This is the last chapter of this story. Thanks to everyone who's read it, left comments or favourited it! :)

From what Nick had gathered, the annual ZPD ball wasn't a huge deal, and mostly pretty boring. Apparently, a lot of speeches were made every year by the Mayor and various high-ups and all kinds of other people who probably didn't have anyone listen to them most of the time and had to let it all out this one day of the year.

He was not particularly looking forward to it.

Well. To be honest, he was. A little. Because he was going with Judy, which was nice. It wasn't even the kind of event that you had to show up to with a partner (not that he usually went to those, anyway) so it was even more special.

He smiled at himself in the mirror thinking about how he and Judy had sort of shanghaied each other into being dates for tonight. That was a good thing, he decided. It had to mean something, if only a little something. He didn't really know how to put anything of all this in words, not even in his own head.

He had bought a tux just for tonight and he actually thought he looked pretty good in it, especially in combination with his sunglasses, but he'd take those off once he got to the actual ball, which was, in his considered opinion, a huge loss for everybody who was going to be attending.

He emptied his cup of coffee, looked in the mirror one last time, straightened his tie – he could hardly believe how fancy he looked – and left for the ball.

"Hey Nick," Judy called from a corner when he arrived.

Nick's jaw nearly dropped. "Uh, hey," he said. "You – uhm. You look really nice."

"Thanks," Judy said. Then she grinned. "You, too. Cool suit. And your sunglasses."

"Oh," Nick said, realizing he'd forgotten to take them off. "That wasn't… anyway." He quickly shoved his sunglasses into the pocket of his suit jacket, blinking into the light.

"I just spoke to Officer Snarlof and she said thanks that we'll have a look out for Raymond –"

"Raymond?!"

"Her brother, remember how she called me?"

"Her brother's Raymond?" Nick asked incredulously, looking over to Officer Snarlof who was on her phone and the picture of lawfulness.

"Apparently," Judy said, shrugging. Then her eyes suddenly narrowed.

"She's here tonight," she said, looking across the room. "See? Over there?"

"Yeah," Nick said, still looking at Judy, who was tapping her foot now.

"Can you believe her? An informant and criminal, and she's here, enjoying the free champagne!"

"There's free champagne?" Nick asked. "Let's find some before we have to sit down for the speeches."

That turned out to be a good idea once the new mayor took the stage.

"Oh, sweet cheese 'n' crackers," Judy muttered from where she was sitting between Nick and Officer Newton.

"And this is just the beginning," Officer Newton said morosely, draining his champagne.

Nick pulled his phone out of his jacket. He was not going to make it through this part of the evening without some senseless entertainment.

The speeches dragged on and on, with only Chief Bogo's providing a short relief from the boringness.

"I don't care about making a speech and you don't want to hear one, so let's leave it at this," he said curtly, and sat back down.

Nick was the only one who clapped. Everyone looked at him. Judy next to him snickered. Thankfully, the dinner – the best part of the evening, in Nick's opinion – started and all the animals present concentrated on their plates.

"So, you having a good time?" Nick asked a while later, when he and Judy were dancing.

"Oh, yes," Judy said. "You?"

Nick grimaced. "Don't really like dancing."

"Come on," Judy smiled at him. "You're having fun. I can tell."

"Alright, alright. Dancing isn't that bad with you – ow – except for the fact that you keep stepping on my tail –"

"Not on purpose –"

"And you don't have any feeling for rhythm –"

"You're supposed to lead! And you step on my feet as well!"

"Because you've got big bunny feet," Nick said, taking his hand off Judy's waist and gently poking the top of her ear. "They keep getting in my way. I thought you liked dancing."

Judy grinned up at him. "I do like dancing. Doesn't mean I'm good at it. Let's get some fresh air," she said.

Nick reached for another glass of champagne on the way out, but Judy lightly pushed his hand away and grabbed them two glasses of water.

Nick pouted. "It's free champagne, Carrots!" he said.

"Yeah, and we're small animals. If we have another glass, we're not going to be able to have more dances. Then I'd have to arrest you for being drunk and disorderly. Though I guess you're disorderly most of the time…"

This was good news, Nick thought, because apparently Judy did want to dance with him again despite their previous dancing adventures not being the most glorious. His tail really hurt, and surely Judy's feet did too.

"Look, some people are already leaving," Judy said, once they had stepped outside on a little porch-thing and looked over the street.

"Spoilsports," Nick said. "This is where the party is!"

They both laughed, before turning quiet again.

"Judy, I'm really glad we went to this thing together," Nick said.

Judy looked up at him. Her eyes were so big, and she was so beautiful…

They both leaned in, and Nick could feel his heart beat unnaturally fast.

"I don't know if this is a good idea," Judy murmured without pulling back. "Pretty much all of the ZPD is here…" Suddenly, her eyes went even wider. "All of the ZPD is here. All of the ZPD is here!" she said, her voice rising.

"Oh, no," Nick said. Maybe they could kiss first…

"Oh, yes," Judy sighed. "Let's go."

"She's not here," Nick said a little later after they had searched the ballroom and the garden. "She must've left."

"We need a car," Judy said. "Clawhauser!"

"Yes?" Clawhauser asked, looking up from his phone where he'd shown officer Swinton something.

"Can we borrow your car?"

"Uh, sure, Judy, but – uhm –"

"What?"

"We can't drive it," Nick said. "We're not tall enough."

"We can drive it!" Judy said. "I'll steer and you can use the pedals."

"And who's gonna shift gears?" Clawhauser asked.

"It's not an automatic?" Judy and Nick said together.

"No," Clawhauser said, almost insulted. "I'll drive you wherever you need to go. Unless you were wanting to be alone, of course, I'm not going to make you guys take me –"

"Drive us, please," Judy said. "We need to check something out."

"Alright," Clawhauser said, getting up. "Bye!"

Officer Swinton waved goodbye at them, apparently slightly confused.

Judy, Nick and Clawhauser hurried to the car.

"This is our chance to catch her red-handed!" Judy said.

"Right," Clawhauser said. "You think she's taking the opportunity to strike while nearly all of the ZPD is at the ball. Should we call for backup?"

"Let's make sure she's not just going home for a hot bath first," Judy said. "Take a left here."

"Why are we in Tundratown?"

"Visiting friends," Nick said.

Clawhauser shook his head but kept driving until they reached Mr. Big's house.

Several cars were parked in front of it.

"Uh-oh," Clawhauser said.

Judy and Nick jumped out of the car and snuck closer to the house. Clawhauser followed them with a nervous glance back.

Clawhauser lifted Nick and Judy up so they could look through the windows.

"Can you see anything?" he whispered.

"It's dark inside," Judy whispered back. "I can't see Haylee."

"Because she's not inside," Officer Warren said from behind them.

Clawhauser dropped Nick and Judy with a squeal.

Officer Warren was standing there with officer McHorn and two other officers who's names Nick didn't know.

"We should've called for backup," Clawhauser muttered.

"Thanks, Clawhauser," Judy hissed.

"You two," Warren said, scowling at Nick and Judy. "I knew you were going to make this more difficult. If only you had joined me," she said to Nick. "You would've been out of the way."

Nick shrugged. "No thanks," he said. "I've got the world's best bunny partner already."

"We had cake with you," Clawhauser said accusingly.

Warren rolled her eyes. "It didn't even taste good!"

Clawhauser gasped. "It was delicious!"

Officer McHorn thoughtfully tilted his head as if to judge the cake they'd had at the Chief's birthday party.

Nick rolled his eyes. "Can we get back to the point?" he asked. "What are you trying to do here? Take over Mr. Big's clan or something now that you've kidnapped most of the town's bigger criminals?"

"Exactly," Haylee said. "Search them," she added to her accomplices.

"I can't believe you would betray the ZPD like this," Judy said. Her foot underneath her long ball gown was tapping the ground rapidly.

None of the officers replied. They silently searched Nick, Judy and Clawhauser and led them inside.

"Where're Mr. Big and all the polar bears?" Judy whispered to Nick.

He shrugged. "No idea," he whispered back. "They can't have overpowered them. Warren doesn't have that many accomplices. They're five at the most according to everything we've heard."

"Nick," Judy gasped suddenly. She was staring into a corner with wide, scared eyes.

Nick followed her gaze and his stomach churned. On the floor in the corner lay a polar bear, his white fur stained with red. It was Raymond.

"Oh, no," Judy breathed. She raised her voice. "Sir? Are you okay? Don't worry, help will be here soon."

One of their captors put a hand over Judy's mouth, but the polar bear stirred softly.

"What have you done to Mr. Big?" Nick asked. Sure, he didn't get along with Mr. Big that well, but he remembered grandmama's delicious cannoli, Fru Fru and the baby, and Mr. Big's helping them with the savage-mammals case.

"Nothing yet," Warren said darkly. She left the room and ordered her cronies to keep watch.

"Can we at least help him?" Judy said with a desperate look into the corner where Raymond was still lying.

The officers exchanged a glance, then let her go but stood in front of the doors.

Judy, Nick and Clawhauser leant over the polar bear.

"Are you alright?" Judy asked.

"I'm fine," the bear whispered, but he didn't sound well.

"We've got to get out of here," Nick said. "Or call the Chief somehow. Or the ZPD, someone is still going to be stationed there who can send help."

"Chief Bogo's our best bet," Judy said quietly. "He's closer already, anyway. But I don't know his number."

"I do," Clawhauser whispered. "If I can get to that phone, I can call him."

Nick looked up at the huge, polar-bear sized desk with the polar-bear sized phone on it. There was no way they would be able to use it in secret.

"We could try some acting," Judy breathed, looking at Nick. "Hustle?"

"Oh, sweet cheese 'n' crackers," Nick muttered, but he agreed: "Boom."

Judy nudged him in the ribs and cleared her throat.

"Oh no," she cried dramatically. "We need an ambulance! This polar bear is dying!"

The rhino and the zebra looked at them, unimpressed.

"You're officers of the ZPD!" Judy exploded. "How can you do this?"

The two officers looked down at the floor, but they didn't react otherwise. Judy's foot was tapping the floor very quickly, but her nose was twitching slightly at the same time.

"What have you done with everyone you've kidnapped? Why did you give out information? How did she make you do that? At least let him call his family to say goodbye!" Judy shouted, pointing at Raymond, her eyes welling with tears.

Judy crying was utterly heartbreaking and probably real now, but Nick was aware what she was trying to do.

The zebra and the rhino held exchanged a glance, then Officer McHorn shrugged. "Alright," he said. "One call."

Clawhauser jumped up and fetched the phone.

"Your sister," Judy breathed in the polar bear's ear. "Call your sister."

Raymond nodded and dialed weakly. They could just hear someone at the other end say, "Hello, who's this?" when Warren came back.

"What are you doing?" yelled, jumping forwards and grabbing the phone. "Why would you let them make a call?"

Nick cursed silently. Now there was no way to let anyone know where they were.

Officer McHorn shrugged uncomfortably. "He's not feeling well," he said. "We thought a phone call wouldn't…" He trailed off.

Warren snarled. Nick hadn't known bunnies could do that. It was actually pretty scary. "Kill them!" she ordered.

"What?" the zebra asked.

"Kill. Them," Warren repeated slowly.

"They're colleagues," Officer McHorn said, hesitating. He lowered his gun the tiniest bit.

Nick figured this was the chance to get the upper hand in this situation. The two informants didn't seem to be entirely on Warren's side anymore.

Warren looked ready to kill someone, but Nick took a step forward and put her in a chokehold before anyone could move.

"What are you doing?" she screeched. Her accomplices only now moved to help her, pointing their guns at Nick again.

"Natural enemies," Nick told her with a shrug.

"Nick!" Judy said.

"Don't shoot him!" Clawhauser called, which was pretty nice of him.

McHorn and the other one seemed unsure of what to do.

"Let us call for backup, or I'll –" Nick didn't finish the thread, because he wasn't going to do anything to Warren, but the others didn't know that.

Finally, McHorn dropped his gun and nodded to his friend to do the same.

"Wow," Clawhauser said, wiping his brow. "Fieldwork is pretty taxing compared to being at reception, but I think I'm getting a taste for it. Now let's call for backup, alright?"

"I think backup's already here," Judy pointed out.

They heard cars approaching and eventually Chief Bogo's loud voice outside the house, Judy looked at Clawhauser. "Could you hold her for a moment?" she asked, pointing her chin at Warren. "I've got to finish something."

"Sure, Judy," Clawhauser said, taking Warren from Nick.

"Why –?" Nick started to ask, but Judy stopped him with a kiss.

"Officer Hopps, Officer Wilde," Chief Bogo said gruffly. "This is not the time and place to – canoodle." He grimaced. "It's bad enough you left the ZPD ball to chase after a criminal without telling me. If Officer Swinton hadn't alerted me to it, this could've gone down very differently."

"Sorry, Chief," Judy said, but she grinned at Nick.

"How did you even know we were getting into a danger?" Nick asked.

"It's you two," Chief Bogo said. "I figured you weren't not going to mess something up. But I suppose, since you've contributed so much to solving this case and were just in a very dangerous situation, you might need some rest at home before we take your statements. I'll see you tomorrow morning, nine o'clock sharp."

"Sure, Chief," Nick said, taking Judy's hand and pulling her towards the door while their colleagues flooded the house, fetching Mr. Big and his family from the room they had been locked in, and arresting Warren and her accomplices who were already spewing information about where the kidnapped animals were and other things, probably hoping to seem cooperative. They were officers, they knew how this worked.

Nick grinned at Warren's unhappy face as they left.

"We should get rest," Judy said once they were outside.

"Oh yes, we should," Nick said.

"Or we could talk."

"And kiss again."

"Sounds like a plan," Judy said. "Do you think the Chief'll mind us borrowing his car?"

"Nah," Nick said against his better judgement. "He's a big softie and he loves us. Clawhauser can drive him home. That'll cheer them both up. Besides, the Chief's car is an automatic."

"You take the pedals, I take the wheel?" Judy asked.

"This is gonna go great," Nick said, grinning and opening the door for her to get in. "Funny story," he said as Judy started the car. "I think Gazelle kind of had a hand in this. I was looking at her autograph…"

"Really?" Judy asked, "You, too?" as they drove – not at all becoming of two Officers of the ZPD considering car regulations and safety – down the street.