Mistletoe

Edited by AngloFalcon

"Clawhauser, what is it again that you want from us in Records?"

"Oh, I needed the files for the Pack Street Gang case that Officer Snarlov was working on. He's out with a cold today and I can't leave my desk anymore since Bogo told me to stop sneaking off to the break room for donuts."

Nick raised his eyebrow as Clawhauser grinned at him. "You're saying that a polar bear caught a cold?"

The cheetah nodded his head vigorously. "Yeah, he called out a few minutes ago and sounded terrible."

"Just like the lie you told," Nick stated with a smirk. "Seriously Benji, you need to work on your poker face. It is atrocious."

"Nick, stop it," Judy chided, lightly jabbing the fox with her elbow before looking at the cheetah. "We'll get that file for you, Clawhauser."

"Ohhhh! Thank you Judy!" the larger animal squealed in delight. I owe you something for this. Maybe a donut or two...or a dozen."

"Eh heh...thanks but I think we're good on donuts," Judy replied, briskly walking away from the front desk and past the large Christmas tree set up in the foyer of Precinct One. The entire area was decked out in holiday cheer, ranging from the festive lights adorning the front desk, to the twenty foot live Christmas tree that had been set up in main lobby. The smaller one they passed now, was the memorial tree, with each branch dotted with a silver or gold badge hanging off of them. Both trees looked brilliant with their shimmering displays, but this one was Judy's favorite.

They passed by Officer Antlerson, who had gone so far with the festive spirit that the reindeer was wearing a red nose stuck onto his real one, while his partner, the cheetah Clawson, a grizzled veteran of the force, had a pocket full of candy canes.

"Going out to the schools again this year?" Judy asked as they walked past, the reindeer giving them a grin.

"You bet!" he replied. Judy had learned that Antlerson had volunteered for the Sahara Square Elementary School District's Christmas Festival assignment each and every year. The schools would join together and throw a massive party for the young kits, of which the reindeer and his partner had attended for seven years running.

"You two have a great day as well," Clawson chuckled, grinning rather broadly at the two before jogging off after his partner.

"What's with them?" Judy asked when they were out of the other officer's hearing distance.

Nick shrugged his shoulders. "Don't look at me. Antlerson looks as jolly as always."

"Hmm..."

The pair walked through the Precinct until they reached the door to the records room, where another officer, McHorn, was scanning over a red file in his hoof while standing next to a large water cooler.

"Morning," the larger mammal grunted as he opened the door for the two smaller ones. Nick's hustler senses were tingling at the gesture.

McHorn never opens the door for anyone, not even for his own wife when I saw her visiting here last week…Nick thought. It wasn't that the rhino had no manners, as it was quite the opposite. He was just nearly as slow as Flash at using them as Flash was at the DMV.

Nick gave the rhino a curious stare, which was returned with a roll of the eyes as Nick carefully stepped past the larger mammal.

Nick had little time to dwell on his thoughts, for as he was just about to speak with the rhino, the larger officer swung the door shut, pushing the fox inside the dark room. Nick barely managed to pull his tail in before the door slammed, and he heard the distinct scraping of something heavy being moved in front of the door and a click signifying it being locked. Even with his night vision, he couldn't see anything inside the darkened room, as it was as dim as the caves within the Nocturnal District.

At least there aren't any vampire bats in here...Nick thought, as he heard a clear "Hey!" being shouted from Judy.

The next thing he heard was the shuddering of the door and creaking of wood, as he could only imagine Judy must have tried kicking the door open. Fumbling in the darkness, he managed to find his partner as she was running forward, attempting another flying kick.

"Now hold on Carrots-oof!" Nick gasped, falling over as Judy ran into him.

"Oh! Sorry Nick!" Her voice was filled with worry as she fumbled around on top of him. "Are you ok? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Do I require a kiss from a certain bunny on the spots that hurt?" Nick replied, chuckling softly. "Yes, yes I do."

He heard his partner huff in annoyance above him. "You know what Bogo said about that! If he even spots us once, our partnership is over."

"But your hurt fox needs you," Nick replied, grunting as he felt Judy hop off his stomach. He heard the scratching of soft paws on tile until an 'ahah!' filled the room at the same time as light did. Nick winced at the sudden brightness, before his vision came back to him.

He went to the door, but already found Judy shaking the handle.

"It's locked!" she growled, angrily tapping her foot against the ground. "These are only supposed to lock from the inside..."

Nick looked at the door again, noticing that someone had actually taken off the original handle and flipped the sides, so that the door would now lock from the outside.

"Ha, you got us McHorn," Nick stated flatly. "Now let us out so we can get some paperwork to Clawhauser before he forgets he asked us to grab it for him."

"Not until you two kiss," came a chuckling bellow from outside the door.

"What?" Judy yelled, her foot coming to a complete and sudden halt in its thumping. She started jogging away from the door, before turning and glaring at it with a fury in her eyes. "Hey McHorn, if you stand in front of the door, I'll show you a kiss."

Nick jumped in front of the bunny, stopping her from running at the door with the intent of having it be blown open and thus, in what her plan must have been, for the destroyed door to 'kiss' the rhino's face.

"Ok Judy, we don't need destruction of property and a certain rhino's hospital bills hanging over our heads while we plan for our anniversary next month, now do we?"

Judy let out a frustrated sight, before her shoulders slumped. Though she still cast an angry eye at the door. "Fine." She marched over to a nearby desk and jumped up into the seat, crossing her arms. "It isn't like he could see us kiss in here anyways."

"Um, Judy..." She looked over at Nick, who had his paw pointed up at the corner of the ceiling. She followed his point and noticed a camera focused right on them, covering the entirety of the room. And it wasn't the only thing covering the ceiling.

Hundreds upon hundreds of sprigs of mistletoe hung from nearly every part of the ceiling, enough so that she could barely make out where the ceiling even was through the leafy green canopy.

"Oh for moldy mushrooms sake and lobster bisque!" Judy yelled, throwing her paws in the air.

"That's a new one," chuckled Nick. "Lobster bisque eh?" Someone been watching EweTube a bit much?"

Judy shot him an amused glare. One which said both 'Don't say another word' as well as 'want to watch those videos again when we're out of here?'

"Why is it that everyone wants to see us kiss! It isn't like any of them weren't invited to our wedding and didn't see us kiss there."

Judy stormed over to the camera, glaring right into it, pointing at it with her paw. "Clawhauser, if I even hear anything about you recording this, then I'm going to kick your-"

The group of officers huddled around the computer, watching the video feed from the room showing the irate rabbit glaring up at the picture.

"What do you think she is saying?" Wallenstein, a bull, stated.

"Anyone read lips?" another asked.

"I don't think you need to read lips to understand what she is saying,"

"Maybe this was a bad idea," Clawhauser gasped, watching as Judy began making gestures while seeming to yell at the camera eloquently without words. After a particularly vicious look from the bunny, as well as what appeared like her pointing at the camera with a pencil found on a nearby desk, Clawhauser was left even more nervous. And that was even before she snapped the pencil in half with just one of her paws. "Oh, yeah. This was a bad idea. Last time I saw her this mad was when she chased Nick around the Precinct while he was calling her cute."

"I wouldn't say she chased him around the precinct," growled Delgato. "More like only from his desk to their office doors."

"Still farther than any of you have outrun her," Fangmeyer, a wolf, pointed out. "She even outran Spotters in the sprint training last week."

Clawhauser bobbed his head up and down. "Ok, this was a very bad idea. I'm going to let them out."

He was bodily shoved back into his chair by Delgato. "And what, release her to come after us? Bogo is deciding sparring partners next week. Do you want him to schedule each of us with her? Remember last time?"

A collective shudder went through the entire group.

March 4th was a day they would never forget…

"On second thought," Clawhauser mumbled, looking back at the screen to see the bunny still shaking her paw at it. "I think we're in too deep already, so might as well hope we can see them kiss. What were the odds again?"

And in an instant, the officers were again placing their bets on how long it would take the two officers to give in and kiss for the camera.

"...and leave you there!"

"Feeling better?" Nick asked the irate rabbit as her heavy panting subsided alongside her tirade against the camera. She let out a loud sigh, dropped her shoulders and glanced at him.

"A little, but...we still are trapped in here, and under a ceiling of mistletoe I might add."

Nick scratched at his chin. "Well, with it above us, I'm half tempted to let them have what they want. I don't often get to kiss my lovely bunny under mistletoe at Christmastime."

"I don't want to give them the satisfaction," Judy huffed, folding her arms across her chest. Though she did smirk and before Nick could blink, had jumped against a nearby wall, pushing off it with enough force to reach up and grab a sprig of mistletoe from the ceiling before landing on a nearby desk.

Nick's clapping could be heard throughout the room. "I'd give you a ten out of ten if you were in the Furlympics for that jump."

"Thanks," she replied dryly, before sticking the plant stem into her belt. "I think I can set this up at home for us. If, of course, a certain fox doesn't mind."

"Would I like that?" Nick grinned. "Yes, yes I would. And I also might have just found us a way out of here."

Judy's eyes lit up in excitement. "Really?!"

The fox nodded, before pointing his head towards an air duct running along the length of the ceiling. It also happened to be the only point in the room where the camera wouldn't see, as a large office plant concealed most everything behind it.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking Carrots?"

"That it is a lot better than the last pipe we climbed into?" Judy quipped, causing both mammals to grin as they walked towards the vent. "Yes, yes I do."

The group of officers were so focused on the betting pool going on that everyone, including Clawhauser, had taken their eyes from the video feed in the room. It wasn't until a few minutes later that the unsteady voice of Officer McHorn informed them of some very bad news.

"Uh, guys...they aren't in the room anymore."

The chatter died faster than Nicholas Clawges career as all heads slowly turned towards the rhino, who pointed towards the screen.

Clawhauser succinctly summed up everyone's mood quite well with only two words.

"Oh no..."

The officers began to scatter across the building, and in the case of Officer Hiberton, went as far as locking himself up in one of the precinct's cells. Others had just as creative excuses.

"My kid needs his tonsils taken out. I'm going to go pick him up."

"I think I bought tickets to see Meowana. Anyone want to come?"

"I think Bogo just told me to take the day off. I'm out of here."

Soon enough, only Clawhauser was left to himself, manning the front desk in an empty lobby. Joyful Christmas music softly sounding from the precincts' speaker system was the polar opposite of the cheetah's now frightened mood. Slowly, looking around in case any grey or red blurs were rushing towards him, he lowered himself to the floor, opening up a cabinet which revealed a secret safe behind it with the words, "In case of a WildeHopps Emergency", written on it. Opening the safe, he grabbed the objects that sat inside on a plate, before placing them on the counter above his head.

Sighing nervously, the cheetah then sat in his seat and waited for the inevitable, hoping that his secret weapon of a half dozen carrot glazed donuts and another half dozen blueberry creme filled donuts would be enough to placate his favorite couple. Though he was still quite worried, especially when, two minutes later, nearly half the donuts were already missing, and the cheetah had blueberry cream drizzling down his muzzle.

"I knew I should have bought another dozen..."

Bogo, was actually in a quite cheerful mood. Crime was down this week before Christmas, his wife had knitted him a sweater showing him having Officer Wilde in a chokehold, (which Bogo had worn to the Bullpen every day the past week, just to see the grin drop from the fox's face), and best of all, Wilde hadn't pulled a single prank the entire week.

If anything, that would usually worry him, however, his mood was too good at this point to be ruined by anything the fox could do.

The Chief of Police hummed a familiar Christmas carol to himself as he finished off his paperwork for the day. He already had planned to watch a few Burt Reynards films when he got home, and maybe even It's a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Ewe-art and Donna Beaver.

He let out a contented sigh as he leaned back in his chair, smiling to himself while lightly, but gruffly, singing his favorite song of the film, the one he himself had sung to his wife before asking her on their first date.

"Buffalo gal, won't you come out tonight, come out tonight, come out..."

He stopped from a loud thud sounded above him. His eyes opened and smile quickly became a frown as he tried to locate where the sound was coming from. After a moment of silence, he again closed his eyes, only to have another loud 'thunk' sound from the ceiling.

"You've got to be pulling my tail," he groaned as the sounds drew closer to his office. "If this is Ratputin's boys trying to put another camera into my office, they have another thing coming..."

Bogo stood from his seat, looking up at the air duct going through his office, while putting a hoof to his taser on his belt.

Several more loud noises, and few muffled yelps and...were those giggles?

What in blue oxen is going on? Bogo thought, glaring up at the duct in confusion, with his taser now pointed towards the sounds and voices reverberating through the shaft. It wasn't until whoever it was passed over an opening that he finally realized who was inside the vent, and groaned.

Those two can't simply take a day off from causing trouble, can they..."

(Five minutes earlier in the air duct)

Inside the cramped air duct, the two small mammals were crawling along on all four paws, Judy leading the way as, for reasons she hadn't yet explained to the fox, she had memorized the air duct system of the precinct for if she ever needed to utilize it.

Questions for another day...mused Nick. Besides...he thought, as he crawled along behind the rabbit, the view is kind of nice back here.

"Hey, move over a bit, you're going to step on my ears."

"Stop thinking what you're thinking, Nick," Judy warned, and in the darkness Nick could see her turn her head to smirk at him.

"You mean the prank I'll be pulling on McHorn to get him back for this?"

"No," Judy replied. "The other thing that I know you are thinking of." She flicked her tail several times in his face, smirking as she saw his ears twitch in reply.

"That is just a cruel thing to do, Carrots," Nick groaned as they resumed crawling forward, unwittingly crossing over the top of Bogo's office. He watched as she flicked it again. "Why must you torture your husband so?"

The fox could feel Judy's joyful smirk without her turning her head. Well, two can play that game."

Nick reached forward and in a deft movement, caused Judy to flinch and stop dead in her tracks.

"Nick…"

"Yes darling?"

He could see her turning her head, eyes slightly narrowed. "Did you just pet my tail?"

"Must have been a mouse. You know, I've heard some of them actually might live in air ducts in mammal's houses and office buildings."

"Then that must have been a fairly large mouse, as I didn't think they had paws that large."

"Must have been Mickey. He's rather large for a mouse." Nick chimed in with a smirk.

"And does this 'Mickey' have claws as well?" Judy questioned with a hint of scheming in her voice. "I haven't heard of any mouse named Mickey before, as they generally loathe that name and I definitely haven't seen a mouse with claws before."

"Maybe it was Santa Claws? Bogo would have arrested him for breaking and entering in the precinct to deliver his presents, so this is the only way he can get them to all of us."

Judy nodded in mock understanding. "Oh, so Santa Claws somehow came through this air duct and magically fluffed my tail as only my husband does?"

Nick grinned, leaning his cheek on both paws as he laid down in the air vent. "Sounds about right. You should be glad he didn't also give you a kiss."

"Oh," Judy smiled, turning around in the vent, something that the limited space didn't allow Nick to do. "So Santa Claws wants a kiss now?"

"Well, he left, but I'd gladly take one for him. You do have the sprig of mistletoe with you, and I can guarantee that Bogo hasn't installed security cameras in here...yet."

Judy could only let out a short huff of laughter. "Sly fox."

"Lovely bunny."

Judy crawled forward until her muzzle was just in front of Nick's. "So, did he say how many kisses he wanted me to give him?"

Nick grinned as he leaned forward, gently placing a kiss onto Judy's lips, hearing her hum in delight. "I'd say about equal to the number of mistletoe sprigs that were taped to the ceiling."

Judy smiled. "You mean one thousand, two hundred and ninety six?"

Nick's smile gave way to a confused frown. "You counted them all?"

Judy nodded. "Remember, us bunnies are good at multiplying."

Both let out a light chuckle as they leaned into each other to connect with a kiss.

(Present)

Bogo frowned in annoyance at the sounds coming from the air duct. Figuring out where exactly his two smallest officers were, which was nearly dead center above his desk, he tromped over to one side of his office and stared up at the air duct. As quick as a cheetah, he slammed his hoof into the flimsy sheet metal, gouging a massive hole in it. Startled yelps came from the two mammals inside, but before they could do anything, Bogo smashed his other hoof into the vent, reaching up to the top of it and yanking it down forcefully. The metal buckled, groaned, then finally broke, as Bogo lowered the vent until a very startled bunny and fox rolled out of the ductwork.

"I see that I had unexpected visitors on Christmas Eve," Bogo began, his glare hot enough to melt steel. "And I see that neither of them are Santa."

His words were growled out with enough venom that they could have been classified as more potent than the bite of a rattlesnake, causing both Nick and Judy to shiver nervously, though it didn't seem to quell Nick's snark.

"Ho, ho, ho?" Nick stated with a grin, raising his arms apologetically.

A vein above Bogo's eye pulsed once.

Taking off like a shot, Nick leapt at the door and unlocked it for Judy, who sprinted out with the fox close on her heels. Bogo watched them go, snorting in annoyance, though a slight smile graced his muzzle. He stared first at the now destroyed duct work, then at something small on the floor of his office. The buffalo picked it up, smiling at the twig of mistletoe in his hoof, before throwing it onto his desk. He paused as he picked up his coat, turning to look back at the piece of flora on his desk. Shrugging, he finally walked over and picked it up.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander...he mused, before heading off to put in yet another damage claim for the ZPD to fix.

At least he had the mistletoe from it, and that was something he was certain both he and Mrs Bogo would enjoy greatly. So in a way, he thought, Nick may not have been the jolly red lion, bringing cheer on Christmas, but he did bring him a present.

"Ho, ho, ho, indeed."

AN: I hope everyone enjoyed this Christmas one shot with Nick and Judy. This story is cannon as their first Christmas together after their marriage in my story, "One Hundred Kisses" and before they have Ridley and Ella. I hope you enjoyed it and the usual craziness that seems to follow them wherever they go. It might not have been too Christmas-y, however, I think there is enough of it splattered throughout to make it a Christmas story. I mean,I've seen Hallmark channel Christmas movies with less references to the holiday in them that have been labeled as Christmas movies so... XD

Well, I hope each of you can have a wonderful and Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year's as well! Spend some time with your families, eat some tasty food, remember what the holiday is about. Remember that the more you give to others, the better you feel yourself so take time to help someone around you, and to help others have as wonderful a Christmas as they can. :)

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

~Cimar/WildeHopps