By the time the rest of the ZPD arrived, Nick had propped himself up against the wall and was resting the taser against Jack's leg. He pulled the trigger any time the bunny tried to move, or if it looked like he was working at the cuffs behind his back. Sometimes he did it just because it was funny and he was getting bored.

"See that?" Nick asked, indicating the red and blue lights flashing through the windows. "I know you're not a cop, so I wouldn't expect you to understand, but throwing the bad guys in jail is a real rush. I'm talking a straight up, Dirty Harry-style thrill. There's nothing else like it. See, it really is all about the principle of the thing."

"Bastard," Jack grumbled, but he didn't try to fight back as they hauled him to his feet. Nick was limping badly, and clutched his side with one hand. Every breath hurt. He had only the minimum medical training required for an officer, but anyone could tell that Jack had done a number on his ribs.

The paramedics confirmed what he'd been afraid of. Two of his ribs were either bruised or cracked, and his ankle had been sprained while getting pushed around the zoo. Considering that he'd been seconds away from getting executed, he'd gotten off pretty light. Judy was completely unharmed apart from a bump on the head she'd gotten while being abducted. Apparently Jack had never sedated anyone before, and didn't know enough to catch her when she passed out.

Chief Bogo arrived on the scene soon after the first responders. His normally stern face was visibly relieved when he saw that his officers were alive and mostly unharmed. "Hopps," he said, "they tell me you were kidnapped. Are you hurt?"

Judy shook her head. "I'm fine, Chief. Nick's the one that took all the punishment."

"I'm here too," Nick said with a dreamy smile. "Feeling great, actually. My new friends gave me some morphine. I'm not sure how much I've had, but I think it's enough."

Bogo gave the fox a rare smile and shook his hand. "You did well, Wilde. Both of you did. Today I almost lost two of my best cops, and that little freak almost got away with it. Take some time off and recover. Let us know if you need anything."

Judy was a little taken aback. "That's it? Aren't you going to say anything about...us?"

The Chief's face fell back into the no-nonsense stare that he wore almost permanently. "About what?" he asked. "A dangerous psychopath abducted you and your partner. You were lucky to get out of it alive. Anything else that may have happened, anything that might be going on between you two, is completely irrelevant."

"But it's-"

"Frowned on!" Nick interrupted, then winced and held his side. "That's right. It's frowned on for partners to date. Officially there isn't actually anything the department is required to do about it. Isn't that right, Chief?"

"More or less," Bogo agreed. "What, did you think you were special? I've been doing this a long time, Hopps. You aren't the first pair of officers to get involved with each other. You aren't even the tenth. Do try to keep things quiet, though, for god's sake. If I have to endure some kind of media circus because the two of you are making doe eyes at each other, I swear I'll skin you both alive before I fire you."

The following morning Chief Bogo was visited by the second ZBI agent he'd seen in the last few days. It wasn't a nice surprise. He didn't like working with the feds, an opinion shared by the vast majority of local law enforcement officers all across the country. The ZBI had a bad reputation of stealing the credit for other mammals' work.

This one didn't seem interested in any of that, which was a real blessing. He claimed it was more of a personal visit. "I knew Stripe," the rabbit explained. "She was a friend. I just want to make sure she didn't die in vain."

"She didn't," Bogo assured him. "Her death indirectly led to the capture of a very dangerous serial killer that she was investigating. I don't think I caught your name, Agent."

"It's Savage. Jack Savage. There's something else I need, and I know it's a lot to ask. There was a ring she wore on her tail. I'd like to give it to someone, if possible. She always wanted her husband to have it if anything happened to her."

While he was reluctant to part with anything in the evidence lockup, Bogo knew that something this trivial wasn't worth causing a grieving widower additional pain. The ring itself wasn't anything special, and it had already been examined by forensics.

Jack followed him to the lockup and hopped up on the table as the Chief opened the envelope containing Agent Stripe's personal effects. Inside was a wallet, the ring, a pair of sunglasses, and a small inhaler. "There you go," the Chief said. "Is that supposed to be a wedding ring? I wasn't aware that tigers wore it on their tales."

"They don't," Jack said, and calmly grabbed the inhaler.

Chief Bogo was completely taken by surprise. "Hey! The ring is fine, but that's evidence!"

Jack pulled out a small cloth and wiped his fingerprints off the device before sliding it into his pocket. "No, it isn't. It was never here. The tiger you found on that rooftop was a ZBI agent operating without the Bureau's authorization. She was off the reservation, so to speak."

"I saw the paperwork myself!" The Chief had half a mind to slap the rabbit in cuffs and be done with it. "Put that back right now before I do something we'll both regret! Don't test me, Savage. I'm not someone you can bully around by flashing a badge!"

Jack's glare put an end to the argument before he'd even opened his mouth. "Chief Idris Bogo, attended ZSHS for four years and played football for two of them. Hospitalized with a back injury that put an end to the football scholarship you were hoping for. Turned down by both the army and the navy for your herniated disk. Worked your way through college and earned a degree in criminal psychology, then attended the police academy where you excelled in every field and graduated top of your class. Ten years later you became Chief of Police, the first prey mammal to do so in almost eighty years. Did I miss anything?"

Bogo stared down at the bunny, completely at a loss for words. "I thought so," Jack said, sounding almost disappointed. "I'll be honest with you, Chief. I do like you. You're a good cop, and the city needs good cops. Keep doing what you're doing and forget you ever saw me or this device. It's best for everyone that way. Goodbye."

"What have you people been doing in my city?" the buffalo asked. He never got an answer. Jack strolled out of the building and vanished, never to be seen there again.

Jack completely changed his appearance once he made it outside. He tossed his badge into a nearby trash can, removed his jacket, and turned it inside out. Now it was a grey sweatshirt that looked nothing like the cheap suit he'd been wearing before. He slipped in an ear bud and turned it on, then vanished into the crowd like a ghost. It wasn't hard when everyone was several feet taller than him.

His handler called a few minutes later. Jack kept his voice low even though he was confident that nobody was listening in. "Yeah, I got it. Doesn't mean I'm happy about it. No...no, as far as I can tell she never got the chance to use it. Yeah, the little creep ambushed her before she even knew he was there. Told you she was getting sloppy."

The voice in his ear wasn't pleased. Oh well. "You know my opinion. Either you scrap the whole thing, or people will find out. I won't stick my neck out for you again...yeah. I'll be at the drop soon. Savage out."

Nick and Judy were both given plenty of time to recover from their ordeal. For Nick this meant several weeks of bed rest. He didn't complain at first, but after the first few days he started to go out of his mind with boredom. Without Judy to keep him company he'd have gone insane.

Her own recovery time wasn't nearly as long, though there were a few personal days tacked on to make sure that she had her head on straight after the ordeal. Even after Judy had to go back, she visited whenever she had the chance. She was there before work, after work, and usually on her lunch break as well.

Finnick often visited when Judy couldn't. He was a bit less sympathetic to Nick's injuries, insisting that "being a pig comes with its risks". It was still nice to have him around.

Two weeks after the incident, when the pain was mostly gone and Nick was spending an afternoon with Judy, she said something that surprised him. Partly that was because he was sure she was asleep next to his bed. "I love you," she murmured, and gently took his hand.

The fox looked over at her with raised eyebrows. "What brought this on?"

"Everything. We almost died, Nick. If I hadn't been able to push that reptile tank over, or if it hadn't broken just right, Jack would have killed you. Then he'd kill me. I've been a cop for less than a year, and I've already had two near-death experiences." She tried to smile, even if it hurt a little to remember it all. "I know we haven't been together for very long. I just want to take the time to say it now, because we came really close to never getting the chance."

Nick squeezed her hand and grinned. "I know. I love you too, Carrots. Just don't ask me to get beaten up again trying to prove it, okay? Once was enough."