Nick's POV

It's a dreary November morning in Zootopia and Nick is forty minutes into his court hearing. "I'm getting punished for doing my job," he mutters to himself as he strides towards the stand at the front of the courtroom. The walk feels too long and the silence of the room amplifies the echoes of his thumping steps. He avoids Judy's stare and feels a heat on the back of his neck once he passes her. When he gets to the stand, he is unsure of where to look. The room has a jury, some of his coworkers, the family pressing charges, and large paintings of old judges on the walls. The Judge and others begin speaking and he tries to keep his mind off of the events from the night before, and on the matter at paw.

"Officer Wilde?" Nick's ears become alert as he glances up at the Feline Judge. "Do you agree to the oath that our clerk just gave you?"

"I do," he states, knowing that he didn't listen to one word of the oath. He feels Judy's eyes on him and has an urge to loosen his collar. She's probably still angry and it just makes the court situation more ridiculous. There are real issues he could be handling instead of this circus disguised as a court case.

The Yates family's lawyer stands to address Nick. "Officer Wilde, can you tell us what happened three weeks ago on November 1st?" He rehearsed the retelling all through the week in preparation for this question. Nick nods, repressing the memories of the night before.

"My partner, Officer Hopps, had been driving when we took a wrong turn. We ended up in this upscale area, Misty Shalls, and we drove past the private school parking lot. That's when I saw the kid exchanging money with some other kid. I told Officer Hopps to stop so that we could know for sure and he did it again right in front of us with another student. His back was turned to us as we approached and I decided to look at the drugs for myself, so I took them from his paw. Carrot- I mean Officer Hopps asked him what he'd been doing. He told us he was just showing them to his friends and that the pills were prescribed to him. We both knew it was complete bull because they were stored in sandwich bags instead of pill bottles. We told him that he'd have to come with us to the department and that's when he ran. The school's security guards chased him with us and, once we caught him, he began resisting arrest. He wasn't in the department for more than twenty minutes before his parents arrived at central booking and then he was out within the hour with bail paid."

"And are you aware that the plaintiff had a knee injury that resulted from the arrest?"

"Yes, he tripped over a bike rack while running away." Nick hears a few suppressed laughs from the jury and watches the teenage Elk's reddening face.

The Elk shoots up and points at Nick. "Well it wouldn't have happened if you never chased after me!" A murmur grows among the mammals in the room.

"You've got to be kidding me." Nick turns up towards the Judge again. "What are we even doing here? The only one in the wrong here is-" BOOM-BOOM!

The Judge hits the gavel to the sound block, filling the room with a quieting sound. She takes a breath once the room falls silent. "Officer Wilde," she says, glaring over her glasses "I am to be addressed as your Honor. And Mr. Yates, please stay quietly seated unless you are called up to speak or else you can work community service for the rest of your school year." She motions for the Yates family's lawyer to continue.

"Are you aware that the majority of mammals that have gone through the juvenile justice system have left with emotional issues?" The lawyer asks, pacing across the floor with slow steps.

Nick nods, "Yes. I've had friends go through it growing up. The justice system needs a lot of reform."

"So why," the mammal pauses for what seems like dramatic effect, "would you risk the emotional health of a minor knowing full well that he could have ended up in that detention center if his caring parents hadn't stepped in?"

A hushed chorus of confusion comes from the jury and Nick fights the urge to bang his head onto the wooden stand. He blinks a few times trying to process the twisted logic that is coming from the mammal's mouth. "Okay. Lemee get this straight. You wanted me to see a crime being committed and let it happen because he's underage?"

"Well what do you value more, Mr. Wilde? A child's safety or some silly rules?"

"Silly rules? Do you mean the law?" Nick turns his gaze to the family. "Aren't you guys supposed to be rich? How'd you spend all this money to get stuck with this dumbass?" He motioned towards the quote-unquote lawyer.

"Officer Wilde," the Judge warns with a look that holds a threat.

Nick takes a long breath, rolls his shoulders, and makes sure to enunciate his words so that they understand. "Okay, so listen. My job title is Law Enforcement. I am paid to uphold the law. If I don't do that then I'm not doing my job." Nick makes the mistake of locking eyes with Judy, his words trailing off. She looks down at her paws instantly and his chest tightens as the memories of the morning flood back. Nick doesn't notice the long silence until it's broken by the lawyer.

The Yates family's lawyer clears his throat. "You officers seem to pick and choose whenever you do and don't want to uphold the law. So why now when you don't always do it other times?"

"Objection, your Honor, the question is argumentative," Nick's lawyer announces. Nick switches from looking at Judy, to the Judge, to the family, and then back at Judy again. He taps his claws lightly on the wood and focuses his thoughts to the present.

"Sustained," the Judge states. Nick notices the teenage Elk's father cross his arms and raise an eyebrow at the Judge as if he were threatening her. The Judge notices it too and grimaces at him.

The family's lawyer smiles calmly. "That is all." Nick leaves the stand and sits next to his lawyer.

The Judge looks over to the mammals at the left side of the room. "Has the Jury reached a decision?" They whisper their thoughts to the court clerk and he walks over to tell the message to the Judge. The air fills with a building tension as everyone awaits the verdict. Nick begins to turn and see how Judy is doing but he stops himself, not wanting to get distracted again.

"The Jury has ruled that Officer Wilde, charged with excessive force and maltreatment, is not guilty." The father Elk's brow rises again in an impatient expression. "However, due to the nature of this case, I am strongly recommending a paid administrative leave of three months for Officer Wilde. Court is adjourned." The mallet hits, signaling the end of all debates.

Judy POV

Judy sits at a bench outside of the courthouse, feeling the cool air blow lightly over her fur. Stupid, stupid, stupid. The word won't stop repeating in her head. She could barely comprehend Nick's trial because he wouldn't stop looking over at her. All she knows now is that Nick won't be her partner for a while. The Judge's decision to put Nick on leave doesn't make sense but it's probably for the better. Before the hearing, Judy was ready to pretend she had the flu to avoid Nick for at least a week, but now it isn't necessary. She's sitting outside, still trying to focus on anything but this morning. Her paws are having a wrestling match in her lap and a nervous energy fills her when she sees Nick walking towards her. Oh sweet, sweet, sweet cheese and crackers. He sits with her on the bench and they just stay there for a moment, unsure of what to say. "Judy I-"

"I should go." They both speak at the same time and Nick's ears fall almost as low as Judy's. She stands and moves away until she can't. She looks back and sees that Nick is holding her wrist, causing the past to fly back into her thoughts.

Flashes of the memories race through her mind of the night before at Nick's apartment. Nick holding her wrists above her head and growling in her ear. Teeth scraping lightly over fur. Their bodies pressed together and-

Judy jerks her wrist away feeling a fire in her cheeks. She stomps away towards the metro station so that they won't have to drive back to the ZPD together. "I'm so stupid," she scolds, as she thinks of how many days she put off going to the pharmacy for heat suppressing pills. She wasn't supposed to go into heat for another few weeks, but the lack of medication must have made it randomly occur.

She hears Nick's steps following her. "No, you're not. I'm sorry. I should have known about your," Judy stops walking when his panicked tone reaches her. "Oh, I don't know. What's the word- culture, I guess? I didn't know about it and I just thought you wanted to-"

Red clouds her vision and she spins to Nick before he finishes speaking. "What, you think I just throw myself at my friends? Like that's just some meaningless action to me? I wouldn't do that unless I were in love or in a relationship or.. or something!" She sees Nick flinch at the word "love," but continues anyway. "Yes, I get it, Nick. Mammals go into heat all the time and hook up and everything. The difference between me and other species is that the feeling is so strong that it physically hurts if you don't do anything about it. So, yeah, you didn't know about it. And other mammals don't know about it. For them it's just a tiny urge so why wouldn't they assume that's how it is for everyone else? I get it. Believe me, I do. That doesn't mean I'm going to just be okay with what happened." She speaks so quickly, she isn't sure if her words are coherent but Nick's defeated gaze tells her that he understands. Once she sees that Nick has nothing left to say, she leaves Nick alone on the sidewalk.

After work, Judy goes straight home. Her coworkers invited her to a bar but she declined, not wanting to run into Nick. On the metro she remembers all the bad events of the morning as if she's reliving it.

"Judy. What happened? What did I do?!" Nick asked her as she tried to leave. Judy threw her clothes on and sped away towards the door. Not like this. Not like this. It was the only comprehensible thought shooting through her mind as she unlatched the door. Nick tried again "Could you please-" Just as suddenly as she got the door open, Nick's paw pushed the door closed, blocking her only exit. "Talk to me," he pleaded. Judy turned around to face him and focused on steadying her breaths.

"You weren't supposed to do that. You weren't supposed to let me…" Nick stared down at her, searching her eyes for the meaning of her words.

"Let you what?"

Judy watched the complete bewilderment in his eyes and realized he didn't know. The waves betrayal she felt moments earlier began to calm, but her anger didn't. In Bunny Burrow, just like in most bunny areas, there is a social rule about being in heat. It is commonly known there that, unless it was agreed upon by both partners, it isn't right to have sex with a bunny in heat because their reasoning is compromised. The urges can grow very strong and actions can heavily depend on hormone levels. But Judy hadn't realized that it wasn't common knowledge. Or maybe she did realize it, but didn't want to mention it for fear of being too forward. She wasn't sure. The most they had done before was flirt a little and grip paws during a horror movie which, no, was not a date. Their friendship did have the potential to grow into something more, and some could argue that it already had, but now it's even more confusing.

At her apartment building, Judy presses on her temples in an attempt to shut out the memories, but Nick's words come through: "Are you trying to seduce me, Carrots?" His smirk faltering a bit when she didn't deny the question. Then the next day, "I'm so sorry. I didn't know!" The words he yelled after her as she left his apartment in a rush of confusion, anger, and embarrassment.

Judy trudges down the hall leading to her apartment silently begging her mind to have mercy. Just as she reaches her door, her landlord, Ms. Dharma, walks into the hall.

"Judy." The older lady's voice startles her. Judy puts on a cheery, fake smile and addresses the Armadillo.

"Oh! Hi Ms. Dharma. How are you?"

Dharma ignores the question. "So, Judy. I've been meaning to talk with you about your lease contract. You're aware that it ends soon, right?"

Have two years passed already since she first moved in? Time flies. Judy racks her brain to remember the most adult response. "Right. I'm just waiting for the renewal contract. Will there be any changes?" The landlord holds a strange expression that looks half uncomfortable and half annoyed, causing Judy to wonder if she said something wrong.

"Yes. There won't actually be a renewal." Dharma waits for Judy to respond but Judy simply stands there with her mouth wide open. Don't landlords have to give more notice before kicking their occupants into the street? Judy wonders if any laws can help her with this. "And before you go finding loopholes, I plan on tripling the price of your rent in the new contract if you don't move out. And that, my dear, is a right that I have as an owner. "

"But why?" Judy shakes her head, wondering how so many problems can fall on one day.

Dharma begins to look impatient. "My niece Delilah needs a long-term place to stay and I'm not letting that spoiled girl live with me. You have three weeks to go." After a half hearted goodbye, Dharma continues down the hall. Once out of earshot, Judy groans and presses her head against the cool wood of her door. "This day can not get any worse."

"It probably will." Judy's neighbor, Bucky, said through the thin walls.