Took an alternate turn and inserted a version of Celeste into the story. She goes to the big city years before meeting Jeremy.

"I thought you foxes were all about endurance?"

"I think you have me confused with wolves, and even they go on at an economical gait, not this death marathon pace."

"Uhmph, or is because you're so Old? Little old lady fox?"

"Yes, I'm old, too old, now take me back to the retirement home, you cruel kit!"

"How about I entice you with some fresh blueberries from home?"

"Lies! No way you could have gotten anymore."

"But if I did?"

"No one is that cruel."

"Well, if you don't pick it up, we'll never know."

"By the way, you're getting better in the get up in the mornings."

"You know, This used to be going to bed time."

Yes, and we durinals have no respect for the natural sleep cycles of you nocturnals. But if you're going to be on a day cycle, better to get used to it well in advance."

"You know, being a cop is a twenty-four hour gig, so who's to say I can't do the over-night shift?"

"Than who would you partner with? I'm worthless at night."

"Yeah, about working in the dark. Then how do you guys deal with all the burrow biz?"

"Whiskers in narrow warrens the before time and electric lights since then. Besides, if I brought a light onto the scene it would mess you up, so either I'd be blind or you'd be."

"More importantly, the Academy is all daytime classes. So you need to be up and alert all day."

"And remind me why I'm actually going to DO this?"

"Because you want to make a world a better place?"

"Fah!"

"Because you found a higher moral purpose in life?"

"Hah!"

"Because you can't stand the thought of this clueless hick of a Ranger Scout on the mean streets by himself?"

Nichole stopped rather suddenly and her mocking smile left her. "I wish you wouldn't say things like that."

"Like what?" Julius was noticing that any version of that self-depreciating description was setting Nichole off more and more.

"I'm sorry I ever said that." She avoided looking at him, "And can we leave it at that?"

Even though Julius was a bit piqued at that, there was something more there, but he wasn't going to push it.

Back at his place, to cool off and change, Nichole quickly stripped off her running gear and plopped onto Julius' bed. "Gah! I need a back rub." She pleaded.

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Humph! Back rubs take priority over blueberries."

"Oh dear, you must be hurting then."

"Damn right, see what your cruel abuses have reduced me to."

Julius looked at his clock, there was enough to time to give her a pretty fair massage and brushing before leaving for work. He found he really liked giving her these attentions, both for in how much she enjoyed the care and in the action of administering it, how it settled him as well.

He began, and her hums of relief quickly faded into a faint snoring buzz. Was she actually asleep? Maybe, she still was having a hard time with the day scheduling. No matter. He worked his way down her spine, kneading the muscles. As he approached her lower back, she arched a bit, and a bit of a pleasurable hum, maybe she was only dozing. Then she hitched up a bit more and her tail swept off to the side...

"Oops. Not going there." he whispered. He quickly pulled a cover over her and quietly picked up his change of clothes and gear to dress in the common down the hall bathroom.

Now that was 'awkward'. An involuntary reaction on her part, no doubt. She wasn't 'in season', but he knew that manual stimulation could get things stirring at any time. But nothing like this before. Well, she wasn't exactly awake this time. He'd like to think that they were best friends, but nothing like that. And it wasn't a species thing either. He'd simply never thought of them in a particularly gendered way, at least not a sexual-social way.

He kind of liked playing the role of the gentlebeast for her, old-fashion customs and courtesies. Especially knowing how disregarded she had been in her life heretofore. At first, she thought he was just mocking her, but once she realized it was sincere, she seemed to enjoy the attention.

But her as 'girlfriend' or even 'lover', oh no. That seemed like just asking for complications, if not real trouble. He had never had much of any friends, and that he seemed to click so well with her filled a need that he didn't know he had. Now, having a good friend, a comrade, a confidante, the extra twist of a more intimate relationship might put that in jeopardy.

But enough of that. He had his shift at the ZPD to do and she could recover and, presumably go back to her own apartment to do whatever she might do.

Nichole stirred. Where was the Bunny Boy? And why did it seem that he hadn't finished with her groom? And why did she feel a bit - . Oh, dear. She got up in just a bit of alarm. That she was waking up, naked, in his apartment wasn't a problem. She'd napped there before, and he'd groomed her several times now. Very nicely too. But she had a drowsy half-dream about some potential sexy time. He had felt so good working on her back. Did she react? And if so, why?

It certainly wasn't that time of the year, and had it been, she'd dose up with suppressants at the first hint. True, a particularly close and physical relationship could jump start things, but that wasn't a thing between her and him. Was it? Of course not. He was the total Ranger Scout, relentlessly polite and courteous. And a trusted and trusting friend. Sure they'd groomed. That's what trusted and trusting friends did, wasn't it?

But why was she now feeling a bit - excited? And deeper issues there. Being bullied and attacked as a young kit made her, not exactly dread her sexuality, but she had avoided it to greater and lesser extents thereafter. As a youngster she camouflaged herself, both species as much as gender. Later she became more belligerent, able to defend herself physically as well as emotionally. But sex, especially with a male, included a level of vulnerability that she didn't dare risk.

She'd had a relationship with another Vixen years back. While there had been some tentative and tender, and safe, intimacy, the relationship fell apart do to unrelated trust issues. But, anymore, it had largely just settled to a simple 'when in doubt, do without' mind set.

True, Bunny Boy was cute, for a bunny boy, but for anything beyond a close bud, and 'partner in the war against crime', she smiled at that thought, not likely a thing.

That little incident was allowed to pass, more like an embarrassing little mistake than anything else.

And then it came the day for Nichole was to head out to the academy. As Bogo had provided recommendations to other candidates, there was a little joint get together at Headquarters before they sent off.

Nichole felt a bit awkward; both for being the rather obviously oldest cadet, and that her accompaniment was her younger partner to be. In contrast, the other cadets were nearly half her age and had their parents, nearly her age, in attendance.

That she was also the only fox and still the smallest beast in the batch only made it worse.

On the other hand, there was a taste of celebrity about her, hero savior of Zootopia and all, standing besides the other hero savior of Zootopia and all that too. Listening to the little aside conversations certainly perked up her spirits. A surprisingly tiny bit of her thought about ways to exploit the hero worship potential, while a much greater portion was filled with an unexpected resolve. If they thought she was something before, just wait until they see her rip the course.

Julius, who had ever so carefully avoided any kind of obvious public displays of affection before, gripped her paw in support. And looked on her with pride and earnest joy for his partner. She was really going to do it. He knew she'd been reviewing some of the texts and done some additional work outs, so was largely in good shape for both the physical as well as intellectual challenge.

Bogo looked out at the body of future ZPD officers and felt just the slightest bit of hope for the future. These were good mammals, honest and true. And in that, had to reflect on the less than best days of the past. The Bellwether plot, in both halves, had highlighted then challenged the complacency of causal specie-ism and pred-prey division for too long. These cadets were going into the process with a loftier goal than simply maintaining the status quo.

And there were the unwitting authors of so much. That Vixen would be the death of him, no doubt, but do so while at his best. And the Bunny, with some seasoning with his veteran officers, ought to make the dynamic duo, did he really just think that, a most formidable pair.

After the appropriate remarks and individual well wishing and all that, he was glad to be done with the ceremony. The notion of seeing what was to be a new generation of officers was always bittersweet. Beyond the expected attrition of the academy process, in which at least a few dreams would die, he knew that at least a couple of those fine young lives would be lost in the line of duty.

Just when he thought he had seen the last of them, and was shifting gears back to the grim work of day-to-day policing, there was the Vixen at his elbow.

"So, you're going to keep the Bunny Boy safe until I get back?"

Bogo was going to say 'of course', but he hesitated when he really noticed the terse tone. "You know I can't promise anything."

"Not even death by misadventure?"

Bogo paused, considered, and glanced around his office. "You two had been under 24/7 protective surveillance for the first couple months since the day Bellwether was arrested. And every officer he has worked with has been vetted within an inch of their lives."

Nichole was struck dumb.

"You are both too important to the city to get hit by some Bellwether left-over or specie-ist crackpot. Hopefully, by the time you get back, it won't be necessary. And I'd like that Hopps not know about it."

"Thanks." And Nichole gripped Bogo's hooves. "Let's just hope he doesn't do something stupid - again."



The Zootopia Police Academy was Hell. Simple as that. There were rules of conduct, dress codes, instructors, and Schedules. Argh, the schedules. And to top it off was that she was surrounded by a batch of smug, self-righteous little prats.

True, her Bunny Boy had cornered Ranger Scout, and his Naive Hick was unsurpassed, but she'd been helping him get beyond those handicaps. But these clowns were up to the eyebrows in 'brightest and best' arrogance.

Fortunately, her roomie was not one of them.

"So, what are we up to tonight?" Nichole asked.

"More on chain of evidence." Celeste yipped back.

She was a coyote. And like Nichole, was the least conventional of the class of '16. While Nichole was a school drop out, Celeste had no formal schooling at all. But they had both done exceptionally well with the various equivalency exams, and had become fast friends in an 'us against the world' fashion. And, with a touch of awkward, a hint of mother/daughter, as Celeste was nearly young enough to be Nichole's issue.

Nichole groaned. "Can we get a snack from the break room before we start, my cruel task master."

"Yes, my delicate flower." Celeste didn't always have the same rapid-fire snark as her Fox roomie, but she did have a few now well-practiced reference terms to match her moods.

The pair went down a floor to the all-purpose off duty space in the barracks. A TV was blaring in the back and some table games took up another section of the room. There was also a kitchen space on one wall and a bank of vending machines with various food and drink.

A rather slinky Tigress called out, "Hey, Poofy," Pointing to Celeste, "shoot some pool?" Celeste's freshly washed coat would stand out for the first little while, with the inevitable nickname.

A couple of the other girls lounging around piped up, "Don't do it Carrie, she's a total shark."

"I told you I could shoot." Celeste defended, and Nichole only rolled her eyes.

"Well, if you're so good, then you ought to be able to run the table in no time?"

Celeste made a face but Nichole leaned in, "Whip her butt and maybe they'll start leaving you alone."

And she did. Nothing at all fancy, just careful, accurate shooting. No one timed it, but it could not have been more than a couple minutes.

Carrie stood there a moment, an ear not quite sure how to cock. Then she broke into a big grin. "A'right. Poofy, you're gooood." Then turning to the other girls, "See, That's how the Big Boys play it."

The others became immediately disinterested, "What ev's."

Nichole and Celeste got their study support re-enforcements, "Yum, crunchie bars!" and headed out, Carrie giving them a little salute with her cue stick as she poked the balls around for a new set up.

"If you were more 'ambitious', you could make a killing with that." Nichole half-joked.

"No. I promised my Uncle that I'd use it only for good." Celeste joked back, "Besides, its no fun when I Have to do it. I only got good because I liked doing it."

"No, I get it." Nichole mused, "Funny how what you want, versus what you can, versus what you need to do can't always be the same thing." A sigh. "Here I am, working to be a cop, and I might even be good at it. But I never thought I'd want to be one."

"Then why are you?"

"Good question. And you'd laugh at this old bitch if I told you." And she tapped the Coyote on the nose, "Which is why I'm not going to tell you."

"Not even a little bit? I'll tell you mine."

"I already know why you are, the challenge, the adventure, the change of pace from being a, what again, mechanic? And for the greater glory of Coyote kind, the first Latrans in the ranks of the ZPD, and as an itty bitty girl cub of a coyote, too."

Celeste made a fake growl, "I am within the size envelope for my age and gender, I'll have you know."

"Must be on the most lower left corner of that envelope. Aren't you supposed to be about twice your size?"

"That's the wolf hybrids. Real coyotes are about half way between teeny weenie foxes, like you," And she tip-toed herself to add a few more inches to her height be able to more fully peer over her friend's head. Celeste was taller than Nichole, but only just, and the younger Latrans was a thin stick of a girl, rather than the more feminine curved Vulpus. "And those noble images of canid perfection." And they both laughed and laughed.

The several she-wolves in the class had formed a quasi-pack and were collectively regarded as 'stuck-up bitches' by the rest of the class.

Then it was back to the books. The two drilled each other on procedural minutia until Celeste noticed the time.
"If we're going to maintain a diurnal cycle, we'd better quit now."

Nichole grumped, "While I'd like to maintain my birthright, tomorrow's schedule and today's PT session has me pretty whipped, so, yeah." She thought a moment, and stretched, stiffly. "Can I get a little lower back work first?"

"Yes, my feeble creature."

Celeste found she really liked to massage and groom her roommate, a social function she had not heretofore shared. And getting such attention in return was heavenly.

Then it was bedtime and an all too early rise and shine for another day.

Physical training was both a general work out for peak performance and various practical conduct and contact skills. Not everyone was expected to take down a charging class F or, glob forbid, class G mammal, but being able to keep one's self in one piece while dealing with a range of beasts was essential.

Today was unstructured sparring, more of an assessment of what, if any, skills each student might have. And to make things interesting, it was a mix of sizes and genders.

Nichole got stuck with an Elk Bull, and it became an interesting game of tag, as she was not able to make any consequential contact with him while being too agile for him to make any contact with her.

"And that is what the next months will be all about getting over." Announced the instructor. "Being able to deal with very asymmetric situations. True, Joansonn there," Pointing to the elephant in the room, "Couldn't safely engage with a mouse perp without risking lethal contact. For now. But by the time we're done, all of you will be expected to have developed tactics to deal with any size of citizen."

Celeste's turn came up all too soon, and she was clearly reticent to get in the ring with the Lion she was matched to. While the lion took a regular boxing stance, She immediately leapt in on him, dodging under his swing to grapple his legs and send him to the mat. She then got a foot into a painful twisting hold before he could react.

Everyone was more than a bit surprised by that.

"You okay?" Celeste let the Lion's foot go and helped get his limbs straightened out a bit. "My Uncle taught me some survival skills."

"That was, unexpected, Whitefoot." The Instructor observed. Then, more to the rest of the class, "But it is a bit of overkill for most circumstances, as her next move would have been to break or dislocate his limbs before he could attempt to hit her. And that is the weakness of her hold; she was wide open to any action he still might attempt. While she might be able to disable him, he could still as easily kill her outright if she kept at it."

The Instructor motioned everyone in closer. "The move wasn't necessarily wrong, but was more of a really last ditch desperation option. What we're going to train you on is how to deal with and subdue a subject with minimal damage to them and minimal risk to you as well. Remember, the individual that you might be dealing with may not be some villain; it could be a distraught victim or even a bystander in panic. Crippling or possibly even killing someone simply for getting hysterical is not what we're here for."

The Instructor signaled for the next pair to go into the ring, but at the same time drew Celeste in. "I've got to ask, do you have any more conventional fighting skills? Or will I have to de-train you before you really hurt someone?"

"Sorry, Ma'am. All I know are some fast crippling holds or punch sequences. My Uncle wanted me to be safe against just about anything. You're right about the leg thing, though I would have done a quick grab, break, then jump clear. As you pointed out, to hold it for even a second longer than needed would have left me open."

"Okay. Later on, we can walk though what you know and see how much can be repurposed, eh?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

Later, Nichole was still marveling at the little coyote's prowess. "How is it that you got all those superhero moves yet, here you are gasping after the first mile of our little gaunt."

"Because I didn't have a boyfriend who trained me up for the months leading up to this." Celeste gasped, her tongue dramatically dangling out as she plodded along. "I've walked forever, but all this running is a new and terrible experience."

"Well, first, he isn't my boyfriend, he's more a friend, who happens to be a boy, ya know, with a space in between." Nichole found her 'never let them see that they get you' was a bit weak when it came to those kind of mentions of the Ranger Scout. "Second, who is to say that I wasn't already in peak physical from coming in?"

"Your whining pleas for massages was a bit of a hint. But you did have some footwork against Wilbur."

"Funny thing about that, more of a practical survival skill in the big city, least you get stepped on in a crowd. A lot of the really small folk have either separate pedestrian access or simply don't dare go into some areas."

"But back to the action bit. I got my moves by my Uncle drilling me damn near every day for years, then my strength comes for all the grunt work in the machine shops and garages I've worked at."

"You couldn't have done all that much? You're still just a cub."

"I've been doing mechanical stuff for as long as I can remember. Never had 'toys', just boxes full of tools. As a very little kid I got to take things apart, then later, got to put things together. Simple nuts and bolts stuff. Then I began to actually fix things, and later, actually make things." She held out her paws, "See, all kinds of adventures with tools."

Nichole could see all kinds of scars, mostly small ones, a couple more raggedly prominent. There were a couple of bare spots in the fur, looked like old burn scars and one of her pads had once been seriously split down the middle. She only had seven claws.

"A life of adventure with machines." Then Celeste gave Nichole a look as well, "And when are you going to tell me about your scars?"

"Whatever do you mean?" Though she knew what that was in reference to. Their grooming sessions had revealed a whole history under her lush pelt. "I've mentioned that I lived on the streets as a kid of a while. And while there, found there are bad people out there, and some have sharp claws."

What she didn't mention was that one set of scars was due to a broken window she had to squirm though to escape from some danger crazies. Or that for every scar she carried she had likely inflicted at least as much on others. More so for broken bones.

But that was a whole lifetime ago. Finn and her had saved each other in the worst of those early bad old days. And now, the Bunny Boy was in the process of saving her again.

And thinking about the Bunny Boy, tonight was 'phone call night.

"So, how's it going?"

"Work, work, work, John Hemdahl must die, John Worfin must live. Work, work, work." Said in an odd monotone.

"Huh?"

"Oh, never mind. Just a mind-numbing, soul-crushing slog of class work and physical abuse."

"And only months, and months, and months more to go."

"I've always hated you."

"Seriously, how's things?"

"Actually, not bad. The academic work is simply lots of. Having a motivated roomie helps. And the PT is not too bad. But we should have done more with upper body, I'm so feeble."

"What doesn't kill you..."

"Did I mention that I've always hated you? Except for the grooming. Celeste has the Paws of Death strength, but there is something about your attention to detail..."

He did have rather nice paws. And she suddenly remembered that little nothing thrill and fleetingly indulged a thought. What would a bunny boy be like?

For his part, Julius was not going to mention that he already missed the snarky Fox. The notion of sharing watches with that scarlet harridan only, argh, so many months away, was a comfortable consideration, in contrast to the dull crowd he was currently stuck with.

"Well, for my part, I've been doing my part to make the world a better place, one jaywalker and litterbug at a time." He wasn't going to mention the drunk and disorderly that got out of control and put Snarlov in hospital, or almost getting clipped by an idiot driver while issuing a ticket. More than once.

"Oh, and I say your Finn the other day. After the obligatory curse-out, he mentioned something about a legitimate job of some kind. Says you're wasting your time and talent and that I should get stepped on. Repeatedly."

"Poor old dog." Nichole thought a moment, the recalled a thing. "Julius, if you can do it before the eighteenth, get him a bottle of Fernet Brancha for me."

"Fernet bluh?"

"Fernet Brancha. Kind of nasty tasting liquor and a bit of an old joke. He'll appreciate it."

"For you, anything."

"Thanks, and take care of yourself out there."

"Will do."