"Zoo-Adam 12, 10-20 at the corner of Antelope and River Ford. Looks like an SUV and a compact," Clawhauser's voice came over the radio. "Ambulance is on its way, possible injuries. One driver reported to be having difficulty communicating with bystanders."

"This is Zoo-Adam 12. Acknowledge, accident at Antelope and River Ford. We're on our way," Judy said. She flipped on their cruiser's lights and siren, pulling a U turn at the intersection and heading in the direction of the incident.

"Hope nobody got a head injury," Nick said, setting his coffee into the cup holder.

"Hope not," she agreed. She slowed down as the accident came into view. A white SUV sized for large mammals blocked most of the left lane, its left front wheel dug into the rear bumper and trunk of a smaller red convertible. She angled their cruiser in place to warn drivers out of the blocked lane, and hopped out, Nick following.

They found both the drivers, one a large male bison wearing khakis and a polo shirt, the other a female cheetah in a business suit, standing by the curb. To Judy's eyes neither of them looked injured, but the cheetah appeared very upset, tears running down the black markings of her cheeks, while the bison looked like he was trying control his temper.

"We're Officers Hopps and Wilde," Judy said. "Are you the drivers of these vehicles? Was anyone injured?

"I'm fine, officer" the bison said. "I was going to make a lefthand turn when this moron cut me off."

"Is that what happened, ma'am?" Nick asked the cheetah, whose eyes were closed as she dabbed at her cheek with a handkerchief. When she didn't answer immediately he repeated himself. "Ma'am?"

"See," the bison said, pointing to her. "Half the time she acts like she doesn't even hear me, and when she does answer me she sounds like a retard." Done wiping her eyes, the cheetah glared at the bison when he pointed to her. "Oh, yeah. Now you want to act like you hear me."

"Sir, please let us handle this," Judy said firmly. She turned to the cheetah, "Ma'am, are you alright?"

The cheetah blinked, then nodded and finally said in an extremely nasal tone, paws gesturing, "I'm okay." She pointed to her ear. "I'm deaf. I need a translator."

"Oh!" Judy nodded vigorously, then turned to Nick. "You want to call in for one while I question the bison?"

"Nah, I got this," he said, grinning. He turned to the cheetah, and began to gesture and speak to her, paws and fingers moving carefully. "I'm Officer Wilde. I know sign language. But I'm out of practice. Please go slowly."

The cheetah's expression turned to one of relief, and a wide smile crossed her face. She began signing again, and Nick translated.

"My name is Addy Fleetfoot," he said, as Judy wrote her statement down. "I was merging into the turn lane when the SUV hit the back of my car. I had seen him in my rearview mirror, but he'd been behind me in the middle lane. I didn't see him move into the lane with me."

"Okay, thank you. Please stay. We must talk to the other driver," Nick signed to her.

Judy turned her attention to the bison. "Sir, were you both trying to get into the turn lane at the same time?"

"That's right," the bison agreed. "She was taking her sweet time about it, so I honked at her so she'd hurry it up. She should have heard me and gotten out of the way."

"Sir, you were behind her, it was your responsibility to maintain a safe stopping distance between your two vehicles," she informed him sternly. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to give you a ticket for failing to yield."

"Aw, man…"

Judy quickly wrote him up while Nick snapped photos of the damage with his department issue phone. Twenty minutes later Addy headed off in the tow truck with her poor compact, and she and Nick directed traffic around the SUV, very deliberately not helping the bison as he changed his tire.

After he'd driven off and they got back into the cruiser, Judy said, "I didn't know you could speak sign language, Nick."

He shrugged. "I picked it up as a kid. There was a deaf family in our apartment building, so all of us learned at least a little so we could talk to them." Nick grinned at her, "You should have realized it though. What did you think I was doing when I was telling you my plan to get past the guards when we snuck into Cliffside Asylum back during the Night Howler case?"

Judy blushed. "Um, randomly making gestures that made no sense to me?" she admitted sheepishly.

"Hah!"

"So what other languages do you know?"

NIck scratched his ear idly. "Just a bit of Spanish, and some rude Italian."

She smiled at him. "You should tell Chief Bogo. You'd make a great Deaf Outreach liaison."

"You trying to make more work for me, Carrots?" he asked, amused.

"Just trying to make the world a better place."

"Fair enough," he said and signed.