Officers of the ZPD hovered around the hostages like bees buzzing around pollen-saturated flowers, armed with wire-cutters and tenacity.

Nick and Judy were the first to be freed, and they were extremely happy to be free. It was at this point that Nick asked the obvious question: "Clawhauser, how did you get free?"

Clawhauser shrugged.

"It's a long story," he said sheepishly, rubbing his neck like he was uncomfortable.

"Hey," Judy chimed in, "we've got time tonight. It's not like the gala is really over at midnight, you know."

Clawhauser shrugged.

"Well," he began, "I was the first to discover Killdeer was the one doing all these kidnappings. He marched me at gunpoint down the tunnels, and I ended up in the basement. But Killdeer didn't come down to finish the job by tying me up, so I was free to roam around this wine cellar. I found that staircase—" (here he pointed to the stairs he and the other officers had come down earlier) "—and I began to look for a way out. It wasn't easy fitting through those tunnels, believe me; it's no fun being fat. And then, in one of the tunnels, I found a microphone that was open and still hooked to the sound system. It didn't take much calling for Chief Bogo to get him down to a nearby passage—the linen closet near the restrooms—to let me out. I explained to him what I knew and guessed as to where he might appear. Bogo nabbed him, we came into the tunnels and, well, here we are."

Nick shook his head, incredulous. "Who knew such a fat cheetah would be the savior of a bunch of hostages?"

Clawhauser chuckled.

"Thanks, guys, but I'm not a hero."

"Are you sure?" another voice asked.

Clawhauser turned to face the speaker and went white as a sheet. His mouth dropped open, his eyes widened, and he looked like he was going to faint.

Before him stood Gazelle Angela, who, although she was partially covered in coal dust and cobwebs, still looked radiant. She stood with both hooves in front of her, with a shy smile on her face.

"Hello," she said, waving slightly, "I can't thank you enough for all you've done, Officer....?"

Clawhauser looked like he forgot how to speak. He wanted to say something intelligent, but it just came out as "Um uh gah..."

"Um, Miss Gazelle," Nick said, gesturing to his fat friend, "this is Sgt. Benjamin Clawhauser of the ZPD, one of your biggest fans."

"Yeah," Clawhauser finally got out, "my name is Clenjamin Bawhauser."

Nick and Judy both had to stifle laughter as Gazelle extended her hoof for Clawhauser to shake. Clawhauser took one look at her hoof, rolled his eyes back in his head and fell backwards, fainting onto the concrete floor.

Gazelle looked alarmed.

"Is he... OK?" she asked, a little unnerved.

Nick guffawed. "Gazelle," he explained with a waggle in his eyebrows, "he's more than OK. In his mind, he's halfway over the Milky Way galaxy by now."

Gazelle nodded as she looked at Clawhauser's unconscious, smiling face.

Chief Bogo walked up, and, once Nick assured him Clawhauser wasn't in anaphylactic shock or anything, Judy spoke with him.

"Chief Bogo?" she asked, "you wouldn't have happened to see my purse anywhere around here? It's full of evidence that will go a long way in bringing Killdeer down in court."

Bogo shook his head. "I'm sorry, Hopps," he said sadly, "I haven't seen it. Although," he added, producing Judy's phone from his pocket, "I did find this inside Dr. Killdeer's coat."

Suddenly, Judy's eyes lit up.

"I keep my keys in my purse," she announced, as if it were the most obvious thing on earth.

"So?" Chief Bogo asked. It was clear he was oblivious to the point of whatever Judy was driving at. She then turned to Nick.

"You remember your Christmas gift to me last year?" Judy asked.

Nick nodded. Her gift from him last year consisted of a mobile app on her phone as well as a small beeper for her key ring. That way, if she ever lost her keys, she would simply have to turn on the app and the key ring's attachment would beep repeatedly until it was found and switched off.

"Well, I kept my keys in my purse tonight," Judy explained, scrolling through the apps on her phone, "and I have my phone right here. If my keys are anywhere nearby, then..."

"...your keys will give off a noise." Nick finished, getting a bit excited. Almost immediately, he cocked his ears, tuning them for utmost sensitivity.

Judy clicked the button on her phone, and from across the room, a familiarly annoying song played at maximum volume.

"Not the 'Hamsterdance' song again," Nick muttered as he followed Judy across the wine cellar towards the genesis of the sound. "Did you set that as the ringtone for all of your notifications?"

Judy reddened a little bit.

"It's hard to see your settings tabs when your eyes are full of shampoo," she explained.

"That's why I keep my phone out of the shower," Nick scolded.

The sound was loudest coming from behind a certain wine bottle, slipped in a cubbyhole at about Nick's eye height.

"Besides, it would prevent you from seeing where your purse is hidden." Nick said as he wrapped both paws around the neck of the bottle and gave a sharp pull. Taking great pains (and thereby pulling a muscle or two in his arms) to ensure the giant bottle didn't smash, Nick slowly, carefully, agonizingly eased the bottle out of its cubbyhole just enough for his fluffy partner to sneak a peek in there.

Sure enough, Judy spotted a cylindrical purple purse inside the cubbyhole. It was a tiny bit crushed, and covered in dust, but it was intact.

"Here's our latest merchandise, madam," Nick said with a rather pretentious-sounding accent. "It's not personally my color, but I think you might enjoy it. Could be that new fashion trend of 2017!"

Judy, chuckling at Nick's sarcasm, reached in and grabbed her purse, looking quite relieved that it had not been totally crushed. Slipping off her latex gloves, she unzipped the compartment and let out an audible sigh of relief.

"They're still here," she said, showing off the sheetrock-covered bracelets inside the Ziphog bags they had picked up all that time ago.

"Hey," Nick whispered, "can I put this bottle back? It's getting heavy."

"Feel free, Nick," Judy responded as she began to head over to see Chief Bogo, a spring in her step that indicated she was excited.

Nick, as he slid the heavy bottle full of the finest wine (according to the poorly plastered-on label) back into its cubbyhole, marveled at the series of events that had unfolded over the last few hours. They had caught a dangerous kidnapper. Judy had been promoted to the second-highest rank on the police force. Clawhauser met his heroine (and fainted).

But most impressive of all, Nick now no longer felt that stinging sense of guilt for being too scared to tell Judy how he felt. His soul flowed freely, without any sort of fear or worry in his heart to hold it back. She now knew the extent of his heart's passion.

But then again, did she give him any sort of answer?

* * *

About half-an-hour later, everything that had unfolded in the "Blackout at Steel Mountain Manor" (as Clawhauser was now calling it) seemed to begin to get resolved. Dr. Killdeer, who seemed rather displeased to be arrested, sat glaring up at the victorious officers from where he was cuffed right outside of the ballroom. The two massive Glits, fired up by his kidnapping of Gazelle, glared down at him with looks of triumph on their faces, ready to swat him if he tried to escape.

Felicity Pryde, once she made it back up to the main floor, promptly made a mad dash for the restroom again; her body unable to cope with a lot of stress or sitting still for two hours with several glasses of seltzer floating around in her system.

Goldie Gnu, going on and on about her exclusive exposé that would appear in the next issue of the Zootopia Times, snapped photo after photo of the system of tunnels (which had been revealed for the whole public to see) and of the rather irritated Dr. Killdeer, who looked rather unhappy as he had to put up with Goldie's high-powered camera flash.

Cornelius Pantherbilt and his wife Amelia, worn out from a night of being kidnapped and held hostage in a basement, freshened up as much as they possibly could and then returned to the newly-reorganized dance floor, a needed affectionate moment together after a stressful evening.

Shortly after Chief Bogo dropped a line to his wife Wanda, a trio of police cars drove up in front of Steel Mountain Manor, their blinking red-and-light lights flashing like multicolored firecrackers in the midnight air.

As Officer Fangmeyer and Nick (who was half-paying attention since he was busy drinking a glass of wondrous blueberry cocktail) pushed the reluctant but compliant Dr. Killdeer over to a waiting squad car, Chief Bogo exchanged a few words with his wife. Her frame was just as powerfully-built as her husband's, but she was, notably, a bit thinner, shapelier and her crystal-blue eyes were quite lucid. It was no wonder that most criminals called her "the Blue-Eyed Enforcer."

"All right," Wanda said to Bogo as she noticed Dr. Killdeer, "we've caught a kidnapper, have we?"

Dr. Killdeer laughed humorlessly as Wanda broke into harsh, resounding guffaws. Without a word, the massive lady buffalo shoved the silent, angry-looking doctor into the back of her awaiting squad car.

"Tell me again what his plan was?" she asked her husband, who stood with a smart look on his face.

"To put it succinctly," Bogo was about to explain, but Nick took over.

"Ma'am," Nick explained, "he was going to kidnap some very valuable animals and use their ransoms to pay off the debts he made for himself."

With another smirk crossing her face, Wanda peeked into the back seat, where a very angry-looking Dr. Killdeer sat.

"How's that working out for you?" she asked, laughing slightly.

Killdeer's only response was a withering glare. "Go away," he said with a sneer.

Wanda chuckled smugly as she closed the door on the back of the car.

"Don't worry about him, honey," she said to her husband, using an African term of affection to address him. "We'll give Killdeer a nice, comfy cell in Iron Depths."

"Just be careful," Bogo admonished. "He's pretty eager to get ahold of a gun. Watch that pistol of yours, Wanda."

"Don't worry, my dear," she replied, "if he does, I can always brain him."

Wanda's skull was one of her most impressive assets—hard and thick and painful to come in contact with outside of a love tap. And, as many criminals knew, she had a tendency to smack them with her head and render them unconscious. Even though he couldn't hear the chief's wife speaking, Nick thought he saw Dr. Killdeer wince in the backseat, like he knew they were talking about head-butting him.

"Just try not to smack him around too much," Bogo told his wife, "or he'll be dead before he gets to state pen."

Wanda chuckled as she and Bogo exchanged a kiss. "I'll try not to smack him around too much, honey," she agreed.

With that, Wanda Bogo, Blue-Eyed Enforcer, slipped back into the front seat of her massive cruiser. With a wink to her husband, she put her hoof to the floor, tearing away from the manor.

Nick waved to the glaring Dr. Killdeer as the cruiser pulled away.

"See ya, Killdeer!" he hollered. "Wouldn't want to be ya!"

Chief Bogo rolled his eyes as Nick continued to taunt the "good" doctor with joke after joke.

It was then that Nick heard Judy's voice from across the driveway.

"Hey, Nick?!" she called out, hopping over to where he was standing.

"What's up, Carrots?" he asked as he took a sip of his cocktail. He noticed Judy seemed quite excited, like she had won the ZPD raffle all over again. She bounced a little bit up and down as she stood next to the chief, her purple eyes full of energy.

"We have something to tell you, Nick," she said with a grin. She then looked expectantly to Chief Bogo, who nodded.

"Officer Wilde," he began, "while you were helping escort Dr. Killdeer out to the car, Lieutenant Hopps and I talked for a few minutes."

Nick nodded, although it was plain by the look on his face he didn't understand.

"She explained the situation regarding her promotion," Bogo went on, "and... I understand your reason for putting her badge number on the arrest forms. You're not in trouble; don't worry. The paperwork is easy enough to correct. It's easy for a newer officer to attribute credit to a more experienced officer, and I understand.

"What I'm trying to explain is this," Bogo went on. "You deserve as much credit for the arrests you two pulled off together as Hopps does."

Nick nodded.

"Thank you, Chief," he said as he began to take a long sip of blueberry cocktail, breaking his own rule about savoring the glass.

"That's why," Chief Bogo announced, "effective immediately, you will receive the exact same promotion."

Chief Bogo had to take a step back as Nick almost choked on his cocktail, sending a giant cloud of blue mist flying forth from his muzzle.

"Wh—wh—what?" Nick asked as he fought to clear his throat of the irritating cocktail.

"Your promotion to Lieutenant Officer of the ZPD is effective immediately," Bogo repeated. He then reached into his back pocket and produced another small wooden box. Nick did a double take as he took the box and opened it.

"Welcome to your new position, Lieutenant Wilde," Bogo said with a smile.

Inside the box was a slightly larger badge than the one Judy was given, but otherwise identical. Beneath the "Trust, Bravery, Integrity" mantra and dark red chevron were two identical little bronze star collar medals. It was an exact replica of Judy's new uniform decorations.

Nick's eyes were wide and stunned, for he had totally not expected this at all. With a patriotic smile on his face, he gave Chief Bogo a respectful salute.

"Lieutenant Wilde reporting for duty, sir!" he announced.

"At ease, Lieutenant," Chief Bogo chuckled. "Consider the rest of tonight some off-duty time. You've earned it."

And then, with a glance to the Judy and Nick together, he added: "Both of you have earned it."

With that, Chief Bogo turned and walked up the stairs to Steel Mountain Manor once again, humming the Animalia national anthem as he did so.

Nick was left totally speechless. Not only had he finally gotten over that hurdle of telling Judy about his feelings, but he had also been informed that his guilt over messing with the arrest forms was all for naught. An incredible gift had been given to him.

"Lieutenant Wilde," Judy said aloud. "I like the sound of that."

She and Nick now stood alone in the middle of the driveway outside, under the burgundy moon. The cold midnight wind blew about them and sent shivers down both of their spines. It felt almost like they had just watched the end of a very good film, in that silence the audience would have right before the credits rolled.

"Nick," Judy said after a few moments of silence, "I have a couple things I want to say to you."

Nick's mind snapped from his thoughts of becoming a police lieutenant and returned to the thoughts of his Carrots. Turning to face her, he took in a deep breath.

Although he didn't appear to be on the surface, Nick's insides were crawling with worry worms. Was she going to refuse him or think him weird for his affections? Would she spurn him or reassure him that they would be "just friends?"

"The first thing," Judy began, "has to do with your speech down in the basement."

Nick braced himself for whatever happened next.

"If you really want to spend time with me more often," Judy said with a smile, "if there's no work after 5:00, I'm free after that. We can meet and hang out if you really want. Maybe we can get a cup of coffee or have dinner sometime."

Nick blinked. A great sense of relief washed over him, and his heart slowly began to beat a little bit faster.

"You mean," he said, a little shocked, "you're not going to spurn me?"

Judy looked a little confused.

"Why would I do that to you, Nick?" she asked, a sweet look on her face. "I wouldn't do that to someone like you."

Whether she knew it or not, her words reassured Nick, working their way into the dark, fearful recesses of his heart like a healing salve. He felt as though he could fly; high up over the city of Zootopia and scream a shout of praise and thankfulness to the One who made all animals.

"I'm also free at about five tomorrow," Nick admitted, barely keeping in his joy and excitement, "and I'll meet you in the ZPD lunchroom."

Judy chuckled and bounced a little bit, like she usually did when she was excited.

It's a date, Nick's mind told him. Congratulations, big guy! Feeling a need to relieve the awkwardness of the moment, he began to laugh too, if only to help calm his own fears.

"You said there were two things you wanted to say," he said after a couple seconds. "What's the second thing?"

Judy then seemed to act a tiny bit annoyed with Nick, putting both paws on her hips.

"Yes," she said, "here's the second thing: Why in the name of all that is furred didn't you tell me you'd met with Gazelle before?!"

Nick let out a guffaw.

"I'm sorry about not telling you, Carrots," he said with an apologetic smile. "I just didn't want you to fangirl and freak out about meeting her. Besides, you were sick the day I met with her."

"Was I?" Judy asked, rubbing her chin as she tried to remember.

"It was right after we read Gazelle's diary," Nick explained, "and... well, I felt that a heroine like her should get some thanks for all she did in Capital City. I decided to thank her in person for her deeds. We've been emailing back-and-forth for the past few weeks—totally platonic in nature—and she's been able to give me advice on a lot of things, including our relationship. She's the one who kept encouraging me to tell you my feelings."

Judy shook her head in wonder.

"Next time you meet with a celebrity like her," she said with a smile, "just let me know beforehand."

Nick gave her a thumbs-up.

"Duly noted, Lieutenant Hopps," he said with a smile. "If you want, I can make up for my belated telling you by getting you Gazelle's autograph sometime."

Judy's mouth fell open.

"Get out!" she exclaimed. "Do you mean it?!"

Nick nodded.

"I wouldn't trick you like that, would I?" Nick asked, and Judy knew the answer.

"Oh, look!" Judy said, laughing. "There she is now, and look who's with her!"

Standing over by a parked Furarri (presumably Gazelle's), the famous pop star and her flabby, donut-loving number-one fan (now awake and chatty) were both nibbling on donuts, talking to no end. It was evident by the dreamy look on Clawhauser's face that he was a million miles over the moon as he talked with his heroine.

"Awww..." Judy exclaimed. "They're chattering away like old friends. How cute!"

Nick shrugged.

"I don't know about 'cute,'" he said, "but it is definitely kind of sweet that they're just talking so familiarly."

"They're both eating donuts," Judy observed, her love for the little scene increasing by the second.

"Oh, yeah," Nick agreed. "Gazelle's blog has an entire section of her favorite foods. Cream-filled raspberry donuts are her favorites, after waffles, that is."

"She has a blog?" Judy asked, looking wide-eyed at her foxy friend.

"Doesn't everyone?" Nick responded.

"OK," Judy said, rubbing her temples. "I absolutely must find that blog."

"She's really, really funny at times, I have to admit," Nick admitted, "though I'm not sure I understand her need to write on her laptop while she's in the bathtub."

Across the parking lot, Nick and Judy both became aware of a hacking, coughing noise coming from the flabby throat of Benjamin Reuben Clawhauser. Frantically, he pointed to his throat like it had a message written in the fat folds.

Gazelle, brown eyes wide, immediately stepped into action and hugged Clawhauser under the ribs, shortly before yanking sharply upwards several times. After two or three yanks, a saliva-coated chunk of raspberry-filled donut came flying out of Clawhauser's throat and landed in the bushes nearby.

"Wow," Judy said, a little disgusted at the piece of half-chewed food flying into the bushes. "That was... impressive."

Nick was too busy laughing at Clawhauser's choking episode to respond.

As Nick continued to laugh hysterically at the little episode that occurred between the two lovebirds across the driveway, he cast his eyes back towards Steel Mountain Manor. He noticed through the illuminated windows dozens of animal couples making their way to the dance floor in the ballroom, and unless he was mistaken, he heard slow, melodic music drifting out through the open doors.

Suddenly, he got an idea in his head.

"Hey, um, Carrots?" he asked, immediately feeling a tiny bit awkward.

"Yeah?" Judy asked, looking up at Nick. Her dark purple eyes looked totally vibrant in the minimal light from the lunar eclipse above, Nick thought.

He then began to start and stop as he spoke: "Would you... Well, if it's all right with you... Would you maybe consider..."

"Yes?" Judy prompted.

At last, Nick dug up enough nerve out of his soul and spelled out his request: "Do you want to dance?"

Judy seemed a little flustered.

"You mean... dance with you? Me and you? You and I?" she asked, as if addressing three different animals at once.

Nick nodded. He then waited for what seemed like an eternity (in truth, it was actually about fifteen seconds) while Judy contemplated his offer.

"Well," she finally said, "I think... I think I'd like that."

Nick's heart bubbled again as he let that sink in: I think I'd like that...

Mama Jack, boy, his mind told him again, things are looking up.

"Well then," Nick said, his eyes wide and full of gratitude, "let's go dance."

* * *

On the dance floor in Steel Mountain Manor, about a dozen animal couples, including Cornelius Pantherbilt and his wife Amelia, danced to slow, melodic music emanating forth from the speaker system—swing music from ages past. The overall feel of the room was quite romantic, and reminded a lot of the couples of a 1950-something nightclub, where fine wine, intimate conversations and fancy dress were the order of the day.

Hearing the music in the distance, Nick was about to enter the main ballroom when he noticed that Judy was nowhere in sight.

"Hey, Carrots?" he called out, "where'd you go?"

He then heard a voice over to his right.

"Over here, Nick!" Judy called out, looking quite eager as she stood in the alcove that opened into the small staircase to the tower.

"I remember there was a perfect view of the city and of the lunar eclipse up there," she said with a wink.

"Oh..." Nick said as he began to understand.

Nick hadn't taken two steps before Judy dashed up the stairs, calling out over her shoulder "I'll race you, Nicky boy!"

Nick groaned as he began to chase after her up the stairs, following her little cotton tail like a dog chasing a bone on a string.

It wasn't long before Judy beat Nick (as usual) to the wood-paneled tower room up on the third floor. His eyes watered, his lungs stung, and his abdominal muscles ached like he'd been planking for hours.

"Carrots," Nick gasped as he climbed the last flight of stairs, "I've got to get on those workouts you've been doing. Maybe I'll have some sort of chance of racing you."

Judy stood in the middle of the room, her lovely, fluffy face backlit by the distant lights of the city from the balcony. Nick almost caught his breath as he witnessed her standing there, looking beautiful and without her even realizing it.

"Come on, Nick," she beckoned, "let's go out on the balcony."

Nick shrugged.

"Whatever you say, Lieutenant Hopps," he agreed as he began to follow her out onto the wide, spacious balcony.

Nick still couldn't believe the view from the large balcony. You could, quite literally, catch a glimpse of the blinking squarish beacon atop Trunk Tower all the way from here, and the cool night air and the sounds of crickets in the mountains only added to the relaxing, romantic mood which totally surpassed the mood of the ballroom below. This place reminded Nick of Rivenshell from Lord of the Ringtails, except with city lights in the distance and not quite as many babbling brook noises.

And, he also recognized, the lack of Wolves and Primates to make the scene authentic.

Judy promptly slipped off her latex gloves, placed them on the balcony floor and then began to press a few buttons on her phone, accessing a wireless radio app and jacking up the volume.

"I thought I'd set the mood," she explained.

"Mood?" Nick asked, not understanding.

"Well, this is supposed to be a romantic dance, Nick," she said as she clicked several more buttons to find the station she was looking for. "I thought I'd pick a song a lot of animals use for such an occasion."

She finally alighted on a slow, melodic piece, the same piece that was playing downstairs. Indeed, the music was quite complimentary to the overall feel of the whole balcony—the sound quality on Judy's phone was beyond amazing. Mounting the phone on top of a mouse-sized deck chair in the corner of the balcony, Judy then moved back over to where Nick was standing, facing him as she stood just a couple feet away from the fox.

"OK, so," Nick said, clapping his paws together, "do you um... know how to dance?"

Judy nodded. "Back in Bunnyburrow, there were occasional dances I would go to—usually in barns or out in the woods. My parents taught me a lot of slow dancing."

That was good. For her.

Nick couldn't dance for the life of him. He usually danced random dance moves while he was listening to animals like Dex Furson, K-999, or Capital Kingfishers through his headphones, but Nick had only ever had one experience at an actual ballroom dance in his life. He ended up stepping on his date's feet, and, he remembered, she was not particularly happy about that.

He definitely didn't want to mess up with Judy the way he had with Marian Vixenhelm.

"Of... course," Nick said, feeling a little guilty for lying. He held out his arms in what he thought might be the dancing position.

"Are you giving semaphore signals or dancing, Nick?" Judy asked.

"Um... dancing, I hope," Nick admitted, turning a little bit red.

"Nick," Judy said with a chuckle, "you have no idea what the crud you're doing, do you?"

Nick saw his Carrots' face and he knew he couldn't fib again. It might have just been because he was standing on the balcony again, but he knew for a fact he definitely couldn't lie to the animal he cared about most.

"I can't lie to you, Carrots," he said, shaking his head. "I don't have any idea what the crud I'm doing."

Judy chuckled.

"Well," she said, "that's good, because I do."

She stepped forward and, taking hold of Nick's paws, maneuvered them into the correct positions: one arm straight with paws interlocked, the other arm around the partner's back. Nick still thought her soft, velvety paws were the softest he'd ever felt, and, for being such a tough bunny, her hold on his back was surprisingly gentle.

Nick cast his eyes down towards his feet. His were a couple inches away from Judy's, and he was taking extra care not to step on her fuzzy little toes. He would hate to see anything happen to her toes, the toes he found so little and fuzzy.

"So," Nick said, trying to make conversation despite focusing on his feet, "you do know we're still covered in sheetrock dust and coal dust, right?"

Judy giggled as she recognized the crust of debris on their clothes was still there.

"Well, it's not like they have public showers or changes of clothes available for us," she said as she laughed.

Man, Judy's face and eyes were pretty when she was laughing. Nick felt a sense of overwhelming love in his heart for her as he took his eyes off his feet. He knew he had to say some incredible words.

But what if I mess up? his mind asked again. What if I step on her feet?

That was the problem.

He had to tell his mind to stop talking. His heart knew what to say, and his brain was getting in the way.

Although his brain tried to be heard, the power of his heart drowned out all other sounds. He even found it unnecessary to think about where his feet were going. As he began to speak from his heart, Nick continued to dance slowly and smoothly. No more holding back.

"Carrots," he began, "I just want to tell you... I'm really impressed with how you told Chief Bogo the truth about your promotion, even when I didn't even think it needed to be told."

"I couldn't lie to Chief Bogo, Nick," she explained, "even if it was an unintentional gift from you."

"But that's what I love about you, Carrots," Nick explained. "You have a sense of honesty and justice, something not a whole lot of animals have these days. No matter what, you always seek to do the right thing. I don't know if that's from being raised by loving parents in a nice community of good folks, or if it's something you developed over time, but whatever it is... I love it."

Judy chuckled shyly as Nick continued.

"You're brave yet humble," he went on, "and you really show to me what a lot of animals should be like, and what a true best friend should be—in a romantic way. More than that, I love being around you. You're sweet and kind and funny and you always have an encouraging thing to say when my spirits are down—even if you do forget things. But that's the dumb bunny I love."

"Oh, go on," Judy admonished.

"I planned to," Nick said with a wink. "I've been itching to say this all night, but... you look really, really, really pretty in that dress."

"Wow, Nick," she said, laughing, "you're actually really good at flirting."

"Why, thank you," Nick acknowledged, and so he continued. "Your necklace makes me think of that carrot pen of yours—the one you used when we first met. I could get lost in your fathomless violet eyes, and those ears of yours are the longest, fuzziest ears I've ever seen. And the smoky grey of your fur just looks amazing in this light."

He then made direct eye contact with her and continued on, this time explaining the biggest reason why he felt the way he did for her.

"But above all," Nick said, with a deep, soulful look in his eyes, "the reason I feel the way I do about you is because of what you did for me."

Judy seemed confused.

"What do you mean?"

Nick smiled.

"Before I met you," Nick explained, "the only treatment I had received from any animal was rejection and distrust. But you picked me, a fox, to help you. Our relationship has been up and down like a roller coaster, but when I'm thinking about it late at night, I always come back to that—the fact that you chose me over all others. You chose to trust me when no one else would."

His eyes were full of love for the little rabbit as he finished his speech.

"And that's why I love you, Judy," he said, "because you loved me first."

Judy looked almost like she was going to cry.

"That's so sweet, Nick," she said as she smiled up at him, in absolute astonishment. "You called me by my first name," she observed.

Nick nodded.

"I've been trying to perfect that speech for the past five months," Nick admitted. "How did it turn out?"

Judy chuckled.

"Like a dream," she said sweetly.

Nick breathed an inward sigh of relief; and then he realized Judy was looking up at him with almost the same look—one full of love.

"I have to say," she said with a coy smile, "when you told me what you did in the basement, I was kind of caught off-guard... because I've been feeling the same way about you that, evidently, you feel about me."

Nick blinked. "Really?" he asked, now caught off-guard himself.

"You're just as humble as you say I am, Nick," Judy began. "You're brave and honest like me, too. Even though you may have fear, like me, you did eventually tell the truth. Just the fact that you tell the truth and are honest with me is enough."

"Why, thank you, Carrots," Nick said as he continued to dance with her.

"What's more," Judy went on, "that big foxy brain and empathic heart you have are attractive features too. You're dedicated to your job and to your friends... especially your close friends. Not to mention that you're really witty and funny, and you always make me laugh. And it all hides under your russet fur and shimmery dark green eyes."

"Shimmery?" Nick asked. "Shimmery? I don't believe I've ever heard the term 'shimmery' used to describe my eyes before."

"Well, someone had to," Judy chuckled. "But there's a big reason I feel the way I do about you. When I first came to Zootopia, it seemed like everyone was mistreating me, even if it was partly unconsciously. I came here with no friends and in hopes of making a life in Zootopia. And then I met you. Although, we got off to a rocky start, you... stood up for me in a position most animals wouldn't have, because you saw me as something more than just another dumb bunny."

She giggled, and Nick thought that she was even cuter than normal as she did it.

"And that's why I love you, Nick," she said with a smile, "because you loved me first."

Nick laughed, his heart finally no longer fearful.

"Did we write the same speech in our heads?" he asked. "Because your speech to me sounds quite similar to the one I said to you."

Judy rolled her eyes.

"Nick," she said, "does it really matter? Both speeches were equally beautiful. Even though we followed a similar format, I don't think it was the same speech."

"Well," Nick countered, "the 'and that's why I love you, because you loved me first' line sounds pretty much verbatim."

"Are you accusing me of plagiarism, Nick?"

"I'm not accusing you of plagiarism, but I think I would have liked to hear words of the love language in a slightly more original format."

"Well, it fit the moment."

"Carrots?"

"Nick?"

"Carrots?"

"Nick?"

The two giggled, their little banter now over.

"Was that our first fight?" Nick asked, feeling a little guilty for starting it.

"I don't know if you'd call it a fight or not," Judy said, "it was more like a friendly little disagreement."

"So it was a fight," Nick said, apologetically staring towards Judy.

And then Judy kissed him, really kissed him, for the first time. For a second, Nick forgot his name, forgot that he was an officer.

As soon as their kiss ended, Nick blinked.

"Wow," he said in wonder, "I like it when we're not fighting."

"Awww..." Judy said, a look of love deep in her violet eyes.

The two animals, one of the first fox-rabbit dichotomies in generations, danced quietly to the music on the balcony, so utterly encompassed by love that they soon forgot about the rest of the world.

* * *

Anyone walking by Steel Mountain Manor on the night of June 7th, 2017, would have seen nothing out of the ordinary. The sounds of ballroom music would be floating out over the still, midnight air. A fat, talkative cheetah and a tall, slender gazelle would be speaking to each other about many, many things, and a fox and a rabbit would be dancing together up on the balcony.

However, unless one had extremely sharp vision (something most animals didn't have at night) no one would have noticed a small, barely visible creature hanging from the bottom of the balcony, obscured by both the darkness and the vines creeping up the front of the mansion.

The small figure took advantage of not only his scaly skin to hide, but also his ability to cling to walls and peek through cracks in floorboards. His sneaky yellow reptilian eyes were trained on the fox and rabbit cops above him, formal partners who seemed rather informal.

And that was a bad thing.

The gecko, knowing the implications this would have on the plans he was now involved in, crawled along the bottom of the balcony and back down the walls of Steel Mountain Manor. Finding shelter in an empty rain gutter, the little lizard dug into the pocket of his black sweatpants and produced his tiny phone.

Although the gecko was tiny, he was a quite capable spy, able to camouflage, with his yellow-and-black skin, among any and all plant life he could come across. Able to climb on walls, the little lizard could watch animals when they were doing any number of things—eating, sleeping, bathing, etc.—without them even noticing him.

Dialing a number he was told only to call in emergencies, the gecko sat in the gutter and waited for the animal on the other end to pick up, letting the cool, wet metal rejuvenate his dried skin.

He became aware of a tiny, black fly hovering about him up above.

You're all mine, fly, he thought to himself, warming up for what he hoped would be a perfect midnight snack.

Following the fly's movements with his yellowy reptilian eyes, the gecko sat in wait like a primordial predator. Unlike the predator mammals, who had to get by eating patties and clods of bugmeal for their food, reptile predators such as the gecko had an easier life. All they had to do was sight a bug and—ZNAAPP!!—catch the fly with their sticky, stretchy tongue.

The gecko was in the middle of chewing up the fly's remains when the recipient of the phone call picked up.

"Why are you calling me at this hour, Sticky?" a gruff, snarly voice growled on the other end of the line.

"Sir," Sticky the gecko said nervously into his phone, "it went just as you feared. Philip Killdeer made those kidnappings, yes, but he was caught by several clever police officers. He's en route to Iron Depths right now."

The voice on the other end sighed.

"That's what I expected from a weak, miserable mammal like Killdeer," the other voice growled. "He didn't have the sense to cover his tracks well enough. First he spent all his money just trying to hide those tunnels and then he messed up the kidnapping scheme. I should have known better than to hire that smug little fool."

"He most certainly was a fool," Sticky muttered nervously, "for kidnapping four officers of the ZPD!"

It was clear that the animal on the other end of the line was now very, very upset. A growling hiss and several rather profane Arabic swear words came through the phone and into Sticky's ear hole.

"Darn that blasted fool," the second animal growled. "I told him not to get cocky, but it seems that he needs a bit more... discipline."

Sticky gulped as the word discipline floated into his ear hole.

"Sir," Sticky said with a stammer, "it gets worse. There are two officers in particular who were the leaders of the investigation, and they seem to be capable of a lot more than just a kidnapping case."

"How so?" his boss asked, a suspicious tone in his voice.

"Well," Sticky began to explain, "the little rabbit is far more intelligent than most animals would expect. She was able to, from what I can gather, almost single-handedly put together the clues. Her partner, a fox, brought up the other half of the equation. He was actually the one who figured out Killdeer was the kidnapper. If they could bring down an intricate plan like that, what's to stop them from—"

"Did you say... a fox and a rabbit?" the other animal asked over the line. Sticky had never heard his boss ever emote anything remotely resembling fear before, and the sound of it was a strange and unusual in his ear hole.

"Yes, sir," he responded. He was about to tell his boss about the two animals' budding relationship when he was cut off.

"Listen to me very carefully, Sticky," he growled, causing his henchman to gulp. "You will follow them and watch them at all hours. You will make absolutely certain they are not a romantic couple and if they ever go down that road, you will kill both of them."

Sticky's heart leapt into his throat as he contemplated the horrible hand he had just been dealt. He was a criminal, yes, but he did not want to stoop to killing these two lovebirds.

"But, sir—!" he began to protest.

"Sticky, my foolish, foolish cousin," the other animal said with a slight chuckle, "I wish I had time to come there and personally give you a flaying myself, but I've got my claws full with another... issue at the moment. I must ensure nothing gets out about this. We must go on as planned. You WILL follow them and you WILL update me on anything you see them doing together, and if there is any sort of romantic attraction between them, you WILL put them both down or you WILL end up in a very, very incriminating position. Is that clear?"

Sticky had no response.

"I said, 'is that clear'?!" the other voice growled savagely.

"Yes, sir," Sticky said, conflicted in his heart as he did so.

"Say 'I understand, Mr. Travask," came the other voice again.

Sticky felt trapped. He always felt trapped whenever he spoke to his boss, and this was why: he made it impossible to say "no" to anything he said.

"I understand, Mr. Travask," he said, although he hated himself for saying so.

"Fabulousssssss," Travask hissed with an evil tone in his voice. "Now, I must get some rest—no thanks to you—and turn my attention to other things. Don't call me on this line again, or else... your safety is not assured."

With that, Travask hung up, leaving poor Sticky all alone with his thoughts in the gutter.

It was times like this that Sticky Scaler would get rather irritated and panicky. He was in too deep, he knew that for sure. But it wasn't like he had many other options. Even if he hadn't joined the Black Flames, Sticky knew that Plan 17, Travask's master creation, would go off without a hitch.

And that was what worried him.

Only one threat to Travask's plan existed, and Sticky knew, even if the fox and the rabbit didn't know, just how powerful the two of them actually were.

Sticky would go along with his boss' orders for now, but he wouldn't feel good about it. That he knew for sure.

END OF CASE #1