A/N: Hey guys. This is a story that just sorta happened. I had an idea fly into my brain and I just started writing. Come to find out, I loved writing this one and I'm super eager to continue it. I don't have it all planned out, so updates for this one are going to be completely random, though I'll try to shoot for a chapter every two weeks, give or take a few days. Anyways, I'll let you read and definitely let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Day turned into night. The stars in the sky twinkled with a dim radiance that was very nearly drowned out by the intense lights of the city. The usual bright blue of the sky became dark, only outlined by the brilliant white orb of the full moon and the horizon which glowed with the vibrant hues of orange and pink from the setting sun. For some, the day was just beginning. The night shift at Precinct One had taken over, leaving the day shift to do whatever their hearts desired.

For three officers, it meant a regular meeting at Precinct One's very own designated celebration location, Miranda's. Miranda's was an ordinary bar that had soon been taken over by several of the city's finest in law enforcement, and then dubbed it as their official "hang out spot" practically turning it into a cop bar. Typically a trip to Miranda's would be in effect when there was cause for celebration. A cracked case, a promotion or a big raise, new equipment that replaced some previously very old and despised equipment, another day that went without any incidents. Just about anything would be celebrated at this one location. Sure they would have a "proper" celebration at the station, usually involving cake in the break room and nothing more, but Miranda's was saved for after hours when everyone was off the clock and they could actually enjoy themselves instead of still being under the watch of Chief Bogo.

Tonight, however, had no cause for celebration. Nothing worth celebrating had occurred, but for the majority of the precinct, that didn't matter.

Precinct One was a tightly knit group of officers that all enjoyed the company of one another. Nightly rounds at Miranda's were a typical occurrence, with different groups of officers showing up at the bar on different nights, sometimes with larger groups than normal. Every single officer had taken to enjoy the establishment and partake in the atmosphere it provided at some point in their time at Precinct One. So when a wide-eyed gray bunny and a laid-back red fox decided to walk through those doors, it was nothing out of the ordinary.

Nick and Judy were no strangers to the place and had almost become regular inhabitants around three nights a week. Friday nights had become their most common appearance, usually serving as a time to toast to the previous week and begin their weekend on a positive note, ringing it in with a night of talking, having fun, and a bit of light drinking.

The pair of officers were not the only ones to show themselves. It goes without saying that on a Friday night Miranda's could be filled with more officers than usual. It wasn't just those two that came up with having fun on a Friday after a long week at work protecting the city. It had been a thing long before they had even become police officers. There was one other officer that accompanied the fox and bunny that night, the one that had gotten them to start attending those nightly celebrations some three months earlier when Nick was barely a week into his employment.

Officer Tanya Kasten befriended the two officers right after Nick's partnership with Judy began. The caracal proved to be Nick's match when it came to wit, and the two were almost constantly butting heads in a completely friendly manner. Tanya had made an almost instant friendship with Nick, but with Judy, it was no doubt from the moment they saw each other that they would be best friends. While she got her fair share of joking and messing about with Nick, the fox wasn't someone who she could connect with on a deeper level. Judy was able to fulfill her needs when it came to gossip and other things that girls do, but mostly gossip.

Actually, scratch that. It was all gossip.

That fateful Friday night, Judy was the first to walk into the bar, excited to begin her long awaited weekend. She had nearly exhausted herself to the point of tears that week, doing everything she could to make the world a better place. Constant street patrol on foot and in a car proved to be a lot more exhausting than it appeared, making this visit to Miranda's necessary for the gray bunny.

Nick followed right after Judy, the red fox being tugged along by his paw. His face may have appeared rather annoyed, but after the gray bunny stopped pulling at his appendage and asked him where they should sit, his features softened up and he looked a lot happier, his tail swaying to the beat of the music playing from speakers overhead.

Judy looked behind her, placing her paw on Nick's arm as if she were looking around a wall. Not too long after the fox and bunny entered the building, the reddish-gold and ZPD blue caracal strode inside, her face showing a content expression of enjoyment of the moment. Her long tail mimicked Nick's and swayed back and forth to the upbeat music. The most striking and noticeable feature of Tanya was the two tufts of jet black fur on the tips of her ears. They bobbed up and down with each movement of her head and flicked around when her ears moved towards a noise. Judy, seeing the caracal, waved her over to her and Nick in a very flamboyant manner which caused Nick to stare at her while silently laughing to himself.

"I think she sees you, Carrots. There are only about fifteen feet in between us, you know," the fox chided. The bunny looked up at Nick with a very annoyed expression.

"I don't care, Slick. I'm just excited for tonight. Quit haulin' over my coals," she shot back.

"Fine, whatever. Just don't say that ever again. It doesn't work when someone so-"

"Don't you dare say what I know you're gonna say, Nick,"

"You didn't even let me-"

"Would both of you quit arguing like a couple of five-year-olds. We're in a bar, you know, for grown-ups. Start acting like it, children." The smooth and very feminine voice of Tanya overpowered the argument that Nick and Judy were currently having. Her voice was booming, yet at the same time very pleasant to the ears, another aspect that made her very easy to talk to. As she spoke, Nick grumbled at being interrupted for the second time. He pointed one of his digits at the caracal's face in annoyance.

"Oh, can it, Kasten. We're having a very grown-up discussion right now, so we'd appreciate it if you would stop-"

"Interrupting you?" both Tanya and Judy said in unison. The cat and bunny didn't even look at each other, keeping their eyes fixed upon Nick, but they both wore imitations of Nick's smug grin on their faces as they high-fived. Nick grumbled once more, becoming even more flustered than before having been interrupted for the third time in less than a minute. Tanya and Judy laughed openly at Nick's anger and annoyance, both of them enjoying pushing the fox's buttons.

"Har, har. Very funny, you two. Now, why don't we-"

"Hey, our booth is open! Let's get it before someone else takes it!" Tanya quickly said. Judy agreed, and the two ran off towards their usual table leaving Nick all by his lonesome. Nick grumbled for the fourth time that night, which to him was four times too many. The reynard padded over to where the caracal and bunny had already situated themselves in the corner booth that they so often sat in. When he approached, the two were snickering at him. Nick decided to fire back at them.

"I will fight you both," he stated simply. Unfortunately for Nick, this only seemed to make them laugh even more.

"I'm sorry, Nick, but you don't really stand much of a chance against either of us," Tanya began while trying to control her laughter. "Jude could knock you out in less than three seconds. I could easily jump over two of you stacked on top of each other. You wouldn't be able to touch either of us,"

"Believe me, Kasten. We will spar some day, and I will beat you. I'm a male, so I have brute strength on my side." Nick said matter-of-factly.

"I hate to break it to you, but we're the same size. Plus, you have the agility of an earthworm when compared to me. I'd take you down in ten seconds flat," Tanya fired back.

"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you try, fleabag!"

"Bring it, foxtrot!"

"I will, pretty kitty! You better watch yourself!"

"I think both of you should shut up! Talk about acting like a couple of kits!" Judy shouted over the fox and caracal, barely able to stifle her own giggles. Both of them stopped and looked at Judy, who was sliding out of the booth. As she gently landed on the floor of the establishment, she turned towards the other two mammals before speaking.

"I'm going to assume scotch and soda for you two?" the bunny asked. The fox and caracal both nodded at the same time which prompted Judy to go over to the bar to order their drinks, leaving Nick and Tanya alone at the booth.

"So, what's been up with you lately. We hardly saw you at the station this week," Nick asked. The caracal sighed before leaning back in the booth.

"Oh, I've been really busy with a case. It's been sending me all over the city looking for leads, but they all seem to end up running dry before I find anything useful. I haven't gotten more than five hours of sleep all week. Thankfully I've got someone to work for me this weekend otherwise I wouldn't be here," Tanya said. The cat was truly exhausted from all of the work she had put in that last week, barely able to stay awake through the workday and was also struggling now. The dim lights didn't help much for her, either.

"That's rough. I know it took me a couple of weeks to just get used to getting up early in the morning. I can't imagine going off of so little sleep knowing that it probably isn't going to let up for a while,"

"Thanks, Nick. That's really helping me feel better about next week," she said sarcastically.

"Always willing to make another's day a little brighter" Nick replied. The caracal scoffed at his response.

"I think you have it a little wrong. When it comes to Precinct One, Judy is the one that makes your day brighter. She's always so happy about everything, and then you come along to make you wonder why it is that you haven't transferred to another precinct,"

"Oooh, that hurt, Kasten. Right in the feels," Nick said, placing his paws over his heart and pretending to have a heart attack and falling back on the booth. Tanya laughed at Nick's ridiculous overreaction, nearly having to wipe the tears forming in her eyes. Nick sat back up just in time for Judy to come back, wielding two glasses of scotch and soda, as well as a much smaller glass with the same drink for her. Both Tanya and Nick stopped their laughing and looked at Judy, slightly confused.

"Did you get yourself a scotch and soda, Carrots?" Nick asked of the bunny.

"Yep," she replied with a bright smile. She set all three glasses down on the table and slid the two larger ones over to Tanya and Nick.

"Since when did you drink, Jude? I've never seen you consume an ounce of alcohol in all the times we've been here," Tanya said. Judy raised her glass, which got the other two to do the same.

"I figured tonight was reason enough to celebrate. It was exactly a year ago today that I began work on the missing mammal case that turned out to be the Nighthowler case. Had I not done that, I have a feeling everything would be different," Judy raised her glass a little bit higher before continuing. "So, a toast, to how things turned out,"

"To how things turned out!" the three shouted in tandem, clinking their glasses together and then all simultaneously taking a sip. Judy was not expecting the feeling that the scotch provided. Though it was slightly diluted by the club soda, it was still quite strong for the bunny and burned her lips, tongue, and throat. While she was quite fond of the flavor, she wasn't too sure how she felt about the titular liquid. Nick and Tanya both took rather large sips and let out a sigh of satisfaction as they set their glasses down. Judy cleared her now burning throat and prepared herself to speak once more.

"Things turned out especially well. I have the greatest job on the planet and the greatest mammal to work alongside me," she said, giving Nick a playful wink. "My life would not be nearly as enjoyable if it weren't for me being a complete idiot, and having an even bigger one help me solve that seemingly impossible case," Judy's words were enough to get both the caracal and fox to smile sentimentally, including herself.

"Well said, Carrots. While we both are happy for you with this accomplishment, I'm not sure you should be drinking that. You don't know how your body will handle hard liquor. I just don't want you to have too much," Nick said. He was genuinely concerned for the bunny. He noticed that she was downing her glass quite quickly and was nearly ready for a second. While her glass was considerably smaller than his, she was also considerably smaller than Nick or Tanya, giving the alcohol a much greater effect on her judgment. The effect was already noticeable in the way that she spoke slightly slurred.

"I think I'll be fine, Nick. At first, I didn't really like it, but now that I've had a few more sips I think I'm starting to warm up to it," she said as she downed the rest of her glass and slammed it down onto the table. Just when Nick thought he might be able to persuade her to just drink water the rest of the night, she bounded off towards the bar in search of another glass of scotch and soda. Nick leaned over towards Tanya and whispered to her.

"Do you think we should cut her off?"

Tanya took one good look at the slightly drunk bunny and put on a devious smile that rivaled Nick's.

"I think we should let her find out the hard way."

The remainder of the night had gone on without much incident. Nick and Tanya let Judy keep drinking until she had almost downed her third glass, leaving the bunny in a rather intoxicated state. She could barely speak, she wobbled about as she tried to navigate the bar, and every so often a high-pitched hiccup could be heard from her side of the booth.

However, it wasn't just Judy that had taken to drinking a little too much that night. While Nick was careful to watch how much Judy was taking in, he had somewhat forgotten about how much he had, leaving him in almost as bad a shape as Judy. The only responsible one that night had been Tanya, yet she was still not far off from ending up like the fox and bunny. Her speech was a little slurred, but overall she could still understand what was going on right in front of her. She knew that a major hangover would be due for both of them the next morning. The good thing about the situation was that neither of the two owned a car, so a terrible mistake on how to get home would not be made.

Both the fox and the bunny found out that they could easily make conversation while drunk. Even if that conversation was nearly impossible to understand for a sober mammal, it was still coherent for the two.

"Y-ya know what, Nick? I-I-I think you're j-just the funniest… dude out there, ya know?" Judy slurred, putting her arm around Nick's shoulder and causing him to laugh unreasonably loud.

"Ya know, I-I never th-thought about it like th-th-that, Kerrotz. D-Did you know dat you look like a… um… uhhh. I forgot what I waz gonna say," Nick said, his speech almost worse than Judy's. Tanya sat next to the fox and bunny, trying her best to stop herself from laughing too hard at how drunk they both were. The caracal would have loved to keep watching them, but duty called and she had to slide out of the booth to relieve herself.

"I'll only be gone for a few minutes, you two. Don't get into too much trouble," she said, then walking off towards the restroom. Nick looked at Judy like he never had before, partially because he had never been this drunk around her. But there was something about the way that he looked at her that caused her to speak. Never in her life did she think she would ever say this, but due to her inebriation, it came out rather easily.

"Nick, I love you… sooooooo much!" she exclaimed as she buried her muzzle into Nick's chest and wrapped her arms around him. Nick didn't even seem to be phased by the sudden affection, but he also seemed to agree with it very strongly.

"I love you t-too, Kerrotz… I want to eat your face I love you so much…" Nick said a little bit too loudly, causing some of the other bar patrons to turn and look at the fox and bunny. Luckily for them, the others seemed to lose interest in them quite quickly, so what happened next was not witnessed by anyone else. Judy stopped nuzzling Nick's chest and looked him straight in the eyes. Then, without hesitation, she jumped on him and smashed her lips into his, knocking the fox over onto the seat of the booth. Even through the haze that the alcohol provided, an intense wave of euphoria surged through both the fox and bunny as they continued to embrace each other. Their paws began to explore a little more, which seemed to sober Judy up enough for her to realize they were only a quick glance away from an indecent exposure charge.

She got off of Nick and sat up normally and tugged Nick off of the seat of the booth. When he sat up, the fur on his head was rather messy and he had a cheeky grin on his face with his tongue lolling out to one side.

"N-Nick, we should probably go somewhere else. We can't do this here…"

Judy had barely gotten the words out of her mouth before Nick grabbed her arm and began tugging her along with him to the doors to Miranda's. He was navigating surprisingly well for how much he had to drink, but that may have partially been due to what Judy said earlier. It had probably sobered him up enough to warrant slightly improved depth perception and he was able to get both of them out of the bar without incident.

The caracal walked out of the restroom with a satisfied grin on her face. She was eager to get back to the booth so that she could keep an eye on the two children that were with her. It was funny how much Nick and Judy drank, but she was wondering how they planned on getting themselves home when the time came. She didn't know where either of them lived and they would surely be too drunk to get there themselves. But for now, she didn't worry about that. She just wanted to get back to the booth and continue enjoying her night.

She navigated through the tables and eventually caught sight of the booth that she had been sitting at for the last few hours. But something seemed off about the table. Something was missing. It hit her like a ton of bricks when she noticed the fox and bunny were no longer seated at the booth. Her frustration only warranted one reaction.

"Goddamnit."

A/N: What did you think? Good? Bad? Excited to find out what happens next? It'll be coming soon. I've got a little bit done, but I won't for long as I plan on getting the first two chapters, the only two I have done at the moment, out in a relatively short amount of time.

Just for a little insight as to what this story will be all about, I want to start off with the personal life of Nick and Judy and how their relationship is about to change, which will be the first few chapters. Then I'm thinking of adding a crime arc after that, but not straying away from the relationship bit. That will be the main focus.

And of course, I would love to hear your suggestions if you have any for some future chapters. Don't be afraid to throw some ideas at me. I'll be more than happy to take a look at them, and if I really like what you've got, I'll do what I can to put it in, and give credit for of course ;)

Don't forget to review, follow, and favorite! I'll see you next chapter!

Cheers!

-Ande