Chapter Text
Ringo woke up as he did any other day, after snoozing 3 alarms and having 2 more go off simultaneously. Night… no, day 1 of 5… of 6 he thought to himself, remembering that he had agreed to fill in for Morrigan to start off the rotation. He really should be better at saying no. The shafts on sunlight streaming in through the window reminded him of the other part sinking in. That, for the next month, he would be on days. Ringo - being a racoon, the natural nocturnists they are - would rather work two weeks straight on nights than have to work a single shift on days. Except no, he was temporarily reassigned while one of the day shift lieutenants was on paternity leave. Hooray for him. New pup and whatnot. Horrible for Ringo.
The first 5 minutes of waking up always sucked. He stared at the ceiling as the fog of sleep slowly cleared. After gathering enough willpower, Ringo let out a reluctant groan and rolled out of bed. A quick rinse of his mouth, change into his uniform, and stuffing his lunch into his backpack, Ringo was out the door and on his way to the station.
Tucked in a small crop of buildings, sheltered from the hustle and bustle of Savanna Central, stood the proud Zootopia EMS main downtown station. What it lacked in height, it made up for in length, with the main bulk of the building made up of the ambulance bays. Attached to the side was a small quarter circle, the station proper. The plans called for it to be a semicircle, but funding ran out. A common occurrence for ZEMS.
As Ringo pulled into the parking lot, he made his customary count of ambulances. The more ambulances were at station around shift change, the better the start of the shift would be. Ringo regretted agreeing to work even more when he found he didn’t even have to count. Only one ambulance sat in its bay, and of course, it was the one he was assigned to. At least one night crew is getting off on time.
As Ringo was pulling his gear bag out of his car, he heard the rumbling of a car pull up in the spot next to his. After the engine cut off, he turned as the whir of the window coming down was quickly followed by the voice of an arctic wolf.
“Ready to save some lives?” O’Fang, Ringo’s partner for the day, called out. She always was annoyingly chipper.
“I hate you.” Ringo deadpanned.
“My, someone’s grumpy this morning. That’s no way a supervisor should act.” O’Fang put a paw to her chest in feigned outrage.
“Good thing I’m not acting in a supervisory position today.” Ringo replied, smug smile spreading across his muzzle. “Plus, you’re the traitor. Why’d a nocturnal animal like yourself move to days willingly?”
“To get away from you. Looks like that was unsuccessful though.” O’Fang shot back, sharing a similar self-satisfied smile.
Ringo chuckled and motioned towards the station. “We’re going to have a good day today.”
They were not having a good day. Neither, did it seem, were the citizens of Zootopia. Calls were being stacked and the ambulance ran all across the city. It wasn’t until 2pm, 7 hours into the shift, that they finally caught a break. They were able to make it back to the station, but, too tired to even leave the ambulance, the pair ate their lunch in silence. The only noises in the cab came from their chewing and the sporadic typing of Ringo catching up on patient care reports.
The fragile peace was rudely broken by the high-pitched tone of a call being assigned. The shrill voice of the automated dispatch followed: “Assist police department, tranquilizer, 7575 Rutabaga Way”
Ringo sighed. “I hope it’s not Delgato again. That guy’s a little too tranq happy for my liking”
“And I hope they didn’t misclassify the weight class. I don’t want to show up and have to strap a hippo to the roof again.” O’Fang said.
Ringo smiles and shakes his head as he remembers the cartoonish scene. He checks the dispatch information on the laptop, then switches the channel on his radio. “Medic 23 to PD on scene.”
“Car 13, go ahead medic.” A higher pitched voice responds on the radio. Not Delgato then
“You want us code 1 or code 3, and can you confirm, class 2 size mammal.”
There was a pause, and then the radio replied, “code 1 is fine, and yea, class 2.”
“10-4.” Ringo put the radio down and glanced over at the wolf as she plugged in the address to her GPS. “Looks like we aren’t wrangling any polar bears today.”
The ambulance rolled to a stop in front of a run down gas station, and Ringo heard the crunching of glass under the ambulance. Two cruisers were parked at the corner of the convenience store, their flashing red and blue lights highlighted the broken glass windows. He spotted a fox, bunny, and Wolford standing around an unconscious dingo. The dingo was laying on its back and pawcuffed. Ringo noted some superficial cuts around the muzzle and paws of the dingo, along with a steady rise and fall of the chest. As Ringo got out, he saw Wolfard start walking towards the ambulance. Ringo walked to the back of the ambulance and he caught a glimpse of a tiger scribbling notes as they talked to a trembling pig standing behind the counter.
“Ringo! What are you doing out when the sun’s still shining?” Wolford called out around the ambulance. Wolford was one of the few day shifters Ringo knew, as the wolf frequently picked up overtime on nights.
“I want it to be known that I’m here against my will” Ringo responded, pulling out the stretcher.
“Don’t listen to him, he secretly loves this.” O’Fang said, as she unlatched the stretcher and helped Ringo push it towards the dingo. “Anyways, what’s the run down?”
“Wilde can tell you all about it” Wolford said, pointing towards the fox. The fox, Wilde, who had been talking to the rabbit, turned around and flashed an easy going smile. The pair looked familiar, but Ringo’s tired mind couldn’t place where he’d seen the two before.
“Cashier called in a suspicious mammal. Carrot’s and I show up, and the guy’s going crazy, clawing up the store, almost bit the cashier. Jumped out the window and rushed us next, so Carrot’s here hit him with a yellow tail.” Wilde explained, nudging his head towards the bunny. Despite the stereotypes, Ringo doubted the bunny’s name was actually Carrots.
O’Fang kneeled down and started to attach the monitor to the dingo. As she wrapped the blood pressure cuff around his arm, she gasped in disbelief. “Ah jeez, Spike?”
Ringo’s ears perked up and took a closer look. As he reached down and started checking the dingo for any more injuries, he recognized the distinctive necklace Spike wore. He looked worse for wear, skinnier and fur dirtier than the last time Ringo had taken care of the dingo. “Damn, it is him. We ran him just last week, he didn’t look this bad.”
“You know this guy?” The bunny, “Carrots,” inquired.
“Yea. He actually tried to bite the cashier?” Ringo asked.
“Mhm. Took the yellow tail almost a minute to take him down.” The bunny responded, eyebrows furrowed together, confused why Ringo didn’t believe her.
“Look,” Ringo squinted at the name tape on the bunny’s vest, “Hopps, half of Zootopia EMS knows this guy. Nicest opioid addict ever. Gotten good recently about not OD’ing, and we’ve been making progress on trying to get him to rehab. All of a sudden being violent? Doesn’t seem like him.” Ringo glanced at the monitor. Heart rate and blood pressure a little high, but oxygen was good. He motioned towards the stretcher to O’Fang, and the two picked up the dingo and placed him on the stretcher.
“Well, regardless of how nice he was in the past, that doesn’t excuse his actions today.” Hopps said.
“I’m just saying, it’s very out of character for him. Something else might be going on. And with his vitals like that, after being tranquilized? He needs to go to the hospital.” Ringo explained, as they started to roll the stretcher back to the ambulance. “Who’s riding along?” he asked, looking at the officers.
“I’ll go check in on Fangmeyer.” Wolford said, turning to walk towards the store. “Y’all are stuck with this one.” Hopps gave a little huff and dragged Wilde along towards the ambulance.
“I’ll come along. Gives me a chance to get a head start on my paperwork.” She said, looking at Wilde. “Take the cruiser and meet us at the hospital.”
Wilde put a paw to his chest and gasped. “Wow, you trust me to drive?”
“Shut up, I’ve let you drive for two months now! You just won’t let this go, will you?” Hopps said as she laughed and slugged Wilde in the arm. Ringo smiled to himself. It had been a while since he’d seen a rabbit with a crush, but there was no mistaking the telltale bunny boxing.
“What do you mean let me? The only thing I’ve driven in the last two months was the snowcat when we chased Pawbert!” Nick exclaimed.
“It’s not my fault you’re lazy. You’d rather just take naps while I drive around.” Hopps shot back.
The two continued to banter while Ringo and O’Fang loaded the stretcher into the ambulance. They climbed into the ambulance and started preparing for the drive. After the monitoring devices were all placed and Ringo had obtained an IV, he glanced out the ambulance to see Hopps and Wilde still teasing each other. Get a room guys, Ringo thought. He cleared his throat and nodded at Hopps. “So… you’re riding along?”
Wilde and Hopps both snapped to look at Ringo, as if they had forgotten that he was there. Ringo shot O’Fang a glance that said these idiots. O’Fang just smiled and shook her head, mouthing all yours as she stepped out the side door.
“Uh, yea. I’m coming.” Hopps said as she climbed into the ambulance. She looked back at Wilde, “you better not crash the cruiser, Bogo will have our heads.”
Wilde laughed. “I won’t promise anything. See you at Zoo Gen.” He shut the back doors of the ambulance.
“Y’all ready to go?” O’Fang asked from the cab.
“Let’s roll.” Ringo responded. The ambulance pushed forward, and Ringo felt the potholes that were commonplace in the neighborhood. He found himself drawn into the comfortable rhythm of riding in an unconscious patient, typing away on his report while occasionally glancing at the monitor. Sitting at the third red light in a row, he thanked the traffic. Maybe he’d be able to catch up on some paperwork.
Spike groaned and mumbled something on the stretcher. That didn’t make sense. He had been tranqed with a yellow what, only 20 minutes ago? Ringo got up and gently shook Spike’s shoulder. “Hey bud, how are you doing?”
“Feel terrible.” Spike said. “Why do I got pawcuffs on?” He briefly opened his eyes, but then shut them closed as if the light burned his eyes. Spike tried to sink further back into the stretcher.
Before Ringo could explain, Hopps cut in. “You are under arrest for assault and destruction of property. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”
“Yea, thanks officer.” Ringo said. “Spike, you’re going to be ok. We’re taking you to the hospital. What’s the last thing you remember?”
“Dunno,” Spike said, “One o’ my friends said he had a lead on a new guy. Said it was the best dope he ever had. I guess it must’ve been pretty good, since I’m seeing you again.”
“Guess so. Good news is you seem to be ok, but the hospital will take a closer look at you. Just take it easy, try to get some rest. Want me to dim the lights?” Spike nodded, and Ringo switched the lights off. He turned to look at Hopps. “Guy can’t remember anything, had a violent outburst, and shrugs off a yellow tail in under 30 minutes? Something’s up.”
Hopps made a frustrated huff as she shuffled her notes around. “Yeah, you’re right. We’ve been hearing about a new dealer in town, one who cuts their product will all sorts of nasty stuff. Haven’t been able to get any solid information though.” She looks at Spike. “You think he would help?”
“He’s very cooperative. I’m sure if you asked him nicely he’ll tell you anything he knows.” Ringo said.
“We’ll see.” Hopps replied. Then it was back to the familiar silence, intercut by the honking of Zootopian traffic and the snores of the dingo laying on the stretcher. Soon after they were pulling into the ambulance bay, the ZPD cruiser right behind them. Ringo and O’Fang pulled the stretcher out and rolled into the hospital. Ringo looked back and saw Hopps trailing a little bit behind, talking with Wilde. The deer at patient registration didn’t even ask for information. One look at Spike and she was already putting in the demographics, handing the wristband over with a knowing smile.
After parking in line for the triage nurse, O’Fang went back to get a head start on cleaning the ambulance. When it was Ringo’s turn to give the report to the nurse, the only questions she asked was “OD?” and gave a surprised look when he shook his head, and “He’s under arrest?” to which Ringo had a little more explaining to do. Having been given a room assignment, he walked back around the corner to the stretcher, finding the officers had finally caught up to them.
“I, uh, I know a judge who’s good about making rehab an option.” Wilde’s ears drooped a little, and he had a thousand-yard stare in his eyes. But a split second later, his laid back, half bored expression was back, and Ringo thought he must’ve imagined it.
But Hopps’s ears folded behind her head and she rested a paw on Wilde’s arm. She gave him a firm, determined look, something that seemed to have a shared meaning between the two. “We’ll do what we can.” Wilde’s smile softened a little as he stared at Hopps. The two then apparently heard Ringo walk up, as they both snapped to look at Ringo with a surprised look.
“North 31. Give me a paw, would you? My partner abandoned me in the name of efficiency.” He said, trying to avoid the awkward feeling of having intruded on what seemed to be a touching moment. A short walk to the room, a quick “get better bud” to Spike, and a “nice meeting you” to Hopps and Wilde later, Ringo was back in the cab of the ambulance. O’Fang was already in the driver’s seat, excitedly sipping her customary second half of shift coffee.
“Man, can’t believe it took me 6 months to finally meet Hopps and Wilde. They’re pretty chill for cops.” O’Fang said.
“You know them?”
“You don’t? They’re probably, like, the two most famous cops in recent memory.”
Memories of news reports and press conferences came back to Ringo, as he finally recognized where he knew the two from. “Damn, I knew they sounded super familiar! I blame my sleep deprivation for that.” Ringo turned his attention back to his report, trying to hide his embarrassment of not immediately recognizing the pair. Knowing O’Fang was one for gossip, however, he added “So, they’re totally into each other, right?”
Ringo knew day two wouldn’t be any better than the first the moment he walked into the office. Normally, after shift change, he would have about 30 minutes to settle in and choose his caffeine delivery system of the day before the “fun” started. Instead, he found Chief Paramedic Pipkin in his office. Another benefit of the night shift that he’d gotten used to was that no admin was around. There was no such safety on days, as here was his boss’s boss’s boss, a portly looking elk, holding a big stack of paperwork in the supervisor’s office.
“Can I help you, Chief?” Ringo asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Ringo, just the animal I wanted to see. It was brought to my attention that Lieutenant Thompson was behind on a good deal of his paperwork, including QI and the quarterly district report.” Elcor set the stack of paper on the desk with a thump. “Since he’s on paternity leave, do you mind helping him out with these? You know, one less thing to worry about since he’s got a new pup at home.”
“Oh, I don’t…” Ringo’s protests died as he saw the expression on Pipkin’s face. The firm, thin lipped smile and pointed glare that said I know it seems like you have a choice, but you really don’t. Ringo let out a defeated sigh. “Alright. I’ll start working on them after I finish teaching the con ed at the ZPD. Speaking of that, I actually gotta go get set up now. See you later, Chief!” Ringo dashed around the elk and grabbed a box sitting on the chair, flashed an apologetic smile at the elk, and hurried to the fly car. It wasn’t a complete lie; Ringo did have to teach at precinct one that day. Only he wasn’t scheduled for another two hours. Oh well, Ringo was sure he could find some way to kill time. Anything would be better than having to talk more with Pipkin.
Ringo should have just stayed and talked to Pipkin. The gas station run Ringo made only took up 15 minutes. Meticulously arranging all the practice equipment in the classroom took up another 30 minutes. Running through and editing the pawerpoint slides, only 15. And so, Ringo was sitting alone in the classroom, an hour left to go, bored out of his gourd. He checked the dispatch app, hoping to find a semi-interesting call that he could help out on. Only a lift assist and a paw pain in his district. Of course the one time Ringo was looking for something, the citizens of Zootopia seemed to behave.
“Did you hear? Hoggbottom’s getting demoted.” Ringo could hear Wilde from outside the door.
“What? Why?” Hopps replied.
“Gee, I don’t know, maybe for taking orders from a civilian to kill you!”
“Yea, but I watched the footage! She wasn’t actually going to shoot, it Higgins who ran into her and triggered the gun! And she helped later with Pawbert!”
“That’s probably the reason she was just demoted instead of fired and arrested with the Lynxley’s. IA wasn’t very happy with her. Did you know that was the first time a lethal dart had been fired in two years?”
The door to the classroom opened and the duo stopped mid step. Ringo glanced quickly between the two of them, both of their eyes wide and eyebrows up in surprise. Ringo couldn’t fault them; he was an hour early. What surprised Ringo was how close the two were standing next to each other, brushing shoulders. And the detail that Ringo was staring at was Wilde’s tail curled protectively around Hopps’s waist. Combine this with what he saw yesterday…
Fox and a bunny. Huh. Well, not the weirdest pairing I’ve ever seen. What was weird was that they were still partners. Ringo would have thought Bogo, or at least mammal resources, would have had them working separately the moment they declared their relationship. Priority of life and all that. Wait. Had they declared their relationship? They must have if they’re acting so openly affectionate at work. Unless everyone around them had no idea about how rabbits or foxes show affection. Actually, at the ZPD, that wasn’t out of the question.
“Hello again,” Ringo said, “good to see you again?”
“Hi! Hello! Good morning!” Judy squeaked out. “We, uh, didn’t realize anyone would be in here yet.”
“Yeah, Thompson is even less punctual than I am.” Nick said. “and that’s saying something.”
“Well, Thompson is out on paternity leave.” Ringo said. “That’s why I’ve been voluntold to be on days for a little bit, so you’re stuck with me.”
“I didn’t realize you were a lieutenant.” Judy said, staring at the customary white polos that supervisors wore.
“I don’t know how day shift does it, but on nights, the lieutenants still ride the truck from time to time.” Ringo said. “Speaking of the truck, how’d it go with Spike?”
“Really good!” Judy said, jumping on the opportunity to change the subject. “You’re right, he’s really nice. He tested positive for a bunch of stuff, including trace nighthowler! Can you believe that! They’ve been banned for over half a year. At this rate, it’s probably more expensive to cut things with it than just sell pure heroin. Anyways, he gave us a lot of good leads to chase down.”
“And I was able to talk to the DA. They’re going to cut a deal, rehab and the charges will be dropped.” Nick said.
“Good to hear!” Ringo said. “Hopefully he gets some ground under his paws.” With their one shared topic exhausted, an awkward silence quickly fell on the room.
“Oh, I just remembered,” Judy said, clearly making up a pretext to leave. “There’s, uh, something I need to do at my cubical. Nick, do you want to help me?”
“Sure.” Nick said, then looked at Ringo. “See you in a little bit!”
The pair turned around, still shoulder to shoulder. Maybe that’s just a thing they do? Ringo thought he heard Wilde whisper “real smooth, Carrots” as they walked out. Ringo looked at the time. That awkward encounter only took 5 minutes. It was going to be a long day.
“Right, first order of business. With the reintegration of reptiles to Zootopia, we’ve seen fit to make antivenom autoinjectors standard issue on all patrol cars. Now, antivenom is still best administered IV, but these should keep any envenomated patients alive until we show up.” The classroom was now full to the brim of most of the officers of precinct one, Chief Bogo included. If it weren’t for Hopps and Wilde, Ringo would easily be the smallest animal in the room. The pair were currently sitting side by side on the same chair. Maybe it is just a quirk of theirs.
“Now, these autoinjectors are designed to be quite simple, which means I’m sure many of you will need to be walked through it.” Ringo heard a few muted chuckles and thought he saw some glances being thrown towards a pair of zebras sitting in the back. Wait, is one of them just a horse that has painted stripes? Ringo could never get a handle on cops.
Ringo holds up one of the bright blue antivenom pens. “This end is the pointy end. This side goes to the patient.” Ringo points to the skinnier side. “And this end is the safety end. See this orange cap? You have to pull this out in order to activate the device. When you’ve inevitably forgotten this training, there are pictures on the side that walk you through the steps. Barring everything else, it talks to you too. Don’t ask me why, but that’s how they’re built.” Ringo presses a yellow button and a way too happy voice emanates from the pen: “stab me straight into the heart!”
“Alright, at your desks are trainer pens. There is no actual needle but you’ll hear a click to simulate it firing. I want you to just get familiar with it, and to practice administering it to both yourself and your partner.”
With that, the entire classroom started to move, and the din of multiple overlapping conversations replaced Ringo’s sole voice. He jumped from table to table, observing the officers struggling to figure out the simple piece of equipment.
“Higgins, remember to take the safety out. The orange thing. On the top.”
“Delgato, you have it upside down. If that actually had a needle in it, you would have stabbed yourself in the paw.”
“You, zebra near the door. You have to push it in, not just lightly tap them with it.”
Ringo circled back to the front, where Hopps and Wilde were sitting. They seemed to be having another one of their moments, as they didn’t react when Ringo walked across the table in front of them. He had just heard the antivenom pen say it’s catchphrase, but now Wilde was just holding the pen, staring at it. Hopps was too.
“Do y’all need any help?” Ringo said. Yet again, the pair appeared startled and just blankly stared at Ringo for a second.
“S-sorry.” Hopps said. “It’s just… bad memories.”
Another detail of the Lynxley case came back to Ringo, and he cringed internally. “Right, that’s my bad. It is important that you practice though. You along with the Chief know firsthand how quickly venom can work.”
“We know.” Wilde snapped. “Just give her some space.”
“Nick, it’s ok.” Hopps whispered. “I can handle this.”
“You know, not everyone goes through near death experiences. Have you talked to a therapist about it?” Ringo said.
Hopps blinked, startled at the casual mention of therapy. “Not really, no. I mean, we still have to go to partner therapy, but we haven’t really talked about it.”
Partner therapy? Ringo tried to give Hopps a reassuring smile. “Well, I recommend it. Even if you feel alright now, it might crop up later when you aren’t expecting it. Always good to talk about it.” Feeling like he had intruded enough, Ringo gave the two a nod and walked off towards Wolford, who had somehow managed to snap an antivenom pen in half.
As Ringo was wheeling out the crate of training supplies, he caught a flash of movement out of the corner of an eye. It was a cheetah on the hunt. Ringo watched as the cheetah observed his prey, paw creeping forward slowly, preparing to strike. Then, in a heartbeat, it was over. Clawhauser snatched up a pink frosted donut and devoured it in one bite. Ringo grinned at the sight. Clawhauser really had donut eating down to a science. It was a shame Ringo missed him when he came in that morning.
Clawhauser was one of the few bright spots on day shift. A reliable dispatcher who always gave EMS grace, though his penchant for pastries and gossip made him a less reliable officer. A thought crossed Ringo’s mind. Gossip. The more Ringo watched Hopps and Wilde interact, the more confused he was. But if anyone was able to give him a straight answer…
Ringo pivoted towards the reception desk, cutting off McHorn. Ringo shot McHorn a quick “sorry big guy!” as McHorn stumbled, almost spilling the cup of coffee he was nursing. The commotion of a rhino having to quickly sidestep the smaller mammal got Clawhauser’s attention: the floor vibrated so much that Ringo saw sprinkles jump out of the donut box. Clawhauser’s eyes widened as he spotted the raccoon making his way towards him.
“Oh M Goodness! Ringo is that you!?” Clawhauser called out, excitedly bringing his paws to his face.
“It’s actually Lieutenant Ringo now!” Ringo cheerfully replied, spirits lifted at the way Clawhauser squealed his name.
“NO! Really!? Congrats on the promotion! I haven’t seen you in a year or two!”
“You know me, I don’t like to be up at the same time as the sun. Sorry I’m not bearing any gifts today.” Ringo had made it a habit to always bring some sort of baked good whenever he visited Clawhauser. It helped a lot being in the good graces of a police dispatcher, especially one who proved a reliable source on the goings on at the ZPD.
“Oh, that’s all right. I’ve still got half the box right here. I’ve been trying to cut down you know, this is still only my first one!”
“That’s great news! I was always worried I’d be taking you to the hospital when your arteries finally clogged up. Anyways, I wanted to ask you something.”
“Shoot!”
“I was wondering if you’ve heard anything about any recent… office romances.”
“Have I!” Clawhauser leaned down and lowered his voice, tone becoming conspiratorial. “Have I indeed. MR have had their hands full! Three pairs have asked me for the relationship declaration paperwork in the past week! And you know what? I was right about every single one of them.”
“Three? A week? That’s a lot.”
“Right? Well, two were pretty obvious, so it didn’t take a master of deduction to sniff them out. But that last one, it took years of observing office romances to build the intuition to figure that one out.”
Ringo laughed at the self satisfied look on Clawhauser’s face. “Yea. So... fox and a bunny, huh? Not the most common.”
“Fox and a…” Clawhauser frowned, then his eyebrows shot up and his paws covered his muzzle. “Oh, no no no. Judy and Nick aren’t dating. Wait. Are they? Have I missed something? I mean, they’d make a wonderful pair, but they seem pretty platonic to me. I haven’t caught any signs of romantic affection between them.”
“Really?” Ringo cocked his head at Clawhauser. “Not the fact that Wilde seems to be Hopps’s punching bag? Or that Wilde’s tail is always angled or curled around Hopps? At this rate I’m surprised Bogo hasn’t written them up for PDA.”
“Oh, is that what that means?” Clawhauser asked, sounding like a schoolchild who just learned a really cool fact. Clawhauser maintained his look of wonder for another second, before throwing his head back, bursting out laughing. “I got you, didn’t I? I got you good. Look at you, you must think I’m blind.”
“Yea, you were very convincing. You had me wondering how you ever earned your badge.”
Clawhauser took some deep breaths and fought to get his laughter under control. He leaned in again, tone suddenly serious. “No, but seriously. They aren’t one of the three pairs. Honestly, I don’t even think they realize it yet. They may have brought down two major conspiracies, but they are dumb as rocks.”
Clawhauser stared at Ringo, considering something. “Actually… maybe you can dig around? You’re a lot more mobile than I am. See if they’re hiding something or if they really are just dumb. And if it’s the second one, maybe help show them the light?”
“Clawhauser, I’m not going to pry into the private lives of two officers I just met a day ago.”
“I’ll hold all non emergent requests until after shift change for a week. And I’ll get you a case of those energy drinks you like.”
“… I’ll see what I can do.”