5

Judy fell backwards onto her bed with a hefty sigh. It was so exhausting trying to remain positive when she was worried sick, and the phone call she'd just had with her parents had drained what remaining energy she'd had left. She'd had to dance around any conversation about Nick and when her parents had asked how he was doing all she could answer was 'fine'.

She didn't know if he was fine or not, but she'd not wanted to worry her parents. The new kidnappings had them worried enough for her safety and she didn't need to add the worry of her missing partner to their growing stress. Her father would be rushing over to take her back home if they thought her own safety was at risk.

As soon as she closed her eyes the door to the room next to her slammed shut and the voices of her two neighbours rang clearly through the walls as they bickered over what movie to watch. She'd grown used to it over the past year and found herself drifting off to sleep anyway.

She had just started to dream about turning up at the ZPD to find Nick in their usual spot, and no sooner had she asked him how he'd managed to escape, the voice of Pronk shattered her dream and his hoof pounded on her wall, shaking the cups on her little shelf.

"Hey, neighbour!" he boomed. "You awake?! There's a suspicious feline outside!"

She leapt from her bed and pressed her face against the window, her eyes searching the street. They fell on the suspect immediately. A wildcat. Dressed in a trench coat and wide rimmed hat. He was cautiously creeping towards Finnick's van.

Of course. She'd almost forgotten with the stress of the phone call that he'd told her he'd be waiting outside. He'd seemed very reluctant to leave and she had no idea why.

"What are you doing, Mister Cat?" she muttered.

She grabbed her police vest and pulled it on over her pyjama top, grabbing her keys on the way out of the room. Her bedroom door locked itself behind her and she made a beeline for the stairs, bounding down them two at a time until she reached the front door. As it opened, she spotted a long, stripy tail as the cat turned and fled across the road to vanish beyond the opposite flats.

"That only makes you even more suspicious," she said as she began to give chase.

And stopped.

In her haste she'd not grabbed the rest of her uniform and the floor was wet, soaking through her bunny-eared slippers and the hem of her pink pyjama bottoms. She gave one last frustrated look at the narrow street and thumped the side of her fist against the wall.

There was no way she'd catch him now. Not in soggy slippers in the dark.

Instead, she went to Finnick's van and knocked on the door. Within moments she heard the familiar "Who is it?!" as the door flew open, revealing Finnick in a onesie with his baseball bat. He looked down at Judy with an air of surprise, lowered the bat and shook his head.

"Whaddya want?" he grumbled.

"There was a wildcat poking around your van," she said.

He raised both eyebrows and peered over her shoulder.

"He's gone now," she said. "But I don't know what they were doing here. If I were to guess then I'd say they tracked us somehow."

"And you were chasing after them in a police vest and pyjama bottoms?" he asked. "Hardly appropriate is it?"

She crinkled her nose in a frown. "I was in a rush! And I'd just woken up as well. If it weren't for Pronk banging on my wall then you'd likely be fighting a wildcat right now!"

She glanced down at his bat and mentally confirmed if that were the case the cat would probably be unconscious in a puddle.

"Alright then, Hopps. I'll keep an ear open for wildcats." He turned away and began to close the door, but Judy stuck her paw in the way.

"Wait."

He narrowed his eyes at her and sighed. "What is it now?"

She stood there mulling over her response. I'm worried? What if he comes back?

"I just think," she said, "that you might be safer indoors."

"I can always just not answer if someone knocks." It was clear the thought didn't settle well with him as he looked at his bat then let it fall to his side with a sigh. "Whatever. I might get more sleep if I stay indoors. Gimme a sec."

He locked the van door and Judy's ears pricked up as he shuffled around inside. They opened again quite quickly and he hopped onto the floor now wearing the same outfit he'd been in earlier that day. She wasn't sure why he'd felt the need for a change but she didn't question it.

Instead she led him up to her room and he immediately flopped onto the floor with a yawn.

"You're okay on the floor?" she pulled a blanket from beneath the bed.

"You're a lass," he said. "You take the bed. It's your digs anyway."

She muttered a thank you and offered him the blanket before climbing under the sheets and staring at the ceiling.

"Hey, she bought a fox in with her!" boomed one of her neighbours. "Reckon that cat was up to somethin' then, rabbit?"

"He was clearly up to something!" said the other. "Use you're common sense, Bucky!"

"Shut up, Pronk!"

"No, you shut up!"

"No, you shut up!"

Finnick sat up and stared wide-eyed at the wall. "You have to put up with that every night? I think I might have got more sleep in my van after all." He fell back down and turned his back on her, snuggling his tail up to his chest as he huddled under the blanket.

Judy felt her face split into a smile. It seemed rather out of character for him to cuddle into a ball like that. Although she couldn't blame him. Fox tails did look rather snuggly. She tore her eyes away and faced the wall, pulling her bed sheet up to her chin. After a little while the oryx duo's argument died down and she found herself drifting off to sleep. That's when the snoring started, just like Nick had told her.

Fortunately, it manifested into her dream as the loud muffler of Flash's car as it raced along a track around the Canyonlands.

...

Judy was actually feeling very refreshed the next morning. She hopped out of the van's passenger side as Finnick fed the meter.

"You've got my number," he said firmly. "If you need me then ring me."

There was a lot of emphasis on the 'need me' made even more pointed by his narrowed eyes.

"Don't worry," said Judy. "I won't disturb you unless absolutely necessary. Just don't forget that we're meeting Flash at Pawbucks at five pm. He said he's getting off work early."

Finnick nodded and put his wallet back in his pocket. "Don't worry, Hopps, I ain't forgot. Hope you don't mind me refusin' to park close to the station."

"Not at all. I'd quite like a walk anyway."

She bade him farewell and trotted along the busy sidewalk, dodging larger pedestrians and trying not to step on the much smaller ones.

Her positive mood was somewhat shattered at Clawhauser's sullen look as he noticed yet again she'd turned up to work without Nick.

"Still not well?" he asked softly.

She shook her head and forced a smile. "Don't worry. He'll be back soon if I can help it."

He grinned widely and took a bite out of one of his donuts. "It's nice to know you look out for each other! It makes me feel all warm inside."

She chuckled and slipped into the bullpen, pulling herself up onto her seat which felt so much larger and made her feel quite alone. Chief Bogo was already there and she realised she'd disturbed what he'd been talking to the rest of the force about.

"You're late, Hopps," he said.

She flinched and checked the time on her phone. She actually was. By about five minutes.

"Oh well," Bogo went on. "There's a first time for everything. At least I can get onto the biggest news now! There's been an important turning point in the 'fur fondling' case."

Her jaw went slack and she watched as the water buffalo held up a tiny device in his massive hoof. It was a flat, clear rectangle with a long, hair-like antennae.

Every single officer leant forwards in their seats.

"This was found in the fur of a snow lynx," explained Bogo. "She claims to be germaphobic, so when she felt someone touch her fur she rushed back home to bathe. This fell to the floor when she brushed it out of her shoulder."

"So what is it?" Wolford asked.

"It appears to be a tracking device," said Bogo. "But unfortunately, since she spent so long in the shower, it's been destroyed by water so we can't do anything with it. It is, however, causing me to wonder if the 'fur fondling' and kidnappings are related."

"So they're tagging their targets?" The wolf shook his head.

The rest of the officers broke into discussion, turning on their seats and speaking in heated voices. Judy picked out a few words, namely 'We should have noticed sooner!' or 'How long has this really been going on for?'

Bogo cleared his throat and the room fell into silence as the officers turned back in their seats to face the Chief.

"That's better," he said. "Now, I agree this should have been found out sooner, but none of the other mammals were paranoid enough to check that they'd not had something stuck to them, and if they had, this device is designed in such a way that it would be invisible!" He waved it at them to make his point.

Judy's eyes wouldn't leave the device. Her jaw was still hanging open as she strung the facts together. That wild cat outside her house. The day she ran into Finnick by the parking meters.

'Oi, cat! Get off my tail!'

"Now. I want us to make sure every single mammal who's complained of 'fur fondling' to be guarded, vigilantly, until the culprits are caught. We also need to put out a warning for anyone – absolutely anyone! - who has experienced this to come forward and report it, because a lot of cases have clearly been brushed under the rug!" He smacked a paw into the map over the picture of the brown alpaca. "This is the only mammal who's come into the office to report a case and then gone missing! The others hadn't, and we don't know if the other missing mammals here reported cases of 'fur fondling' or not. I want you all to visit these mammals' friends and relatives to find this out." He looked down at Judy and gave her a sympathetic sigh. "Except you, Hopps. You're on parking duty."

...

It was the only time Judy was relieved to be on parking duty. She had no intention of stopping by cars to check the meters just yet (well, except two or three because they were already expired. It was her job after all.) Her main goal was to reach Finnick's parked van and hope he was inside it. He'd not been answering his phone and she was starting to feel sick with worry.

She wasn't going to lose the both of them.

She turned a sharp corner and leapt over a startled weasel, firing back a quick apology as she vanished into the crowd. Several mammals looked up with surprise as she knocked into them and in one case accidentally knocked a bag of apples out of a badger's paws.

"I'm really sorry!" It was becoming a common phrase as she desperately tried to reach that parking meter.

Finnick's van was still beside it, its doors wide open with his stereo blaring away. Her heart was hammering in her chest and she found a new energy to speed up despite her burning lungs. The car just before it pulled away, revealing the small fennec fox as he lifted jars of red juice into the van, scurrying backwards as he dragged them after him along the bare floor.

Judy felt a wave of relief but she didn't slow down. She bounded the final few feet and leapt into the van, startling Finnick so much so he let out a squeal of surprise. Then he went rigid as the rabbit grabbed his tail in both paws.

"Whatchu doin', you mad rabbit!" he roared.

"They're tagging them!" she shot bag. "That's how they're kidnapping mammals! They're hiding tags in their fur!"

"What? Wait, get off, I can do it myself!"

"You don't know what you're looking for!"

She kept her back to him, pawing through his fur as she desperately sought that near-invisible tag. There was always the case he'd not got one. The ZPD had received more phone calls complaining of 'fur fondling' than they had missing mammals, but that cat outside her house... no, he had to have one.

As she brushed through his fur with her paw she couldn't help realising how soft and fluffy it was. She didn't have long fur of her own and she'd always been fascinated by it but never had the nerve to invade another mammal's personal space. She hadn't even dared to so much as to ask Nick, the sheer thought had made her blush, but she'd often found herself admiring how it moved in the breeze.

Finally, her paw found something with the consistency of duct tape and she carefully pried it free. She felt the fox flinch but when she looked up to apologise he wasn't even looking at her. He was staring out of the open doors of his van with his arms crossed, one of his feet tapping impatiently.

She looked back down at his tail and was about to let go when a breeze whipped through the van and stirred through his tan fur. The image of the gruff fox cuddling his tail all innocently flashed through her mind. She couldn't blame him. It was rather... difficult to resist.

She pressed her face into his tail and he let out a yell, yanking it from her grip and hopping away from her. It all happened so fast that she sat bolt upright, her ears rigid as she stared at the rather shell-shocked fox. He stood staring at her with his beloved tail in his paws, his mouth opening and closing as he struggled to form words. His eyes were so wide they seemed to rival his ears which were currently hanging as low as they could go on either side of his head.

"Finnick, I'm so sorry!"

He finally regained his composure and flashed his canines. "Whaddya think you're doin'?!"

"I..." She stuttered for a moment and looked away. Even her ears were turning red. "I got carried away, I don't have one..."

He just stared at her silently, still clutching his tail. She felt very small now and just wanted to disappear.

"You know what I think?" he said as he turned off his stereo. "I think this whole 'fur fondling' thing is a growing issue and the criminals are just using it as a front to disguise their plans!"

"I'm not a 'fur fondler!'" She looked up at him with the most indignant expression he'd ever seen and held out her paw, the strange device lying there, almost invisible against her pale grey fur. "I found it, though."

He took a small step towards her and carefully plucked it from her paw by the antennae, trying his best to not touch her at all. The little tracker dangled from his claws and he crinkled his muzzle at it.

"Huh. Whaddya know, you were right."

"Of course I was right! You think I'd just run in here and..." She trailed off when he fixed his narrowed eyes on hers, and she cleared her throat. "Can we just put this behind us? Please?"

He snorted and turned away, tossing the device onto his coffee table. "I'll repress it."

She retrieved it and turned back to Finnick who had returned to his previous task and was now struggling to get one of the large jars into his van.

"The tracker that arrived at the ZPD doesn't work," she said. "Apparently they're not water resistant."

"Funny. Makes 'em pretty pointless, don't it?"

"Have you... got it wet?" she asked.

"I've been with you the whole time, ain't I? I don't have a shower in my van."

She looked around and nodded, clutching the tracker in her paw. "Then there's a chance we might be able to trace the tracker back to the criminals who put it on you."

He paused, stopping the teetering jar with a paw and fixed her with a look of surprise. "Trace it? You think that's possible?"

She grinned and placed a paw on her hip. "All we have to do is reverse the signal."

His face split into a smile and his eyes crinkled as he laughed, keeping one paw on the jar. "It looks like we may be onto somethin' then, hey, Hopps?"

"Yes, we might even be able to find Nick before the end of the day!" She paused and scratched her chin. "Do you think you'd mind coming to the ZPD with me?"

"I told ya, I don't think much of cops and they don't think much of me. Why would I go into a police station?"

"Because we're looking for Nick. He's your friend as much as he is mine, and this was found in your fur." She waved the tracker. "Right now you're a victim, and we're trying to find your assailant and the same gang that kidnapped our friend. Not to mention the mastermind behind all this."

He licked his lips in thought and finished stuffing the jar into the van. "Okay, Hopps. I'll come with you, but just this once, you hear?"

She followed him back out of the van and helped him close the doors.

"Then we need to hurry," she said.

"Don't be so hasty, fuzz. First I need to get this juice to my new partner. If I'm late he'll have my tail."

Judy flinched and looked down at Finnick expecting him to be as uncomfortable as she was, but instead he was grinning up at her with a twinkle in his eye. He'd got over that quick...

He chuckled and walked away from her to the driver's door. "Oh, this is gonna be fun! You light up like a Christmas tree."

She placed her paw to her blushing face and realised with dread that the whole embarrassing ordeal had been turned on her and her alone. "Oh cheese and crackers!"

...

A/N - Have I ever said I like fluff? Yeh... I like fluff. And that scene was just too cute and funny not to write XD