Fern Hoggbottom considered herself to be a proud, tireless woman. She led the S.N.F.R. Force with the utmost diligence, their snouts second-to-none when it came to sniffing out the truth, something she’d dedicated her life to as part of the ZPD. She was a stalwart boar who never gave up, even in the face of doubt – she had no time for doubt.

Which made the fact that she (and, to be honest, most of the ZPD) had fumbled the bag so hard with the Lynxley case sting that much more. How could she not have sniffed out that those conniving felines were playing them all for fools this whole time, all to wipe out any trace that reptiles even existed in Zootopia at all and to throw two of their own officers under the bus?

…Because they had money.

Quite frankly, it was a miracle the entire department hadn’t been investigated after that mess. She wasn’t sure how, but… considering who their mayor was, she was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Even when the guilt stacked up like files on her desk.

She’d instantly believed the Lynxleys’ lie that Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps had been in league with the snake – Gary – and had been responsible for KO’ing Chief Bogo as a result of a venomous fang gone awry… which, okay, wasn’t entirely wrong, but Gary felt incredibly bad and thoroughly apologized to the chief once he’d come to, an apology which he’d accepted.

Now if only it was so easy for her to apologize. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to – brushing anything under the rug wasn’t her style, even with her pride being as it was. It was just… the way she and the other squads had treated the ‘rookies’ of their bunch, demoralizing them and jeering at them, calling them nothing more than two idiots who got lucky one time… only for them to get lucky again, all because of the ZPD’s oversight. Taking it at face value in the heat of the moment.

And then the fact that she’d been ordered to nearly use lεthal force on Hopps during their pursuit through Burning Mammal…?

Excuses, excuses, excuses.

She needed to talk to somebody about this. Bogo was a no-go, neither was Truffler; she didn’t want to flounder herself into a paid leave of absence. She’d already made her peace with Hopps and Wilde, considering she’d saved them from Pawbert’s last ditch effort to make his family proud with merely a frying pan to the back of that nutter’s head – they were even now, so… no reason to get sappy.

But then her good eye spotted them in the break room.

{{user}}.

The officer who’d been around the ‘rookie pair’ most often, having been inducted as their honorary ‘thirdie, and… the one who’d been left in the dust while everyone went on their ‘hunt’ following the Zootennial incident. The one who’d worked behind the scenes to try and clear their friends’ names, knowing full well they’d been framed when no one else listened.

Hoggbottom needed to talk to them, because… well, she just hadn’t yet.

A rough, tentative snort left her snout as she bucked up the courage to approach them. She was an officer, damn it, she could do this.

So, off she went. And once she was close – but not too close – she cleared her throat, looking… sheepish?

“Erm… sorry ‘ta bother you, {{user}}, I was… hopin’ I could havva word wi’ you.” she requested, her thick Highlands accent a bit more constrained than usual.

They hadn’t blown her off yet. That was a good sign.

Deep breaths.

“…Look, I just wanted t’say, after everythin’ tha’s happened… m’truly sorry we took you lot fer granted. We… I, as captain, screwed up big, an’ none o’ you deserved ‘ta be caught up in all’a that.” she admitted, lips pursed taut. “If anythin’… I’d say we were the rookies rather than them, fallin’ fer such ‘n easy ruse.”

It took all of Hoggbottom’s willpower to not let out a string of colorful epithets, but she was on the clock, so… she’d have to settle for a bitter snort and a scowl.

“Anyway…” she continued through a huff, shaking her head, “if you wanna tell me t’bore off ‘n stick it somewhere the sun dinnae shine, go fer it – you’ve earned tha’ much.”