(Author's Note)

Alright guys, before we get started we have a few things to get off my plate.

1) This is my first fan fiction, so I'm not expecting the quality to be great and I'm not sure if I'll have enough spare time to continue.

2) I love betrayal/revenge, hurt/comfort, and angst stories, so this will be one of those. I might throw in a bit of romance, but no promises.

3) I don't care if Judy and Nick ship or not. I'll go where this story takes me. I do however, think that they make a very cute conglomerate of friendship

4) This will most likely remain a T-rated fic, I am uncomfortable writing anything too...romantic, and I don't know enough about, nor care to research about animal anatomy to do it justice.

5) I greatly appreciate any and all input. I am going to start my characters with how I think they would react based on their movies and develop their characters from there. If you think something is out of line, out of character, or out of place. TELL ME. If you see a grammar or spelling mistake you want corrected. TELL ME. If you have a brilliant idea to expand the plot. TELL ME!

6) I don't own any of the Zootopian Intellectual Properties, I am not doing this for profit, yada yada.

Alright, on to the story. This story starts just after the press conference, during the scene where Judy disappoints Nick the most.

A Tale of Two Thoughts

(J)Show me what it's for / (N)Am I going insane?

Judy hopped off the podium still stressing about the press conference. She had tried to follow Nick's advice and answer the questions asked with another question, but she had quickly become overwhelmed and forgotten. She was worried that in her rush to answer some of the questions being shouted at her, and to put the minds of Zootopians at ease, she may have revealed too much about the case.

"Was I O.K.?" Judy asked mayor Belleweather as she was led off the stage.

"Oh you did fine." Was the soothing response from Belleweather as she gave Judy a gentle nudge towards Nick.

Nick, her best friend in Zootopia, and hopefully soon to be partner in the ZPD. Judy really hoped that Nick would decide to join her as she thought they made quite an amazing team together. As she approached him however, she could tell that something was not right. It was in his face, the face that was usually graced with a smug smirk or a sly smile held something ugly in it. A cross between a grimace and a snarl barely noticeable over his usual display.

He must be mad that I didn't give him any credit. Judy thought, suddenly feeling slightly ashamed of herself for neglecting to mention the pivotal role that this fox, Nick, had played in solving the case.

"Uh, that went so fast! I didn't get a chance to mention you or say anything about how we…" she tried to explain. However, her apology was cut short.

"Oh I think you've said plenty." Nick cut her off, his eyes narrowing.

This reaction confused Judy, she had expected him to be upset about her lack of words, not about her having spoken too much.

"What do you mean?" She asked, allowing her confusion to show on her face.

"Clearly there's a biological component? These predators may be…reverting back to their primitive, savage ways? Are you serious?" Nick parroted her own words back at her, his voice filled with disappointment and disbelief.

Judy was shocked, this was not how she had envisioned her talk with Nick going. He is mad at me for telling the press my theory about why these animals went savage? Somehow, the tone of Nick's voice set her on the defensive.

"I just stated the facts of the case." Judy said, trying to explain herself to Nick. Wrong words dumb bunny. As she saw his face fall even further. "I mean, it's not like a bunny could go savage." Judy reasoned. After all, she was right. None of the animals going savage were prey, they were all predators, and she had never even heard of a bunny exhibiting overly aggressive behavior.

"Right, but a fox could, huh?" Nick responded with barely concealed anger.

Judy couldn't understand where this anger was coming from. It wasn't like she had said that foxes were behind the transformation from normal to savage. As far as she was aware, there had not yet been a case of a fox going savage. How had Nick come to that conclusion?

"Nick stop it." Judy tried to soothe the fox "You're not like them." She said as she tried desperately to get him back to her side.

"Oh there's a 'them' now?" Nick asked, the expression on his face showing Judy that she had said exactly the wrong words to the angry fox. She had to get this under control and fast, or else she might risk losing her friend.

"You know what I mean, you're not that kind of predator!" Judy said, trying to make Nick understand that she hadn't said those things about him, that she still wanted him as her partner.

Suddenly, Nick exploded into the most furious outburst she had ever seen from him. To a normal mammal it would have seemed like he was slightly annoyed or exasperated, but Judy had seen him at work. She'd seen his reactions and talked to him about his emotions, and she knew that even now, he was trying his hardest to not let anyone see that this got to him. The clear show of anger on his face, the tension in his muscles, and the agitated way his tail was starting to move, all signaled to Judy one thing.

Nick was furious.

"The kind that needs to be muzzled!?" Nick almost yelled, raising his paw to the projected images of the savage animals in muzzles. Judy turned to look at the screen and saw, for the first time, the black and white pictures of the savage animals muzzled, tied down, and caged. Seeing this brought back the memory of the one time Nick had shared something personal with her, the story of his own muzzling.

At this point Judy's brain was starting to comprehend why Nick was so furious, but it wasn't quite clear yet. Before she could puzzle it out however, Nick continued his outburst.

"The kind that makes you think you need to carry around Fox Repellent?" He said gesticulating to her belt.

Judy looked down and saw the bottle of fox repellent on clear display at her hip. She had forgotten that she was still carrying it around. Quickly she remembered why she even had it on her uniform in the first place. Starting with her disbelief at her father's overt prejudice she had taken the bottle as a way to placate him without seeming as prejudiced as he was. She had then decided to leave the bottle on her table when she had left for work. Yet in a moment of weakness, thinking it was better to be safe than sorry, she had come back and retrieved the bottle to place it on her belt. She had even been prepared to use it on Nick when she saw him enter the Elephant Ice-cream shop when they first met. The feeling of shame she'd felt back then returned to her now one hundred fold as she knew she would never have a need to use it on this fox.

"Yeah don't think I didn't notice that little item the first time we met." Nick continued. In truth, he hadn't noticed it the first time, but the second time. At this point though he was too mad to care. He was getting so riled up about this bunny and her words that he decided it was time to lash out, make her feel some of the pain that he was feeling. Why did she still have that stupid bottle anyways?

- Flashback -

Nick thought back to when Judy had first hustled him into joining her. At first he'd been able to maintain his condescension towards the ZPD and the authority that had caused him so much grief. However, when she brought out his tax forms and was going through them right in front of him, he'd started to worry. He knew that the appropriate reaction would be anger, so he let a small part of his mind focus on his hatred for Zootopia, how all these smug little mammals thought they were so good with their "anyone can be anything" slogan, rallying behind it as if it made them better mammals. But Nick had seen the truth behind the lies. Sure, anyone could be anything, so long as that anything fit within the stereotypes that those in control held for you. In this great city, a fox who had done nothing wrong was still discriminated harshly against, sloths were assigned jobs where they were intended to slow down others, and many, many other small slights occurred every day. The small predators had it the worst however, as prey still greatly feared predator, despite the fact that predators hadn't consumed mammal meat in over two thousand years, despite the fact that most predators thought the idea of eating another mammal to be disgusting, despite the fact that there were prey animals many times their size and much more dangerous walking around with no fear directed towards them. Zootopia's slogan was just a flowery band-aid attempting to patch the festering wound that was the speciesism within.

While a part of Nick's mind was running down that all-to-familiar road, controlling his ear, facial and tail muscles to make him look angry, another part of his mind focused on this new problem.

"Actually it's your word against yours" Judy said as she played that stupid recording of his voice bragging about his income.

The recording wasn't a problem, it could easily be dismissed as a bit of braggadocio used to avoid helping the cop, even in a case of "his word against his" as the cop had put it. The balance of probability fell closer to him not having made enough money to declare on his taxes. After all, that fell right within the prejudiced expectations for a fox. Barely making ends meet while scamming and scheming for their next meal.

The problem, in Nick's mind, was what the bunny cop was carrying on her belt. A bottle of Fox repellent. Nick had been sprayed with the stuff plenty of times before. To this day it still remains on the top of his list of the worst things he'd ever experienced, even above the life-threatening injuries he'd occasionally sustained. The stuff burned like the fires of hell, and stuck to the fur. That alone wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for the fact that most mammals sprayed foxes directly in the face with it. When sprayed in the face, fox repellent caused extreme pain in the eyes. The victim also had to be careful not to blink too much lest they accidentally blind themselves by damaging their retina with the spray still in their eyes. It got into the nose and airways burning their airways with every breath as well as a coughing fit to aggravate the pain even more. It burned the lungs, not just for a brief period, but for days after being sprayed. And it stuck in the fur continuing to work its damage on the unfortunate victim until it had been washed off and the fur shaved away. Nick personally thought that the inventor of the stuff should have been tortured to death.

The presence of the fox repellent on this cop's belt signaled two things to him. First, she was afraid of foxes in particular and would likely be willing to use it. This was not surprising to nick as she was a bunny, an animal which has irrationally feared predators since before written history. Second, the existence of fox spray combined with the lack of a tranquilizer implied that behind that cheery smile and overly joyful display was an animal who reveled in the pain she caused to foxes. Tranquilizer worked just as well on foxes as it did other animals. Fox repellent was simply the ultimate form of excessive violence and pain compliance. One used tranquilizer when they wanted control, fox repellent when they wanted to cause pain. Nick had to be extremely careful to not give her any reason to spray him, and even then she might do it anyways.

"…and if you want this pen you're going to help me find this poor missing otter or the only place you'll be selling pawpsicles is the prison cafeteria. It's called a hustle sweetheart." Judy continued ranting.

'Wait what?' Nick mentally stumbled. She didn't want to take him to prison? She wasn't going to interrogate him for information and spray him under the guise of interrogation? She just wanted his help?

At this point Finnick had decided to diffuse the situation by playing off of the mental discord caused by the difference in his voice and appearance. As Finnick left Nick with the cop, having sufficiently calmed both down, Nick gave the Fennec fox his gratitude. Once again, his mentor had likely saved his butt from doing something stupid.

- End flashback -

Over the course of their adventure together trying to solve the case, Nick observed the bunny cop closely, all the while trying to seem nonchalant and disdainful of authority. What he saw shocked him. She was obviously quite aware of the stereotypes surrounding foxes, but had chosen to ignore them. Treating Nick, for the most part, as just another mammal. One she could joke around with, one she could trust, and even one she was willing to put her life at risk to save. He'd thought she was different, that she truly did shirk the prejudice that the rest of Zootopia seemed intent on preserving. However, after this disaster of a press conference, Nick wasn't so sure.

"So l-let me ask you a question. Are you afraid of me?" He continued, almost concealing the delay caused by his memories and thought processes resurfacing. He paused to give Judy time to answer.

Judy, for her part was shocked. She heard the question, she knew the answer. No! She wanted to shout, but a part of her wouldn't let her do it. A part of her was shocked that Nick would even think that, after all they'd been through, after everything she'd done to demonstrate that she wasn't just another prejudiced bunny. Another part of her wouldn't let her answer 'no' as it was starting to fear the angry expression on the fox's face. She wasn't afraid that he'd hurt her, she was afraid of his anger. Finally, a third part of her was only now beginning to grasp exactly why Nick was so upset. She had just given everyone in the press conference a reason to confirm their prejudices against predators, prejudices which had so obviously scarred and shaped Nick his entire life.

As Judy stared at her friend in a mixture of shock, fear and mortification at what she'd done, he continued.

"Do you think I might go nuts? Do you think I might go savage? Do you think I might try to…EAT YOU!" Nick interrogated, allowing his anger to make him emphasize his last words both verbally and physically. What he saw next confirmed his worst fears, and crushed his newly growing hopes. For in that moment, he had scared Judy, and she had responded. In the moment it took Nick to calm down he had noticed three things. First, Judy had raised a paw between herself and him, as if trying to ward him off. Second, she had taken a step back, prepared to run. Thirdly, she had unsecured the bottle of fox repellent and had her paw hovering over it, ready to use it.

"I knew it." Nick sighed dejectedly.

At these words Judy felt her heart start to calm, and with her calming down her mind had caught up with her body. Nick had frightened her. She was scared, and she had prepared to use the fox repellent on instinct. Maybe she hadn't simply forgotten it was there after all.

"Just when I'd thought somebody actually believed in me huh?" Nick said, disappointment and self-loathing dripping from his voice.

This time Judy knew how she'd hurt Nick. Not only did she know how she'd hurt him, but she knew that she'd hurt him badly. By showing that she did, in fact, fear the fox. She had confirmed to him that she was still prejudiced, especially since she'd had no reason to fear him. Worse still she'd crushed his newly growing optimism and returned him to the dark, cold embrace of his pessimistic reality. She had only recently gotten him to open up to her, and she'd realized that his pessimism was developed in response to the prejudice he'd had to face daily. She knew that through their interactions, he was starting to hope that a fox could actually have real friends among the prey animals. And she'd destroyed that.

Judy had to fix this, had to tell him that he was her best friend! You've got to tell him how much he means to you! As she opened her mouth and tried to say his name while reaching out to him, he continued.

"Probably best if you don't have a predator as a partner." He said, stuffing her outstretched paw with the application form she had only recently given him.

Mortification and curiosity temporarily overtaking her, she opened the folded form to see that he had filled it out entirely. He truly had wanted to join her on the ZPD as a partner. As she looked up from the form, she noticed that he was already at the doors to leave the ZPD conference hall. The sunlight streaming in as a bright affront to how Judy's heart felt as it was breaking in two.

"No! Nick!" She blurted out as she ran after him. Only to be stopped by a horde of reporters who suddenly got in her way. Sure they let the fox out, nobody wanted to hear what a fox had to say, or trusted what they said anyways, but they all wanted to hear from her what the confrontation had been about. The reporter's questions, their bodies, and their insensitivity had effectively forced Judy to a stop, forcing her to simply watch as Nick disappeared into the brilliant light outside, like a lost soul leaving the mortal plane. Judy felt as if she had killed Nick.