Chapter 1 – Partners on patrol

Nick stopped his car in front of Judy's apartment building. He checked the time: 5:35 am. Good. As he knew very well that Judy hates being late to work, he always took great care in arriving on time when it was his turn to drive. He had learned a lot about her in the past months. It had been a mild winter in Zootopia's main district and they had spent their entire time on duty together. Luck had been on their side, they had solved some major cases and even received some awards.

Nick knew that most of this was thanks to her accuracy, her cleverness and eagerness. But he could help her with his inside view of the criminal mind and his knowledge of how things were organized in the underworld of this bustling town. The combination of her being so by-the-rule and him being so let's-just-do-it had proven to be rather successful. Chief Bogo had named them team of the month twice in a row. Spending so much time together had it's effects, of course. He knows her taste of music, how she prefers her coffee, her fast food desires (important when you are a cop on patrol), how to tease her, how to please her…

Today would be different. He wanted to dare the next step in their relationship for weeks but always bailed out at the last moment. That bunny had changed him, you're not needing a genius to figure that out. For the first time in his life he was really part of something. The older cops were still mocking both of them from time to time but they were taken serious now. And the newbies were looking up to them. But all that was not so important as to be next to her all day, to smell her scent, to look in her brilliant eyes that were so full of life. Okay, okay, name it – he was in love with her. Man, it had took him quite some time to accept that simple fact, but it was not so easy – not only was she a different species, she was prey and he was a pred. His wild, pre-civilized ancestors had probably killed millions of bunnies. And even though most people nowadays were much more relaxed when it comes to partnership, sexuality and all of that, a mixed-species love affair was still something strange.

He sighed. He needed to forget about everything that might come up and just plan for the moment, as he had done when he was still a con-artist. His heart skipped a beat when the door of the apartment building opened and Judy hopped out, her wonderful body clad in the uniform she was so proud to wear and a wide smile on her face. She jumped on the modified passenger seat of his car. He had installed a higher seat so she could look out of the window in a normal way and not feeling like a child.

"Morning, carrots", he said, "why so happy that early in the morning?" – "Oh, no special reason – it's a sunny day, I had a large cup of coffee for breakfast, and I'm starting a new day in my dream job, together with my favorite partner!", she replied, giving him a broad grin. Nick smirked back, but his stomach was full of butterflies. Did she really mean it? Or was she just teasing him? Time to find out…

They arrived at ZPD station and after some friendly chit-chat with Clawhauser sat on their usual chair in the bull pen, as the briefing room was called. The department still had not cared buying chairs for smaller sized mammals, so they shared. Nick didn't mind – the closer he was to her, the better.

Chief Bogo stormed in, skipping the usual preliminaries as he needed to go to a police conference in Tundratown, quickly assigning the tasks to the day shift and stormed out merely 40 seconds after he came in.

"Wow – that was the briefest briefing ever!", giggled officer Kitty McMahon, a young feline, one of the newest recruits the department got. "So come on, big guy, let's hit the road!", she called out to officer Bullhorn, a giant rhino, who seemed not to be so happy about his talkative, lively new partner. Kitty gave Judy a short pat on the shoulder and Nick a wink with one of her astonishing blue eyes, "Bye, Judy, see ya, Foxy!", then she was out. Bullhorn heaved his weight out of his chair, mumbling "Someday, I'll put a sock in her ever-talking hole… hey, wait for me!" He rushed out.

Judy smiled at Nick, "Oh, she is calling you Foxy already… seems, you got yourself a new fan!", she made some kissing noises. Nick smirked, "Naah, I think she just forgot my name." – "Like hell she would…", Judy pretended to rip petals off a non-existant flower, "She likes you – she likes you a lot – she likes you even more…" – "Oh, talking of flirt buddies, where is your big, handsome tiger friend today? I get used to him purring a 'Good morning' close to your ear…" – "Oh, seriously, Nick, Tony is just a very friendly guy who appreciates that I helped a little with his first assignment two weeks ago…" – "Oh, yeah, of course… Tony, for real? How could someone name a tiger Tony? And why do I always think of a bowl of cereal when I hear his name?"

Judy's nose started twitching, "I don't know what you mean – you're talking nonsense. And now stop this – we have normal patrol duty and I don't want to be the last in car assignment, I can only drive three patrol cars and I hate that Dacia. But your jealousy is cute, by the way…"

Nick chose not to mention the fourth car she could drive (the three wheeled meter maid mobile) and followed her down to the garage. Officer Kensington, the snow leopard at car dispatch, sighed when he saw them coming. "I know, I know, not the Dacia – and no, I still didn't got any more E-sized upgrade kits for one of the other cars", he added quickly before she could ask.

Judy was constantly pesky on him to order kits enabling her to drive bigger cars – most police cars were B and C sized, a problem for Judy, as bunnies were only allowed to drive class E cars. So she needed special seat and pedal adjustments (so-called upgrade kits) to drive a bigger car. Nick, a D class animal, could at least drive the smaller class C cars.

"The Mustang?" she asked hopefully. Kensington laughed, "Dream on, twinky, it's gone – but I repaired the A/C in the BMW. I told no one yet, so nobody took it. I already installed your kit, so you can just hop in. But be careful on the clutch this time!", he gave her a smile. "You're the best! See ya at 5 pm!" – "Not if I see you first!", he gave his standard reply.

"Oh man, normal patrol duty – just driving here and there, some traffic accidents, some speeding tickets, loads of coffee and fast food…", Nick complained, preparing grounds for his attack. "Don't be so negative, at least the air conditioning is working", Judy replied happily. Now was the time! "May I ask you something?", Nick started shyly. "Of course, darling", Judy replied while merging in the traffic on the highway to Sahara Square. Yes, this seemed to go well. Nick gained confidence and removed his sunglasses. "I'm sick of fast food. What do you think of having diner together – today, after our shift has ended?" he asked her as casually as he could. Her reaction surpasses everything he had expected. "Great idea!" Judy shouted, "oh, Nick, I wanted to cook something for us ages ago – but then we had night shifts or a difficult case was on my mind or I was so tired, I forgot about it...", she grabbed his paw and pressed it, her touch made his heart rate go up by 60 bpms. He put his glasses back on, "Okay, it's settled, then – where and when?" – "Oh, I need to shop and some prep time… let's say 8.30 pm at my apartment?" Nick nodded. "Sounds cool. Should I bring something? A good wine, perhaps?"

Judy's ears drooped. "Oh, no, mister, no wine! Remember the police christmas party? I don't know what stuff you gave me there, but I was drunk as a skunk, don't remember how I got home and had a headache for two full days. Ah, but you could bring these round carrot cheese thingies you had last week – what was the name?" – "Carrot loops? Okay, you want them, you'll get them. By the way – veggie food only?" Judy grinned, "Surprise, surprise…"

With this dangerous mission accomplished, the rest of the shift was piece of cake for Nick. They played music, sang along loudly, laughed a lot and, shortly before shift ends, mother luck was on Nick's side once more, when they stopped a truck for speeding and found 20 tons of illegal alcohol. After they returned their patrol car, did the paperwork, received a broad smile from Chief Bogo for turning in the truck load of booze, Nick drove her home, a broad grin on his face. Judy was so excited she couldn't sit still for five seconds. Instead of opening the passengers door, she jumped on his lap, placing a quick kiss on his cheek and jumped easily out of the open window. "See you at 8:30! And, oh, I don't have time for make-up and wardrobe, so it's casual day today, allright?" And gone she was.

Nick hit the wheel hard with both fists. "Yes, yes, YES!" That couldn't have gone better even if he planned it. It was 6 pm. When he drove home, stereo cranked up to full volume, his head bopping in the rhythm of the music, he knew that the coming two and a half hours would be the longest of his life.