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The first raid was the hardest.
Nick hadn’t heard anyone say that, but it had to be true. Everyone else in the truck was chattering and laughing, excited even, and he just wanted to throw up. His body armor was uncomfortable, he was thirsty, and he could barely see through his helmet. The truck was windowless, so distracting himself that way was out. Instead, he checked his tranq gun again, playing with the dart’s green fletching.
His partner rubbed his knee. “You seem nervous, Nick.” She spoke quietly, under the noise of the other cops.
He scrunched up his face. “Maybe a little. Can we go over the plan again? I’m not quite ready like these guys are.” He gestured to Francine, who was suited up in full riot gear, and telling Delgato exactly how she planned to seduce his wife.
“Nick, you should really pay more attention at the briefings,” Judy chided, smiling. Nick guessed that she was happy to take her mind off of things too; it made him feel a little better. “The important thing is that you and I aren’t here to fight. We’re making a beeline for the offices, to seize all the records we can before Bluestripe can destroy them. Francine is our point woman, she’ll break down any locked doors for us. The rest of the team, led by McHorn, are there to deal with the hare guards, and make a big scene so we can slip by. Our top priority is staying out of sight. We discharge weapons only if absolutely needed. You remember the floorplans, right?”
Nick nodded and took a deep breath. “Yeah.”
She put an arm around him. “It’s a good plan, with a lot of contingencies and support. Nothing’s going to go wrong.”
He sighed. “You just jinxed it, Carrots.”
She had.
Judy punched a janitor cart. “Someone must have tipped them off,” she hissed.
Nick was sitting against a wall, rocking back and forth. “You think? God, this place is a fortress. That floorplan was completely wrong. How did they even get all that security equipment?”
She frowned. “No idea. We’ve had this place under surveillance for months. Either they’ve been smuggling in hardware because they knew we were coming, or Bluestripe is a lot more paranoid than we thought.” She slumped down next to him and put an arm around his shoulders. “It’s ok, Nick. I’ve got you. I’ll keep you safe.”
He shook his head. “I wasn’t ready for this, Carrots. I shouldn’t be here. I’m slowing you down.”
“No you’re--”
Their earpieces crackled. “Hopps! Wilde! What’s your status?”
Judy jumped; the outer wall of the building had been blocking their radios. “Chief! You got through!”
“We finally got a wall knocked down, and not a moment too soon,” Bogo snarled. They could hear tranq guns firing in the background. “McHorn is out cold, somehow, and Delgato’s team is pinned down. These goddamn hares. What’s going on down there?”
“Francine is down too, sir,” Judy answered. “They had some kind of floating gas attack, that went over the heads of the smaller mammals. McHorn and everyone else over five feet dropped fast. Francine held her breath and battered down an inner door, then it got to her.”
“She took so many darts, too,” Nick said. “The doses aren’t much to an elephant, but she looked like a pincushion.” He was tearing up. “I was teasing her about her weight yesterday...”
Judy tugged him close. “She’ll be ok, Nick. She was covered in armor head to toe, I bet none of those darts even punctured.”
“We’re right outside, Wilde.” Bogo’s voice was firm and surprisingly warm. “We’ll get to her soon. I’m not losing any officers today, and that includes you. Hopps, where are you two now?”
“We ducked into a storage room, we’re both ok. I’m just about to head for the office, we spotted it down the hallway.”
Nick and Bogo protested simultaneously.
“What?! No way!”
”Don’t even think about it, Hopps!”
She shook her head, standing up. “Chief, I can’t let this all be for nothing. We weren’t spotted, there’s still a chance to salvage this. We need those records, and I can get them.” She patted Nick’s shoulder. “Stay here, Nick. I’ll be right back, I promise.”
“Goddammit, Hopps! Stay where you are, that’s an order!” Bogo yelled at her.
Nick just looked at her sadly, and got to his feet. “I know that look, Carrots. I can’t stop you, can I?”
Judy touched his face, turning down Bogo’s shouting over her earpiece. “No. I’m sorry, Nick.”
He nodded, wiping his eyes. “Then I’m coming too. I’ll hold it together long enough to have your back.”
She stomped a foot. “No, Nick. I need you to stay safe.”
He laughed. “What, so you’re the only one who’s allowed to be stubborn? Besides, the safest place is I could be is right with you.”
Judy looked like she was about to cry herself, but she closed her eyes and straightened, ears up. “Alright. Let’s do this. In and out, fast. Got your lockpicks?”
He patted his pouch. “I’m the expert, aren’t I? Ready.”
“You’re both fools,” Bogo butted in. “Be careful, and fall back at the first sign of trouble.”
“Roger that, sir.”
They peeked their heads out into the hall. Sounds from the shootout rang out from the way they had come, but the room was clear.
Francine lay still, battering ram at her side, just past the busted outer door. Nick ran over to her and stuck a finger on her neck, giving Judy a shaky thumbs-up after a few seconds. Judy nodded and took point, brandishing her tranq pistol and pacing down the hall.
She stopped at a door with frosted glass, and gestured to Nick to follow. A light was on on the other side, and she could hear a paper shredder running and muffled conversation.
Nick gave the knob and experimental tug--locked, as expected. He pulled out his lockpick set and got to work on the tumblers while Judy put her ear to the crack at the floor.
She heard a light, accented voice. “We’ve still got a way out through the tunnels, sir. My guard ‘as the fuzz at a standstill, but we ‘ave to leave, now.”
A deeper voice responded. “Hrrrm. No. I have more than my own skin to protect here. My family, my business partners.” He paused. “My guard. I won’t sacrifice you all to save myself.”
“Sir, every ’are ‘ere is loyal to you til the end.”
The other voice chuckled. “And that loyalty has earned mine. We get out together, or not at all.”
The shredder picked up again, drowning out the voices. Judy gestured for Nick to hurry.
Nick was fumbling, breathing hard. A tumbler fell out and he swore, just as the shredder stopped.
“What was that?”
Judy winced and got her tranq gun ready. “Cheese and crackers...”
Nick’s paws were shaking as he raised his--and misfired. The dart hit the wall and shattered. “Fuck!”
Judy took a dart out of her pouch and was helping him reload, when a tall hare kicked the door open. She stood just taller than Nick, and had what he judged to be something like ten times his muscle mass. She was dressed in a long red coat, and carried a crackling stun baton. “Well, if it ain’t the flippin’ fuzz themselves!”
The hare swung her baton in an arc. Judy dove out of the way, while Nick fell backwards. The hare raised her arm for a swing at his face--and a dart suddenly stuck into her neck. “Oh blimey...” She fell on top of Nick, who struggled to push her off.
Judy sighed and started to reload, when a clawed swipe knocked her off her feet. Her gun clattered to the ground, and a striped paw smashed it.
Bluestripe towered over the two of them, wearing a clean navy suit and a furious expression. He cracked his paws. “Hello, Officers. I can’t say I appreciate the intrusion, or darting my second in command.” He stalked towards Judy, picking herself up, and kicked her back down. “I really don’t care for violence, typically. You may consider yourselves exceptional.”
Nick propped himself up, half of him still stuck under the hare, and raised his pistol. “Stay away from her, you bastard!” He shot, and the dart embedded into Bluestripe’s nose.
The badger laughed slowly and plucked the dart out, tossing it aside. “Badgers are harder to bring down than that, my friend. Especially when we’re enraged.” He bounded to Nick and smashed a fist down, breaking the gun and Nick’s paw with a sick crunch. Nick screamed in pain and passed out. “That’s that.”
“Nick!” Judy cried. She raced over, extending her baton. Bluestripe swung low and she leapt over his arm, slamming the baton into his head with a crack. He roared and swiped his claws over his head, but she slid down his back and ran over to Nick.
Nick was out cold from shock, twitching and shivering. Judy stroked his ear. “Don’t worry, Nick. I’ve got this asshole.” She turned to face Bluestripe, her baton tapping against the ground. “You’ll pay for that.”
“We’ll see,” he huffed. He swiped down at her, and then lashed out with a quick kick as she dodged, knocking her against the wall. “Looks unlikely.”
Judy sprung off the wall and feinted an attack towards Bluestripe’s knee, but he simply backhanded her away. “You don’t have the strength to back up your tricks, bunny.”
He was right. He let her make attacks, and effortlessly countered them with his long arms and overpowering strength. She tried attacking from different angles, but one swipe and he knocked the wind out of her. Her baton hits were too weak to do more than bruise, and she was tiring out faster than he was. She tried to swing around his arm and hit his face, but he slapped her away, sending her skidding across the floor. She groaned, stunned.
“Stay down and I won’t have to kill you,” he rumbled, standing over her. He lifted a fist for a knockout blow.
Judy leapt up, double-handing her baton, and smashed it down on his muzzle, breaking his nose. He roared and slammed forward, brutally checking her into the wall. She slumped, and he grabbed her by the leg and tossed her like a ragdoll.
Now all of Judy’s strength really was gone. She could only watch as the badger lumbered towards her, with crazed eyes and blood dripping from his nose.
And then she heard a crackle of electricity.
Nick jumped on Bluestripe’s back, pulling the hare’s stun baton tight across the badger’s neck. Bluestripe gagged and tried to grab at it, but the baton sparked and he couldn’t get a grip. The badger slammed backwards into walls, bucked and thrashed. Nick just kept pulling, sobbing in pain.
Bluestripe wheezed, and his struggles grew weaker and weaker. Finally he dropped. Nick held on for a little longer, then collapsed himself. The baton rolled away, buzzing on the floor.
Some time later, Judy pulled herself up. She dragged herself over to the two prone mammals and pulled Nick into her arms. She winced when she saw his broken paw; it was burnt and twitching. “Nick. You’re such an idiot.”
He laughed unsteadily, through his tears. “You’re one to talk, Carrots. Why did you think you could take him alone?”
And she was crying too. “I’m such an idiot. I just...Nick, I should never have let you do this. I almost lost you.”
“I think I’ll stick to desk work for a little bit, if that’s ok with Bogo.”
They held each other, and laughed, and sobbed, until the other officers found them.