After a few days of recovery, Judy was ready to go back to duty, relieved to be out of the apartment with Nick and the triplets. It wasn't 'bad'. Nick seemed to really be enjoying himself in the role of caregiver to them.

She tried to not think how this was likely going to end, and felt guilty that she was keen on seeing their status finalized. And in that, she fretted over why she was so off about them.

The first and most obvious point was that they did remind her of the on-going crisis and the ever-growing body count in the city and around the world. And by extension, her frustration and anger over her inability to DO anything about it.

Was that a little crazy? An over-reaction to the passive despair she felt after her inflammatory comments those years ago? Then becoming the Hero-Savior of Zootopia, and feeding an over-weaned sense of accomplishment that got her into trouble with some subsequent cases.

But she was over that, wasn't she?

Or was it something deeper?

Nick had become her great and only love. But. She was also a Doe, and as much as she dismissed talk of instinct, Does bare kits. With their mates. And that wasn't going to happen with her and Nick. That alone was it's own little kernel of grief.

The triplets were not hers, and so, by extension, shouldn't be his. She cringed at that even being a thought. Was she so ungenerous, so jealous in her affection?

Or could it all be that, with so many other stressors in her life right now, they were simply too much for her to handle?

As she approached Precinct One, she suddenly realized she had another matter to face. Nick's proposal and her acceptance. That was going to be it's own nightmare, both officially and in the social interactions with her fellow officers.

Starting with Clauhauser.

At least he didn't squeal when she came through the doors.

"Officer Clauhauser." She said flatly. "Yes, Officer Wilde and I are finally talking about getting formal in our relationship, and at any other time, I'd share your enthusiasm." She saw him visibly deflate from his barely contained glee. "But right now we're still in a deathly crisis and I'd rather concentrate on that for the moment."

Though looking hurt, the Cheetah nodded, "I understand. And you know the whole precinct is behind you on everything."

Judy tried to smile, "I know and I still love you all. It just has been really awful, and isn't over yet." She was relieved to see him recover, just a bit.

Then she had to check in with the Watch Commander.

"Glad to see you back with us, Hopps." Unlike Chief Bogo, or because of him, Commander Slaton seemed a faint cipher of a mammal, an able administer and tactical manager, yet overshadowed by his sometimes micro-managing superior.

"Sorry to let you down, sir."

"Hardly, given the circumstances. Your paw up to the task?" He looked with small concern at Judy's still nasty looking appendage. He was too polite to go into anything else unless she was willing to mention it.

"Sore but functional. And I'd like to get back to regular patrol duty, if I can."

"And some semblance of normalcy? As Wilde is still out, all I have is Snarlov for you to partner with. That or parking duty."

Sgt. Snarlov wasn't the chattiest officer on duty, which would be just fine right now. And, unlike some of the other large and senior officers, genuinely respected her law-enforcement prowess from the get go. Judy couldn't help but wonder about some kind of Ice Bear grape vine, with her academy instructor Freidkin at the other end.

"Snarlov is fine."

Slaton still had one issue before dismissing the Bunny. "About Wilde. I suspect all of the ZPD knows about your intentions by now. And that is going to be a problem."

"I kind of figured."

"Even though you two have proven to not be a problem together on duty, that there hasn't been push back from various quarters has been due more to how they still don't take you seriously as officers." They shared a sour expression at that. "But, if you were to get married, or if even your cohabitation got public, there would be those out there ready to make a stink about it and break you up as partners."

Judy suspected that already, though found it heartening that Slaton was reiterating his support for them. The worst part of all that much of the objections would be coming, not out of any actual concern for their performance, or even issues of policy, but simple petty abuse. Hurting them simply because they could.

Back when she first sought becoming a police officer, she had no idea that she was walking into such a socio-political shit storm. The Mammal Inclusion Initiative was already a nasty partisan battle, and she brought with her the hot buttons of species, class and gender from the moment she put on the blue. Her catastrophic moment before the press was even worse.

Later, bringing down Bellwether, she got into a whole new area of controversy, as the Ewe's scheme had not formed in a vacuum, and only her methods, not her intent, was considered an issue for too many.

Finally, there was poor Nick. His advancement to the ZPD as a fox, regardless of his background, highly de-emphasized in the official record, brought on a new wave of issues for those keen on such.

But, now, there they were, and no good way out seemed inevitable.

But Judy noticed a little something in Slaton.

"While it will be Bogo who will have to force it through, there isn't nearly the couples versus partners issue among detectives. We've discussed some fast track options." He offered with a shrug. "And, in the meantime, with the continuing crisis, and the sympathies raised by it, the administration is finally willing to spend some political capital to give you a bit more backing."

Judy wanted to growl at that. She disliked politics as too much of it seemed so under-pawed to her way of thinking, skirting or abusing the law for needlessly partisan maneuvering.

"So, if you can maintain a low profile and hold off anything like actually getting married for a little while, congratulations in that, we might be able to keep you two together and promoted to where you could do even more good."

00000

Gah. How Finnick hated seeing Nick at his place. It was too open and obvious, too vulnerable for his secretive taste. That, and he knew the dumb dog and That Rabbit had been under intense surveillance in the months after the whole Bellwether business, for their own safety, so they said. But he was just paranoid enough to worry just a bit that even now his approach was being watched and recorded by unsympathetic forces.

But Nick had insisted for 'very good reasons' and he was willing to take the chance.

"Open up, ya dumb pup!"

And there was the big goof, and what the hell? Peeking out from behind Nick's legs are three little bunnies.

"Nick-nick?" One asks. And then the others chime in, "Nick-nick, nick-nick, nick-nick!" All the while looking at him, wide eyed, ears up, and noses working something fierce.

"I suspect they think you're some kind of Nick variation, as you're only the second fox they've ever seen." The big dummy explained.

"Is this why you called me over, some kin'a baby-sitting gig?" That was so not happening.

"At some point, that'd be a possibility." Then judging by his expression, "Or maybe not."

"They're not That Rabbit's, so what's up?"

"Their mother got the flu and I'm taking care of them for now." Nick tired to be cool but Finn could tell there was more than 'for now' in the big dummy.

"Uh huh." Then Finn yelped. Someone, one of the bunnies, was in his brush. "Gimme that!" And in snatching his tail away, the terrible little brute looked like it was getting ready to cry. "Oh Glob, Wilde, and I'll bet ya let 'em sleep in yours too." And he grudgedly let the bunny glom back on his tail, which, of course, signaled the rest to latch on as well.

"Jeebus! How can ya live like that?"

"It isn't so bad after a while, and I always find handy distractions." He gave Finn his biggest shit-eating grin at that.

While Finn was no father figure by any means, there was a little something-something in the awful little things trying to snuggle up to him. He sighed and motioned Nick to lead the way further into the apartment.

"So, what is up?"

"Like I said, their mother got the flu. And died. But she was seriously off-grid, and I need help trying to track anything down on her."

So he was going total Goode Two-Shoes, all That Rabbit's fault. Well, maybe. The big dummy always had a soft spot for real sob stories. Woe be it for anyone to try and play him though. Even in blue, his wrath could be breathtaking. Perhaps even more so now in blue, added to his theatrics, he knew exactly, to the millimeter, how far up to the line he could go, and his victims didn't.

But, as he was now too well known as a cop, there were places he couldn't go and mammals he couldn't reach anymore.

"Wha'da'ya have on her so far?"

Nick fanned out a meager spread of printouts. Glob she was young. Even her morgue image. And there is so next to nothing. The was a presumption of her having a part-time job or two, all off-book, then something happened and she needed really cheap/free living space. A vague friend of a friend suggested she crash in a friend of a friend's apartment while off on a temporary out of town gig.

"You're kiddin'?"

"That's it. That's why I'm asking." But there was something more in the big dummy. He was more than just junior ranger scout Nick with this. Something almost paternal, and that was something he swore he'd never take the chance on.

"And here's a little something to help." And Nick handed him a wad of cash, at least a whole Kay.

"Have you gone totally off yer nut? Seriously, what is wrong with you?"

"Come on, I know you're going to have expenses doing this." Dammit, the big dummy didn't have many tells, he was always really good about that, but now he was sure there was something else in play here.

"Nick?!"

The big dummy finally broke, and Finn instantly regretted that he pushed him, seeing the grief in his face. A rather long pause.

"It was just like Marnie."

OHELLNO! Finn immediately poofed in rage. First, he fought the urge to cram the wad of bills into that son of a bitch's various orifices, then grabbed the printouts, grudgingly, and stomped out of the apartment with a final "Fuck You, Wilde!" as he slammed the door behind him.

The little desert fox was seething. That fucker had uttered That Name. Why didn't he just shoot him instead? Getting gut shot was easy compared to hearing That Name. Between tears and rage, Finnick blindly made his way back to his van. He never parked it close by; usually a couple metro stops away, just to be sure.

"So, how's Nick doing?"

Finn dreaded the police, for what they'd done to him in the bad old days, and what they could do to him still, and with bitter experience, he learned to always keep it cool. But in that first instant, his impulse was to deliberately assault That Rabbit, knowing how thoroughly she could give him a beat down and then send him off to the grinder.

But with That Name still burning in him, and with the awful mission the son of a bitch had saddled him with, he restrained and recovered.

"He jus' got a bad case o' bunnies." He tried to sound calm, casual, but he could tell that she could tell that wasn't a joke.

"Finn, I'm worried about him too. We've dealt with lost kits, and some orphans before, but this is different."

He considered That Rabbit. He didn't actually hate her, too much investment in that. And if he wanted to get really honest, his resentment of her was more like jealousy; she'd taken away his boy. But, to be fair, she had been good to the big dummy, mostly, and he didn't begrudge that. So he was going to be generous and lay a little truth on her. Not the parts that really matter, but enough.

"Did you know that, for some foxes, sometimes, it's the dog who's the quality time caregiver? Maybe somepin' ta do with the mom keepin' herself up for nursin', but it's dad who's puttin' in the time, keepin' the kits healthy, and lovin' every second of it." Yeah, he could see the lights coming on.

"Fer the longest time, Nicky-boy had all kinds o' daddy issues, the worst bein' he didn't wanna fail like his dad. Though truth be told, it was bad breaks, no fault of the old dog, that things went the way they did." Finn thought glumly of the earliest days with Nick as a kit. "An' Nick's nature was to be that kind o' care freak."

"So, Nick and these bunnies?"

"Weirder shit's happened."

Judy had to think about that.

She had wanted to find the desert fox to talk about Nick's issues anyway. Finding his van was dumb luck while on patrol, and she insisted Snarlov drop her off there. It was close enough to end of shift to not be an issue. The van was suspiciously away from his usual hangouts and only a few metro stops from their place seemed clear that he was visiting. All she had to do was wait.

That he showed up in such a state was a surprise. He was a lot more wary than that, usually. She wasn't going to pry, and what little he revealed seemed to answer a lot of questions.

But it wasn't good news. Nick's over-investment with them would only be that much worse when it was over. But, there was something about the idea of Nick being a potential super-dad. But how was that ever going to happen?

There had been not so subtle hints for her to consider getting broody herself and put out some kits of her own, regardless of formal relationships or even paternity. More of the replenish the species thing. But that was really crazy talk, as in over all terms; the crisis had not taken some critical percent of the total population. Moreover, what was needed was more foster parents, as it mostly parent-aged rabbits who had been hit the worst.

Judy groaned. It all came back to the three crisis kits in their apartment.