo as they alternated between a public safety speech, demonstrating some simple police academy paw-to-paw techniques and answered questions from the gathered crowd. In reality though these kinds of shows were the setting for Nick so he could case large numbers of mammals without his activities being detected as well as promote mixed species cooperation and accessibility to ZPD street cops. It was thanks to these kinds of outings that the detectives from Precinct Six had caught those two donkeys and they had apprehended those pick picketing gazelles last week after all.

Wolfard was conscientious enough to keep his expression neutral here where all these civilians could see but darn it! Seeing just how well those two worked together and the trust between them made it hard to maintain his professional attitude when the fact that Nick was a fox was considered a problem by the civilians.

It was all he could do to remain calm as he saw yet another mother, this one a pig; try and move her youngsters just a little further from Nick. Russell sighed in sympathy. Even from this far away he could tell that Nick not only knew what she was doing; he had anticipated Judy's reaction because every time that happened Judy would move just that much closer to the mammals in question intent on proving how nice Nick was. Nick on the other paw would respond by shifting the focus of the crowd to either the cruiser, his partner or defusing the tensions by getting someone to ask something that let him make a joke as he casually teased and distracted Judy to keep her calm as much as he cased the crowd.

Russ shook his head a little and sighed to himself, it was an uphill climb trying to read Nick really. He still had a ways to go before he'd trust anyone but Judy wholeheartedly, and truthfully that was completely understandable. He, Sharna and Scott knew that Nick was far more hurt by these reactions than he let on though so he sent a quick text to the she wolf so she'd have a cold cider ready for the fox tonight. It was time that they all had another little chat, At least they seemed to be charming the civilians and that would please their bosses almost as much as getting a few more leads to follow since Chief Antilles was even less patient than Bogo and far less tolerant of the Nick and Judy show than their boss at Precinct One.

The wolf's eyes narrowed a bit and his ears perked as he noticed a now familiar looking rabbit who was moving past the tables across the street. The undercover wolf thumbed his signal button twice he set out to follow the mud colored bunny growling a little as the breeze sent a fresh wave of information to his memory banks. The traces of scent he had picked up from the wardrobe in Nick's old room had been faint but Wolfard knew his nose was among the best at the precinct and he had smelled that bunny before. This part of Zootopia's territories was scaled towards the smaller end of mammaldom's spectrum for the most part. This meant the rangy wolf was tall for the area which he actually found to be amusing since he and his partner Delgado were used to being middle range predators at best back in Precinct One and City Center.

Shaking himself, he thumbed his radio button to signal the rest of the squad and moved calmly toward the next aisle of the sidewalk market as the rabbit that had caught his interest moved with the crowd and then made a dodge behind an older ewe carrying a basket nearly as large as herself. It was stuffed with what smelled like blankets made from real wool which was surprising all on it's own since these were easily made for Medium or large animals, and that in turn made the sheep a target for thieves given how expensive he knew woolen cloth was. Suppressing a sneeze as the lanolin in the wool from the sheep and her trade goods drifted closer on the breeze, Wolfard watched as the brown rabbit made his way into the small area by the fountain and attempted to blend in with the crowd again. This time he was joined by a much larger dark brown hare and several patchwork colored rabbits all of whom were agitated.

Keeping his cool Wolfard observed the various leporidae and perked his ears hopping to catch some of their comments since they were all moving through the crowd and seemed too upset to be very subtle. His patience was rewarded as the small group dodged some of the outer tables and booths and moved away from the park entirely.

His nose quivered as he heard one of the bunnies say, "I don't care how much you want to keep that thing Harold. You need to get rid of it! If someone finds…."

Wolfard sternly quelled the urge to howl as the swirling breeze that was channeled through the domes of The Burrows to help regulate the temperature shifted. Mentally he sneered 'GOTCHA' and moved a little faster after his quarry. Unless his nose was completely off, that hare was also a mammal of interest in the attack on his little brother and the last thing he wanted was to lose them or tip them off. Besides, he needed to let Scott know that he was going in hot.

At this the hare shoved the strangely striped and splotched bunny and hissed, "Shut your pie hole you moron! You KNOW not to talk in public."

Touching his radio button and switched from the squad's frequency to the one that linked partners. "Partner, I'm going lone wolf unless you can join me."

Delgado's voice came back immediately, "Negative Wolfard. We have our orders. We need to stick together."

Wolfard kept after the leporidae and objected, "Then drop what you're doing and get your tail over to the west side of Cypress Boulevard and Kapok. This lead is hotter than Sahara Square and Brother it's PERSONAL."

Hearing his pack-mate's tone and that set of code words, Del grimaced and made sure to snap a few pictures of the building he had followed the ram to. His nose wasn't quite on the same level as Wolfard's but he had memorized that ram's scent and that was going to have to do for now. Russell's lead took priority. Even Chief Antilles wouldn't quibble about them tracking down the mammals who tried to kill a ZPD officer no matter how he felt about that officer personally.

Tugging his hat a little snugger on his head, the pale wolf ignored the civilians reactions as he shifted into full hunting mode and loped rapidly towards his partner."I'm on the way Russ just keep me updated on your location and status."

"Ten Four. It looks like we are staying near Elite Habitat Dome number 6 or 7 for now I'll meet you in the courtyard near the statue of Cornelius Codger.

Nick didn't react outwardly as the radio clipped to his shoulder strap buzzed twice signaling that he and Judy were now on their own in the crowd. Judy twitched as her radio sent her an identical signal but since she was currently hopping around with some piglets as she told them a sightly exaggerated and highly civilian friendly version of one of their interviews for Fabienne Rawley and Peter Moosebridge on ZNN before being assigned to the near burrows he highly doubted anyone noticed except him.

Focusing on his Bunny partner and the little ones scattered closest to them he offered a small group of wolf pups a smile and gestured to three goat teens and a black wool coated lamb who all found themselves drawn into his space just in front of the cruiser's grill as the rabbit doe from earlier continued to try and convince the older buck with the cane to come with her as her kits bounced around them both.

Lowering his head and keeping his ears still and erect Nick offered smoothly, "Hey, how would you all like it if me and Officer Hopps here told you all about one of the hardest parts of the police academy?"

At this Judy paused and after shooting her fox a glance offered, "You DO mean the obstacle course don't you slick?"

Nick feigned hurt with an exaggerated wave of his paws as he offered, "Madam, How Dare You. That hurt Officer Hopps, I wanted to tell all these nice young mammals all about our wake up calls."

At this Judy tried and failed to hold back a snorting laugh as her partner turned his full foxy wit on the gathered crowd of children and their parents.

He continued, "Being a fox and nocturnal I have to say that the only thing that wakes me up in the morning faster than Snarlbucks with my partner Officer Hopps here is an air horn wielding polar bear."

All the children gaped and the teens looked doubtful as the bunnies continued to argue in the background but Nick focused on the listening children and took out his I Carrot phone while he gestured. Taking off his sunglasses with his other hand-paw and squinting slightly as the sunlight hit his sensitive eyes now unprotected by his stylish and surprisingly practical eye wear he grinned to himself. 'GOTCHA'.

The wolf pups looked intrigued but the teens sneered and after exchanging looks the oldest male bleated, "Yea RIGHT!

He gaped a careful smile, still minimizing his teeth for the crowd of now intrigued mammals and offered his phone screen as he continued, "I have proof right here…just watch."

He had already cued up a video and the youngsters gathered around gaped as they watched what was unmistakably a large polar bear wearing a ZPD issued cap, sweatshirt and whistle on a lanyard yell "Your DEAD Foxtrot!" as she used an air horn to wake the two mammals in the room.

Nick's voice sounded a bit out of breath as the video played "Sir, Yes Sir!" and the shaky footage showed the fox dressed in ZPD issued shorts and a t-shirt as he straightened to attention after falling off his lower berth to the floor. The video showed a very large hoof-hand recording this as whoever it was rolled out of bed and kept recording. The angle of the shot changed as a very large pair of police blue, gym styled shorts emblazoned with the ZPD logo in white appeared. Then it was just a dark blur for a moment as a deep tenor voice whinnied slightly and a long, lush, white equine tail swished past dark brown legs that had distinctive white feathered hair swishing from his cannons to his hoofed feet. "Sir YES Sir."

The Polar bear grinned and gestured to the doorway leading outside the dorm, "The others are scheduled for the environmental obstacle course today but don't think I'm letting you off the hook Cadets! I expect you to be finished in here AND in the chow line in twenty minutes."

The fox immediately objected, "But Sir, I'm a dead mammal walking here."

The bear snorted and said, "Unless you think it's smart to be late you'd better be a dead mammal running or you'll be doing twenty laps around the track before lunch! Am I Clear?"

The video jiggled and the various youngsters jerked back as the bear's face loomed in the screen. "Cadet SHAW! Unless you want to EAT that phone put it away and GET MOVING or you're DEAD! And Wilde, I expect Prancing Pony boy there and your fluffy carcass in my office by 0700 got it?!"

The video stopped and all the gathered children looked up at the fox who smirked,"That, my fine young mammals was the renowned Drill Instructor Parks and the only thing she likes better than scaring ZPD cadets awake is making sure every-mammal that graduates from the academy is pushed to their physical mental and emotional limits and KNOWS it."

One of the goat kids asked, "Oooo were you in trouble?"

Just then Judy moved over to them and nudged Nick in a hip check demeaning in a teasing tone, "You KNOW she only does that so we can excel Nick."

Nick answered the kid with his PR mask firmly in place, "Not at all my fine young mammal. As it happens that particular morning my roommate and I had to take one of the written exams since we graduated the ZPA in the accelerated curriculum."

His smile went from professional to real as it reached his eyes and staggered dramatically, "Well, you'd know all about excelling. Right Partner?"

Judy KNEW he could smell her embarrassment as her emotions spiked when she recognized his genuine expression but she ignored that and started to retort when their radios both clicked and the dispatcher from the precinct came online. He was a very professional mammal and had never been less than courteous to any of the squad but his no nonsense demeanor was a far cry from Clawhauser's friendly and caring personality.

"Officers Hopps and Wilde report back to the Precinct immediately. Officers Delgado and Wolfard you are cleared to continue your patrol. Remain in contact with the station and each other. That is all."

The younger mammals all tried to object as the duo swiftly loaded their cruiser until Judy smiled and said, "We're needed back at the Precinct so you all need to move back okay?"

Nick bounded gracefully into the passenger side of the squad car slipping on his aviators as Judy started the engine and pulled out of the park. Both Wolfard and Delgado acknowledged Dispatch over the cruiser's radio.

Then Delgado added over the squads frequency, "We'll meet you back at base if we are out past shift. You two keep your paws in your pockets and your muzzles clean. We don't need the Chief on our cases about having to clean up any mess back at the Precinct."

Nick snorted and sent, "Yes Dad. OW! That HURT Carrots!"

Judy glared at Nick and added over the cruiser's radio, "Acknowledged Officer Delgado. Stay sharp and stay safe."

Both wolves grinned at each other when they heard this banter over their radios having just met up at the statue.

"The ones I want went into Dome 7 Scott and I'm SURE I smelled him or a close relative at the scene."

High pawing his partner Scott grinned showing all his teeth, "Then let's hunt brother. I'll send a coded text to our brothers and sisters in blue once we scout out the territory. No need to alert our kits just yet after all."

Nodding in agreement Russell added as he pulled up the city blueprints from the ZPD server on his phone. "Knowing Hopps, she'd be too reckless in pursuing this since we don't have solid evidence yet. You KNOW how they are when they think they need to defend each other. Wilde on the other paw, He'd be more apt to catch the suspects intact but the fallout would be nasty. IF the neighborhood survived."

Stifling a chortle, Scott nodded, "Yeah. I remember the whole hullabaloo over the subway lines and the demolished train back during the Night-howler case. If it hadn't been for Hopps and Wilde being responsible for exposing old ex mayor crazy pants, indirectly clearing former Mayor Lionheart of most of the blame…."

Wolfard nodded as he adjusted his vest and secured his trank gun out of sight while they approached the rounded entrance way into dome 7.

The dark gray wolf added quietly, "Not to mention providing the interim government with a way to help calm the riots what with Hopps gushing about Wilde and insisting that their working together and that his in depth knowledge of the city was key to solving the whole thing every time she could….She would most likely have been up on charges for destroying city property and reckless endangerment of a civilian since Wilde wasn't even an applicant to the ZPD yet."

Scott finished his preparations and objected quietly, "You're not entirely wrong Russ. But the way I see it she didn't actually have a lot of choices once she figured things out and came back to the city. It's not like anyone in the department would have believed her without proof."

Russell nodded glumly, "Except for Benji and a couple of the lab techs no one in the department would have even cared or listened. I know that as well as you do."

Del looked carefully at the directory and blew out a breath. "It's not exactly the ZPD's proudest moment or any of ours really."

Wolfard added, We need to be subtle, we don't have a warrant and scents aren't admissible in court. Welp, let's get started, this dome isn't going to search itself."

Just a short acknowledgment here. I got the nickname Mayor Crazy pants from another fan fiction but in that one they referenced Dawn Bellwether as Assistant Mayor Crazy pants. If this is your story, or if someone find's the reference before I can. PLEASE private message me and let me know which one it is and I will gladly give credit where credit is due. I AM sorry I haven't found it before posting this but I have almost 750 Zootopia stories favorited and even more followed so narrowing it down is taking too long. I wanted to post this now that the Holidays are over you see.

Also if anyone catches any other references to someone else's work that I have not given credit to OR if anyone feels as though I have somehow copied something not cannon too closely without permission from the original author, PLEASE let me know so I can correct the oversight it is entirely unintentional I assure you.

Thanks again for reading and enjoy. I am already at work on the next bit as well as a collection of chapters that fit between these that fill in some of the background and such that the characters reference. IF all goes well the first of these chapters/ plots should be posted before the end of the month. This story is called Flashbacks so IF you enjoy this plot and want to read more about the characters interactions, backgrounds, history and other things keep an eye out for it.

Irual