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Part 1

"I have had enough of this, Howard. You not only put the lives of all Zootopians in danger, but you've endangered your team and blatantly disregarded my orders. Give me your badge."

Well, there it was. A massive buffalo's hand in my face expectantly, and after my years of dedication... okay, maybe not years so much as months. But in the ZPD, once you've made detective, you're pretty much in it to win it. At least that's what I thought. As I stared angrily into Bogo's eyes, which glared back at me with ten times the anger, I knew that somewhere along the line I'd crossed something I shouldn't have. And everything was going so much better this morning too...

Maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself, maybe we should start from the beginning of the day so we can get you caught up--

"Oh come on, Howard. I just need you to swap shifts with me, just for one day!"

Benjamin Clawhauser is one of those types of predators that just can't take 'no' for an answer. He had been begging me to take his shift for nearly two weeks so he could attend a special Gazelle concert, and time and time I had to answer him. I sighed and turned in my chair to see that cat's face hanging over my computer monitor, beaming with hope for me to tell him "No, Clawhauser, now quit asking me."

His expression faltered, but only for a second before he grabbed the top of my monitor with his fingers and lunged over at me. "Ohhh come on, you're the only one I can get on such short notice!"

I rolled my eyes, my tail flagged a bit and flopped behind my chair. "No." I repeated, letting out a huff of air to signal my frustration; again, it went over his enthusiastic head.

"But she's supposed to debut her new album and everything! I've just gotta go! I'll owe you big time if you could help me out just once!"

Being a wolf, I can be very impatient on the best of days, but being harassed by a cat tended to get my dander up a lot more than it should have. Ben and I had become as close of friends as you would expect a cat and a dog to get, but still, my throat unfurled a growl as I stood up and stuck my snout directly in his face. "I said get lost!"

"Sheesh, you're a little touchy this morning." Clawhauser finally understood my frustration. "You get up on the wrong side of the dog house? What's up?"

I rolled my eyes and fell back into my chair. Even in as bad of a mood as I was, I couldn't stay mad at him. I ran my hands along my face and sighed. "Ben, I really don't need this right now..."

"Look, if you can't tell me, then who can you tell?"

Unbelievably optimistic, that's one way to describe a day in the life of Benjamin Clawhauser. Despite how irritating he was, it still made me chuckle and shake my head. "Bogo's assigned me and Fangmeyer as partners." I said. "To top it off, we've got this super important assignment we're going to be doing down in Sahara Square today. I really don't want that tiger to screw anything up with my promotion..."

Ben gave his overly enthusiastic gasp and covered his mouth with his hands. "You mean you're trying for that open Sergeant spot too? Ooohhh I'd be so excited!"

"Thank you." I said. "I just don't want anything but *anything* to go wrong today."

"So why are you so hard on Fangmeyer? He's a good guy."

"Are you kidding?" I said as I leaned in closer. "Have you seen him in the mornings? He's impossible to work with, he's always so tired and claiming he has a job at night that keeps him up to all hours... do you know how bad that would look on me if he fell asleep during the assignment today?"

"Hrrmm!" A deep, resonant voice called the room to attention as Chief Bogo stepped into the room and stomped loudly toward his station at the front. "Clawhauser, haven't you got somewhere to be?" He asked, not even looking in our direction as he slipped a pair of glasses from the breast pocket of his uniform.

"Oh! Ye-yes Chief!" He exclaimed before shooting my ribs with an elbow. "We'll talk about the shift later."

He was rushing out the door as I responded. "Or we could not."

"Alright, standard duties are on the roster for today with the exceptions of Hopps..." Judy Hopps beamed as she stood in her seat. She was kind hearted and always so excited for police work, I figured she would probably go far in her due time. "Howard, Fangmeyer..." He paused and looked around. "Where is Fangmeyer this morning?"

My heart jumped, maybe the tiger wouldn't make an appearance and ruin my chances--

"Sorry, Chief." The sound of the tiger's voice made me scratch my desk in a sudden panic. Late on the day of a crucial assignment, I really hoped this wouldn't reflect badly on me as the cat found my sitting spot and came over to sit next to me, he nudged his shoulder into mine almost playfully as he sat down and resumed the attention to the front of the room. "They really have to fix the bathrooms on this floor, had to run up to the third floor one and--"

"Stop talking, Fangmeyer." Bogo warned, allowing the tiger to snap his jaw shut. "Hopps, Fangmeyer, Howard and myself will be meeting with someone on the orders of the Mayor. The duty rosters will be posted in the main lobby, but it shouldn't differ from your standard patrols."

"And what am I going to do without my partner?" Nick Wilde raised a paw as he asked the question, tilting a pair of sunglasses to the top of his head. "I mean, I can't go out on patrol alone, can I?"

"It's either that or parking duty, Wilde." Bogo tapped his fingers on his podium impatiently. "It's your decision, but I can't bring half of my department on this matter."

"Why bring three of us then?" I asked. "I'm sure the two of us can handle it, sir." I got a few eyeballs at that, I didn't want to sound like I was sucking up to the chief... but I really wanted that job.

"Because, the person we are going to visit asked for a security detail and I figured the three of you would be a bit more subtle than taking in an elephant and a rhino--no offense to those that are present." He noted the pair in the audience. "Do you have a problem with this assignment, detective? Do you feel it's below your paygrade to be reduced to security? Because I can assure you; make me angry, and I will bump you so low that you'll look at this as an opportunity for advancement."

I swallowed the dry lump that suddenly formed in my throat and everyone could hear it. This was not the impression I was hoping to go for today.

Bogo's eyes returned to his paperwork, clearly observing my silence as a submission to the threat. "You three will report to the garage at zero-nine-thirty and we'll be off from there. The rest of you, if you have any questions regarding your assigned daily task--which I trust you will not..." He added slowly as he removed his glasses. "Then you will report them to Officer Horn, who will report them to me upon my return. In other words; if you were hoping for an easy day because the chief is out of the office, you will be sorely disappointed. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir!" The entire room shouted at once.

"Dismissed!"

"Hey, sorry about being late, Howard." Fangmeyer said to me as he nudged me again with his shoulder. "You really do need to loosen up some."

I glared at the tiger, who passed me a casual grin before sliding out of his seat and making his way toward the door. I groaned and put my hands on my face, almost melting into the seat before a voice startled me back to life.

"You okay?"

It was Hopps, who looked like she was readying to pass me on the row before stopping next to me. I smiled a bit and sat upright. Even sitting I felt like I towered over the rabbit, I still wasn't really used to being with a prey species so frequently, but here she was, every morning for roll call without a quip or complaint to her name. She'd become the most popular cop in the city at one time, but downplayed it like she was just some everyday bunny. "Yeah I'm fine." I said. "Just having a morning."

Judy smiled and nodded. "Well then, let's get to work. I don't think we've had an assignment together yet."

"Yeah, I'm usually more plain clothes type." I said, tugging at the badge on my uniform. "Been a while since I've worn the blue on the outside. I don't think I've even worn it since my transfer."

"Well, it looks good on you." She said as she bounded off making me roll my eyes again.

"And I thought Clawhauser was optimistic..."