The Fight From Within

2.) Patrol

Seventh floor, room 13g. "Come in!" came a voice from inside. Unlocked, Nicholas opened the small door and ducked into her apartment. "You coming or what?" Nick asked as he leaned against the doorway, slipping his paws into his pockets.
"Oh hush, you're early." Officer Hopps joked back. She double checked her uniform in the mirror, grabbed her jacket, and followed Nick out to his car.
Pulling away, Judy gave one last look back at her seemingly old apartment building. "They're finally going to start renovating this place next week, I still have to find a place to stay for a little bit." Judy said, half to herself.
Nick heard what she said and quickly jumped at the opportunity,
"You should stay at my place, I have plenty of room." Nick suggested, hoping he didn't sound as enthusiastic as he thought it sounded.
"Oh, I don't want to cause you any trouble" she started.
"You won't have to pay a dime, besides, You can make me food" Nick smirked.
"In that case, when can I move in?" She laughed.
"We can start moving your things tonight after work if you want?" He asked.
"That's fine with me" she giggled, watching the building slowly disappear around a corner.

————- At the zpd

Nick locked his car from his key fob without looking back at the car.
"So Nick, are you exited to start working with Alec?" His partner questioned him as they walked through the glass doors at the ZPD.
"Totally" he shrugged.
It was obvious to Judy that her partner was not a big fan of Alec.
"Come on Nick, we just met him. Can't you just give him a chance?" Judy asked.
"Fine, I'll give him a chance. But this thing with the three of us, is not permanent." He spoke flatly. Judy stopped and turned to face him.
"I know what it is!" She exclaimed, pointing at him.
"You know what what is?" He asked, caught off guard.
"I know why you don't like Alec!" Nick crossed his arms. "What?"
"You're jealous!" She smirked, standing in his way.
Nicks ears instinctively dropped back defensively "wha-no! That's ridiculous!"
He responded, not making direct eye contact.
"Lier! You're doing that thing with your ears" she pushed.
Nick just realized that he was doing that thing with his ears and frowned.
"Can we just get to role call" he mumbled, embarrassed as ever. Before Judy could respond, he palmed her face with his paw and pointed her forward.
"Hey!" Her muffled voice called out as Nick walked into the bullpen.
"We will talk about this later" Judy teased. Nick just kept walking.

Alec stood at the trunk of their cruiser, stocking up with any equipment they might need as well as pre-patrol checks. "Ready to go Alec?" Judy asked.
"Officer Hopps, how are you?" Alec stopped with what he was doing.
"I'm doing great! Couldn't tell you how excited Nick and I are to have you as a partner." She inclined cheerfully.
"Hopefully I live up to your expectations" Alec said with a sincere smile. Nick stepped to Judy's side
"Well we better get going if everything is all set" Wilde suggested, stepping up into the cruiser.
"Right behind you" Alec took a seat in the back.
Before they even had the chance to leave the ZPD, dispatch came over the radio, "unit 8, respond to a 10-94 on Savannah central"
"Alright! First call is to a drag race, this should be good" Alec said from the backseat as Judy sped off.

Lights and sirens blaring, their cruiser roared after a fleeing cargo van swerving in and out of traffic being followed by some kind of blacked out sports car, reaching speeds of 61 mph in a busy part of town. Suddenly, the black sports car rammed into the side of the cargo van almost causing it to hit an oncoming vehicle in the other lane.
"What kind of drag race is this!" Judy exclaimed.
"Carrots, I don't think this is a drag race, keep your distance until we figure out what's going on" Nick insisted.
"Did you see that! He almost crashed!" Alec shouted. Nick called for additional units to back them up. The sports car was going in for another attempt when the vans back doors flew open and in the opening stood a ram with something in his arms.
"Gun!" Nick yelled out. Before anyone could react, sounds of thunder rang throughout the street in quick succession. Shards of glass flew from the black sports car causing it to swerve in an attempt to dodge the oncoming fire. The sports car sped back up, returning shots from the passenger side window, peppering the vans white rear doors.
"Central we have shots fired!" Alec called out over the radio, ducking behind the seat.
A final shot barked from the sports car, the van swerved off the road, clipped a light post, then rolled down the street coming to a violent stop at the base of an old yellow brick ice cream shop.
"Sweet cheese and crackers!" Judy cried out, closing the distance on the two vehicles. The black car came to a stop just beside the overturned van, now with grey smoke pouring from the engine bay. The driver quickly unloaded his gun into the van, leaving any survivors now dead before speeding off around a corner.
"We have to catch that sports car!" Officer Wilde shouted.
"It's too dangerous, we have to help the mammals in the van" Judy decided. Alec sent a call out for that black sports car to the air support crew.
They stopped behind the van and all three officers exited the cruiser with guns drawn. "Move carefully" Officer hopps warned them. Alec slowly peeked through the cracked sunroof, turning back to them shaking his head. Nick and Judy stacked behind the vans rear doors. Judy grabbed the door handle and mouthed to officer Wilde who had his gun trained on the vans back doors. "1, 2, 3!" Judy ripped the door open. Inside lay a single ram wearing what looked like some sort of hazmat suit minus the headgear, killed by multiple gunshot wounds.
"Clear!" Officer Wilde shouted to the others. The three officers crowded around the back of the van.
"Are you okay?" Alec asked Judy.
"Ye-yeah, just a little shocked at what just went down." She managed.
"Hey, come look at this" Nick said, looking in the back of the van.
There must have been a dozen duffel bags thrown all over the van and nearby road, along with these oddly shaped tubes and beakers. Most of which are broken. More police cruisers showed up to secure the scene.
"Alec, go give them the report of what just happened, okay?" Nick asked, putting aside any dislike he has towards him. "Sure thing Nick, I'll get right on it" He said as he went to the sergeants cruiser. Nick and Judy looked at each ether in unease as Nick pinched the zipper on one of the duffel bags.
As he opened the bag, a puzzled look came over them both.
"Midnicampum holicithias?" Judy asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"Night howlers? What are they doing with night howlers?" Nick thought out loud. All of a sudden it hit him,
"Carrots, I think this is some sort of night howler lab." Nick said nervously.
"That is exactly what this is" Judy agreed.
—- Back at the ZPD
"Is that everything you can remember?"
Chief Bogo asked, looking away from his computer screen.
"Yes sir, that's all we have for the official report" Alec confirmed, sitting beside Officer Hopps and Wilde.
"Any news on that black sports car yet?" Nick asked, crossing his arms.
"The chopper crew lost them soon after you gave up your pursuit. They claimed that the car turned a corner and vanished" the chief explained, not turning away from his computer screen to answer.
"Go get some sleep, you did good today, all of you" the chief dismissed them.
The three of them gathered by the main doors, "it's most likely an isolated gang fight, nothing more. The night howlers have been confiscated and I'm sure that black car will turn up eventually." Alec said confidently.
"I hope you're right Alec, we don't need another night howler scare in zootopia." "I better head out, I had a great time working with you two. I look forward to continuing this conversation tomorrow." Alec said as he walked out the ZPD with a wave goodbye. The others said their goodbyes and turned back to each other.
"Hey, sorry we didn't get to work on moving your things tonight" Nick apologized.
"Don't worry about it, I'll let it slide this time" she giggled.
"Funny carrots, I'll see you tomorrow"
As Nick opened the door to leave Judy caught up to him.
"About earlier, you don't have to be jealous Nicky. You'll always be my favorite dumb fox" she said with a wink and ran out the door to catch the waiting taxi. Nick waved goodbye 'that's good to know' he said softly to himself.