Author's Note:

Well, time for something different! I have been threatening to do this since the middle of Season 3, which doesn't seem that long if it were not for the fact that it's taken me almost a year to write two freakin' chapters. Time for a certain smol fox to get his own story! This takes place in the middle of Season 3, so buckle in and prepare for some funny and some fluff!

If you are just joining Guardian Blue for the first time, you will want to check out Season 1 and 2 first, and I would highly recommend Thanks for the Fox even before that as well so everything makes sense. ^^ Duke of Absolution will likely also be needed. This story is getting big.

Zootopia is owned by Disney. But they ain't doing crap with it so I guess it's up to us fic-writers.

Also! Another HUGE shout-out to J. N. Squire for assisting with editing for Season 3. Also, I would like to extend a special thank you to a few others who are helping me to keep updating and keep the quality high even with my busy schedule, and my friend Alex who helps me greatly with beta-reading and constant support!

Radio Fin

Chapter 1: Show and No-Show

There was a dull thump as the little fennec plopped down some office supplies on the desk. A somewhat higher pitched and energetic voice broke the darkened early morning silence.

"I don't know why the old sound guy couldn't get here as early as you. Was it so hard? I bet it wasn't." The polo-shirt-adorned red panda scooted a control panel to the left just a little so there would be more room. Jian was Finnick's new boss. He was friendly, hard-working, and patient, but… Planning ahead didn't seem like his thing. It was a pretty notable shortcoming for a station-manager, sure, but it was also a seriously big change from working with a fox that planned for nearly anything. It would take some getting used to.

It was alright for now. The little sand-toned vulpine was being useful with or without a plan. Finnick, despite his size, had no trouble lugging boxes bigger than his coworkers were managing. Though tiny, even for a fennec, Fin was deceptively strong.

"Well, I ain't the sound tech, I'm the assistant," the fox finally responded, fanning his ears. That was more effective than fanning his brow. It's kinda what those huge headsails were for, after all. He'd been hired about a week ago at a small beans radio station in Sahara Square that played a huge range of music from pop to metal. If it was a hit for the last 30 years this station likely played it. He was starting to get used to set-up, tear down, testing, remote - all the parts of the job. He hopped up on the chair and adjusted the professional-looking microphone and stand. He was happy he made it on time, given that it was obviously super important to his boss. He had to assume that was a problem for the previous guy.

Still, Finnick might have been late if he was still in his van and not crashing with his pals. He couldn't sleep if his van was an ice tomb. He'd make enough money here to get the heating coil fixed at least. Or, if needed, he could at least change the paid parking for his van from Tundra Town to Sahara. He would rather not, though. It was easier to sleep chilly than to try to beat the heat. A blanket burrito was cheaper than cranking the AC to the max for hours.

With that in mind, he had to cut some slack for folks that were late from time to time. But as he understood it, being on time would be a cause for alarm with the guy he replaced.

"You know your equipment already, though," the red panda said, changing the subject a little, smiling brightly. "And you're quick too. I appreciate the help." They were being nice to him, at least, even if the weight of their compliments reeked of 'please don't quit our cluster-fluff'. Fin had been in this position before. It meant extra work, sure, but it also always meant job security.

The fox accepted it all the same, however. "It beats th' hell outta getting my nose spattered with hot fry grease all day. Line cook? Never again." Finnick hopped down from the chair and then moved back to his van, dragging a huge black case back on wheels. Having his van turned out to be a super valuable bonus to his new boss as well, and that wasn't up for debate… especially today.

"Yo, Finnick! Help me out with this broadcasting desk, it's stuck on something in the … in the case…" In the other room was a striped hyena struggling with a big rectangular piece of equipment inside a plastic and canvas framed rolling case he'd just brought in. His mohawk-like mane was rainbow-dyed. The guy's name was Collin Zevoa, but Fin had taken to calling him 'Colors', which had stuck. Fortunately he was super chill and absolutely fine with it.

Due to his diminutive size, Finnick simply scrambled into the case between layers of equipment where the broadcast desk was originally loaded and freed the coax cable that was looped under the retainer bracket inside of the case. The fennec slid out of the case on top the soundboard and hopped off of it, dusting himself off.

"Please tell me ya'll don't move stations like… every week," the small fennec qualified in his deeper-than-to-be-believed voice. It was a bunch of extra work and it was not even five in the morning.

Jian laughed weakly at that. "Nah, hopefully we won't move again soon… and then only as things get better, and then maybe we move into a better station than this little thing. Been a rough quarter…. Or four." The new station in question looked like it could have been a small mobile home if it was longer and not actually built on the site. It definitely felt pre-fab. Had it been a shipping container before? Finnick wasn't sure. Jian helped push the broadcast desk into place on the wooden table as the hyena put up two wide flat panel monitors. His boss sucked in a breath through his teeth as one of the monitors tapped the other roughly. "Careful, we need both and we're already on the spare." Finnick put his ears back in question. No backup? The hyena noticed his expression.

"Yeah, Flint laughed at a caller and spewed beer all over the other one," he explained. "Shorted that shit right out. Lost our mic processor too. Epic fail, dude."

"When do I meet Flint?" Finnick asked, taking additional advantage of his size to slip under the desk and connect cables. He was never against using his size to his advantage. He was always the opportunistic sort. So far, Flint was an unknown, he assumed, because they had been pulling equipment and getting everything set up for the station move. No need for their broadcaster while all that was going on. That had represented a significant disruption from his first few days, so he didn't meet Flint the snow leopard because he was out.

Collin and Jian exchanged uncomfortable glances.

"Half an hour ago, supposedly," Jian claimed.

"Late? Wasn't he out sick before the move?" Finnick inquired, slipping out from under the desk and straightening his black polo shirt. He did think it was odd that he hadn't met the voice of their station as of yet.

"Kinda," the station manager said with a sigh. "We're being patient with him. He's going through some stuff." The little fox stared. Finnick was a hustler. Personality pattern recognition was kind of his thing. He slowly backed away from the equipment. It was time for a reality pause.

"Do you even… want me to keep hooking all this up, Jian?" sighed Collin, appearing to be in the exact same mood as the little fox right then.

"He might still show up," the manager replied.

"Did he text?" Collin fired back, Finnick watching warily between them.

"No."

"Of course he didn't. He never freaking does." The hyena pulled the rolling chair over and just sat in it backwards, resting his chin over the back of it. "So we just play music this morning and we say it's because of the move?" Finnick flattened his large ears. That sounded like 'standard operation' with how it was announced.

"Yeah, if you want to be the one to explain the same BS to the station owner this afternoon when he checks our new digs," Jian grumbled.

"This… a common problem?" Finnick finally asked the obvious. Had he climbed on board a sinking ship here? That would be his luck, of course. No wonder they hired him without a background check. Or experience. Or a work history. Or references. Damn it.

"No, it's just…" Jian tried.

Collin interrupted. "No, it's absolutely a common problem. Flint couldn't even do a show if he did get his ass in here because he's probably too hung over to read the script!" The larger angrily mammal threw down some bundled cable onto the flaking and dilapidated linoleum floor. "Shit!" Finnick looked blankly at the pair. What the hell was he supposed to be doing here, then? He was getting trained for a job that wouldn't work without, you know, a broadcaster in the freaking not-really-soundproof broadcasting booth. The station manager sighed heavily.

"It's not you, Fin, yer doin' great," he said resolutely. They were not showing good 'new-hire' vibes. The little fox narrowed his eyes.

"I know it ain't me, I got here early," Finnick replied, crossing his arms. "But now it's us that's gotta figure out how to deal with it. Why's this guy still workin here?" the little fox demanded. Collin spun slowly in his chair, his mane bristling angrily. It was hard to look so mad with a rainbow mane but he was doing a pretty good job of it. He answered with professional grump-face.

"… We ain't got anyone else. It ain't like KRUF is an affiliate station or anything. He was a buddy of the former manager, but that guy left and took all the good talent with him. No offense, Jian."

"I'm offended," Jian huffed.

"So fill out a requisition for some sad feelings, then, poser," laughed the striped hyena.

"Harsh," Finnick observed with a grin. The mood wasn't… doomed at least.

"No, he's right, I totally fill out requisition forms. I'm management. It's my function," the red panda confirmed.

"But you guys can't … just do the scripted stuff yourselves?" Finnick asked.

Collin replied lackadaisically, "I ain't got a filter... can't keep myself from swearing on the radio if I get into it. That could get our station fined. Oh, and Jian there freezes up if the topic gets even remotely raunchy." The polite, try-to-please-everyone manager did seem the type to have issues with a bit of embarrassment, yeah.

"Ah." Finnick stared at the two mammals. He knew it was coming. What were they waiting for? He was tiny. Were they afraid he'd go out swinging? There was a long uncomfortable pause. Collin stared at his boss hard and made a motion to him. The boss looked at the floor because obviously spineless. Right. That was expected.

"You… want me to give it a try?" the small fox finally asked.

"Do you… Do you want to?" asked Jian hesitantly, as if it wasn't the huge slice of cake he was drooling over for the past half hour.

Early on, heck, nearly the very first day, the hyena had 'tested the waters' with Finnick about possibly letting him read the morning news on the air because he had this 'super rad tone'. The fennec had mostly written that off because pretty much everyone he met made a big deal about the tiny fox with the big voice. Sure he was small. He was small even for a fennec, but he made up for it with attitude. He had to. And it got him through life just fine. This was different. He had no experience doing what they wanted him to do and he wasn't hired for that. Maybe he could manage it, but did he really want to?

"Nope," the little fox flatly announced, staring at the pair. Jian actually flinched like the little fox slapped the hell out of him. It was too much. The fennec had to laugh. Collin covered his face, shaking his head.

"C'mon man," the hyena pressed. "We're all tryin'. You're tryin! We already got downgraded, we're just tryin' to make this work. I'm on probation! I can't just switch jobs easy."

"Alright, alright, I was kiddin', jeeze," Finnick grumbled. "It don't sound too hard, but you guys gotta like… make sure I'm hittin the right buttons and not hangin' up or stopping the music and all that. I just did the setup and a bit of editing stuff so far. If I smash autotune and humiliate myself on the air to the sound of Gazelle's version of 'Let it Goat', I'm bailin'." There wasn't even a pause for reflection.

"D-deal! We got yer back," Collin agreed, the sound of relief in his voice heavy. Jian drew a cross over his chest like he'd just avoided dying. Finnick knew why. They were obviously on thin ice with the station's owner, whoever that was. They couldn't mess up again, but if Fin screwed this up horribly they could just fire him and move on to the next chance with their boss. He knew the game. Still, it was better than saying no to them, then having them screw it up when maybe he might have done better, and all of them getting the boot at the same time. With what he'd already seen, he would take his chances. Still, he needed to do something real quick.

"You guys mind if I step out and grab a coffee to wake myself up a little more before I go live for the first time in my life?" That seemed like a perfectly reasonable request.

Jian hopped up from his rolling chair. "Oh, certainly yes you may! Just… come back quickly! We… we get everything else set up and ready!" placated the red panda predictably.

"Yes, I will get the setup done," Collin growled, glaring at the red panda. Finnick assumed that setting up was not his manager's strength either. The little fox dropped down and pulled the remaining four smaller boxes out of the back of his vehicle before heading out, leaving with a typical backfire of his van. His real reason for going was more pressing to him than coffee, however.

He sent a text at the first traffic light he encountered.

Yo, Nick, you still cuddle-bunnied or you awake?

There was a pause that lasted until almost the next traffic light.

I'm up. Got my high school wish, finally, so I slept like a baby.

The little fox looked with some confusion at the text sent by his former partner in not-quite-crime. What the heck?

Sounds scandalous. What was that again?

He was mostly joking. Fin didn't want to ask for help without at least showing he was interested in what Nick was saying. He'd learned that early on in his hustling days. Listening earns you more trust than talking.

Got roughed up by an alpha wolf-girl! :D

Well he regretted that one. Finnick almost missed his green light. Fortunately it was so early that even on Sand Dune Boulevard there wasn't anyone waiting behind him. He didn't have another opportunity to write anything back to Nick until he actually pulled into the doughnut place to get his coffee. He hopped out of his van and darted inside to get a coffee; not just for him, but for the other two as well, plus an assortment of sugars and creams, and a half dozen regular glazed doughnuts. One can't go wrong there. Finally he texted Nick again to see if he was willing to give him a call for something 'work' related.

Nick pretty immediately called.

The little fox answered, sitting in his idling van. He would go back once he'd had this important conversation with his friend. Finnick spoke with a dark tone.

"You better be doin' the Red Riding Hood role-play with your bunny, or you dead, fox," the smaller mammal grunted in his still-too-big-for-him smartphone.

"Nah, work related stuff," laughed Nick. "All very painful, I promise you. What's up, big guy?" his snarky vulpine friend asked. He added insistently, "Gotta head in to work shortly. Got a lead on a case."

"Remember how I said I might get to do the morning show or something?" Fin asked.

"Yeah? What station do I need to tune to?" asked Nick in a supportive tone.

"Well, I was messin' wit ya obviously, except now I ain't. This place is a shitshow, Nick, and they don't got someone who can talk on the radio and we just moved to the new place. They want me to up and do it, on the spot. What the heck am I supposed to do? I didn't go to school for broadcasting. Hardly went to school at all!"

Sure it sounded kind of pathetic, but Finnick was excited and he needed to be grounded. Nick was excellent at making him think clearly when things were chaotic. Nick was always calmer than him. He'd either give him some advice that would get him through today, or make him follow his initial instinct to bail before this whole mess crashed and burned and he was looking at some kind of communications fines for some offense that he knew nothing about. This wasn't a ha-ha funny thing they were asking for like some kind of sitcom.

"Do what you do best, Finnick," Nick said in a very happy tone. The 'happy Nick not even putting on a show' was still novel to the little fox.

"I'm best at hustlin' Nick. You know that, and I can't go back to that cause I ain't putting you thorough it if you gotta see me in jail. We agreed on that." He wanted to remind his friend he was very serious about going legit. He'd been a line cook for months and months as miserable as it was. He'd see this though.

"Just about everything's a hustle, Fin," the fox on the other end of the line stated.

"What?" the fennec replied, looking at the time. He didn't have time to get all symbolic on the phone. He had to be ready to take over on the radio soon, and he was honestly freaking out about it.

"It's all a matter of who you're hustlin' buddy," Nick answered sagely. "Sometimes you hustle everyone else, sometimes you gotta hustle yourself, but you got the skill. You got it. I promise you do. Don't think just because you didn't have a mammal tell you that you could do something somehow you can't."

"Everything's a hustle…" Finnick answered slowly.

"Almost everything," Nick clarified.

"When ain't it a hustle?" the fennec asked expectantly. His hustlin' days were over!

"When you find that one thing, finally, that's real," his former partner expressed.

"Like you did?" Finnick responded with some reverence. Nick was different now. He was the same fox, but he was different too. Nick found the real Nick Wilde. It was as far from what the fennec could have ever believed even two years ago, but he found it.

"Like I did," Nick confirmed. "So, I gotta help Judy, she's a bit sore and her body armor is a pain on a good day. Let's catch up about it later. I might miss your debut, but get them to record it. I wanna listen in!" And with that, the red fox bluntly disconnected. That was Nick in a hurry. That part wasn't new.

His friend certainly meant well, but the conversation didn't help Finnick to make a choice about it at all. He sighed and looked at the cooling coffee for his coworkers. He already bought that so if he bailed they at least got a consolation prize, but it didn't feel right bailing without even trying. When it mattered, Nick tried. Judy certainly tried. It's why Nick was even still around to call for advice in the first place, as cryptic and utterly useless as it was. He was in a hurry. His life was busy. The little fennec understood.

"Well, crap," he growled before shaking his head and just heading back.

When he arrived, both Collin and Jian were out front with eyes nearly glistening with gladness. Of course they thought he used 'going out to get coffee' as code for 'so long suckers'. Their expressions lit up even more when he brought out extra coffee and more doughnuts than he could have been expected to eat on his own. While the station was certainly not being run well, and they were obviously suffering from that by measure of them having to downgrade to a less expensive operation, the pair that were still there did seem at least to appreciate effort… so that wasn't so bad.

They had, as promised, finished setting up with the hope that their new broadcaster would soon return. Which he had. As such, they had a chance to munch on doughnuts, have some coffee, and get everything together for Finnick's first radio shift.

The start to the morning would be super easy, as promised. It really was just an announcement for going on the air that he would be reading from a cue card. He could read just fine so that wouldn't be an ordeal for him. After that, it was either introduction or exit call-out for various songs that he could choose from a list and Collin would set up the tunes and run. At eight there was a little trivia game that they did where callers could call in and give the answer.

Fin was actually kind of surprised to see that the prize for getting all of them right was not cash, tickets… anything like that. It was just a chance to have their name called out on the radio. That seemed like very little incentive for a mammal to potentially get a question wrong and look stupid on the radio, but maybe it worked fine for their specific listeners.

After that, it was a few hours of music up until noon, at which point Finnick would read and possibly elaborate on or give opinions on the major news topics for the day, and he would report the weather for the different districts of Zootopia. Finally, a traffic report, then more music. Collin would handle the music for an hour while Finnick had a lunch. He often didn't get one while working at the grill, so that was a novel idea. He and Nick usually didn't take one when working together either because time and money were much more closely linked back then. It would take some getting used to.

Through all of these stages there would be commercial interruptions including a few that the little fox was given a script to read. These would be fine, he was sure. He was used to having a product to hype and sounding genuine about it. Some were easier than others.

Normally, there would be an afternoon radio personality, but that person was the former manager of the station who left before Finnick even got hired, so he would do a late day news report, traffic, and the following days weather, then take a few callers to take dedications and let listeners call out things like birthdays and anniversaries until later in the evening, at which point the station was set to automatically continue to play a mix of music and commercials until midnight, when it was set to go off air.

It would be a long day, but the work wasn't hard and the little fox was getting paid by the hour.

On top of that, he was getting big pay. That meant his pay didn't scale with his size. For some jobs, the size of the mammal directly affected their bills. Tiny rodent homes didn't cost as much as massive elephant homes, so tiny mammals tended to get paid less for certain jobs that were specifically easier for them to do. That was just economy. This, however, was a job that really required a wolf or larger because of the heavy lifting, and needed technical skill to boot, so it was, to date, the best paying real job that Finnick ever had.

With everything laid out and scripts on the table, and with provided promises that some of the more complex functions would be handled by his possibly inept coworkers, Fin was a bit more encouraged. He felt like he could handle just talking to mammals. Usually, in their hustles, Nick did all the talking, but it's not like the smaller fox wasn't paying attention. He knew how it worked, and what his partner did to get into other mammals heads back then. It would be like that. Maybe Nick was right after all. Maybe this, and everything else, was mostly just a hustle. The goal was different, the situation might change, but ultimately, it's watching, listening, and reacting to get what he needed.

And this radio station needed something.

Seven finally hit and the small desert vulpine swallowed heavily as he saw the red light come on, and his sensitive ears actually picked up the hum from the radio antenna outside. This was it.

"Good morning, Zootopia," He felt suddenly self-conscious about his own voice. Would it sound stupid or forced on the radio? He shook the thought away. Nope, no time for second guessing. He had to convince the listeners he was a broadcaster, and that meant selling himself to the hustle.

He regarded the script.

"This is introduction, and you're listening to Kay-ruff out of hot, hot, hot Sahara Square." He paused, realizing he screwed that up within the first five freaking seconds. He was supposed to introduce himself, not say 'introduction'. He felt suddenly alarmingly novice there in his semi-booth with plexi-glass shell and egg carton walls. What the hell was he doing? Jian and Collin grinned and motioned for him to continue. Don't get hung up on a goof. Got it.

The script said 'freestyle into music'. He just had to announce that he was playing music. He was selling music. Got it.

"This is…" He closed his eyes, ears up, heart pounding. He focused his voice a little better. "This is Lil' Monster Fin fillin' in for Flint Coldstone. The sun is up, gas prices are down, and that coffee ain't gonna drink itself. It's too complicated out there, so we gonna start the day with a little bit of comic nostalgia. This is 'YENA', with '99 Fed Raccoons.'."

Finnick got immediate double thumbs up from outside the booth.

This station needed something.

Maybe that something could be a little fox in a van with a big voice.