After a long silence, Bogo spoke. "The interspecies couple was arrested an hour ago"

"What! Why?" Judy's outburst filled the mostly empty room and her stare was locked onto Bogo in a confused horror.

"They were a threat to our national security."

Bullshit "Bullshit." Nick shook his head, wondering what universe he had been transported to.

Bogo sighed at Nick's offensive term concerning the Bull population. "Wilde, I need your cooperation."

"My cooperation? Did you even try? I could've pulled something better out of my ass then some excuse about 'National Security.' Just tell us the truth." Judy must have given up on chiding him because she sat quietly, seeming to be deep in her own thoughts.

Bogo tapped the tip of his hoof onto the table. "I don't know what you're talking about. If you want to keep your position here I suggest you watch your tongue, Wilde." The mention of his job made him shut his muzzle.

Nick felt a sliver of doubt and he began searching through the previous weeks for details he could have missed. Of course he couldn't know for sure if Bogo's statement had some truth to it, but it seemed impossible for the arrest to be completely just.

Judy broke the silence with a firm voice "We aren't doing anything until you tell us what's really happening."

The fast paced thumping sound of her foot tapping brought a small smile to Nick's lips. Bogo's always serious gaze darted between the two until he gave a sharp nod. "Alright." He weighed his words before speaking. "There is a section of our government that, well, likes to clean up messes. This arrest was one of their ways of doing just that."

Nick went over the words again in his head to find a hidden meaning. "Is this supposed to make sense, Chief?"

This was the first time Nick had seen Bogo uncomfortable and, while the idea of it seemed delightful, actually experiencing it was unnerving. Bogo's hooves seemed to be having a wrestling match on the table as he spoke. "We must do what they say. This happened before. Twelve years ago we were ordered to confiscate and destroy all the street recordings of an event that ended in a death. We had to rule it as a suicide."

"What do you mean 'you had to'?" Judy asked.

"I mean that, if we didn't follow orders, they would have found other mammals who would. I mean that they can replace us, ruin our reputation, or worse: defund us. That's why you two have to exaggerate"

"You mean lie," Nick retorted. He was only just starting to understand the overpowering weight of the occurrences from the morning and what these arrests meant for the future of Zootopia.

"Our paws are tied, Officer Wilde. Our world isn't a utopia where every problem can be solved. This is an example of that."

"Yeah, I know..." Old Nick wouldn't have blinked an eye at this information since old Nick always expected the worst in mammals. Now, once again, he let himself fall into the trap of hope. Ever since he had met Judy, the trap became easier to fall into and harder to claw out of. Sometimes all it took was one phrase or a flicker of the lashes and he was dreaming, forgetting about the real and unforgivable world. It always felt like bliss until reality caught up with him. Then it was like he was a kit again, opening up to a world of possibilities then being knocked down by disappointment and betrayal that life would repeatedly give until he remembered to put his walls of protection up once again. It was a terrible, but addictive cycle this Bunny had put him into.

"Nick!" Judy's voice dispersed his thoughts and her violet eyes came into focus. "Are you even listening?" His ears popped up from their drooped position to show his alertness.

Judy continued, "I was saying that we have to do something. We can't just let them do whatever they want. Don't you agree?" Her eyes searched his expectantly but Nick could only agree with the concept and not the actions. She couldn't actually believe they could just fix the problem, right? If Nick knew anything, he knew about power. It was one thing to stop corruption on a local level but, with some mysterious government group that could bend laws as they pleased, it wasn't logical.

Bogo interjected, turning the discussion back to his points. "Remember that police department in the news that had been caught permitting the sale of illegal drugs? They were framed for not following orders and for trying to do what you're suggesting, Hopps. Those were good mammals whose reputations and records were smeared for doing the right thing. Now their faces have been all over the news and they are judged everywhere, even in their prison cells. That's what I mean by we had to." Bogo looked ready to attack with his clenched teeth and tense body. It made Nick wonder if Bogo had known one of the framed officers for such a response to occur.

Nick fought the urge to squirm at Bogo's show of emotion. "Okay, Okay. All you had to say was please, Chief." Judy looked ready to object but Nick stopped her with a look and a featherlight touch on her arm. This isn't our war to fight. He tried to communicate the thought through his gaze and it seemed to work when Judy gave a conceding nod.

"We saw various instances of suspicious activity outside and within the household," Nick continued with the same retellings had given twice already that day. No concrete facts and only suspicions to plant into the heads of the public. Judy was mostly silent, only answering with a short yes or no when a question was directed to her. Bogo signalled for them to finish up.

"Can you give us information on the appearance of the interspecies mammal?" asked a middle aged Pig. The question caught him off guard but it was easy enough to answer.

"Oh. He was very small and," he tried to think of a simple description that would shut them up. "His features reflected his father's side more than his mother's."

This caused a murmur along with the scuffing sound of pencils on paper. The Pig piped up again. "Does that mean there's a chance that the pup could be fully Coyote and that the family lied?"

Nick's "no," was lost in the rush of questions that the assumption had created. He was pushed to the side as Bogo announced that the press conference was over.

Once they were all out of sight from the journalists, Judy stomped forward, ahead of Nick, leaving him in the aisle with Bogo. "Make sure she doesn't do something stupid that would jeopardize the whole department. I can't guarantee yours of her safety if some leak of information traces back to you. I'll be in my office." With that, Bogo strode past Nick in a slight rush.

It took Nick twenty minutes of searching until he found her in the second floor stairwell that no mammals used due to the ease of an elevator. "Whachya doing, Carrots? More training?" She smiled sadly at his reference to the exercises she made him do to prepare him for his police training a year earlier. He would get sore legs from simply remembering the stair work outs. He sat down next to her on the stair, trying to find the right words to say. "Want to talk about it?" He proposed, lightly bumping into her with his arm.

"No."

"Alright," Nick said. He pretended to accidentally brush his leg against hers.

"It's just that I can't believe that there's nothing we can do. I can't just sit here and let this happen!" Judy shot up to pace back and forth in front of him. She never knew when to give up and he could see the wheels turning in her head already.

"Carrots, I don't usually listen to Buffalo Butt but even I'm inclined to in this case. I don't think he warned us just to protect the department."

"So we'll be careful."

"How can we be careful with a group that can make a murder become a suicide and bend the law whenever they want?"

Judy's ears fell and she stopped pacing. "But Nick." Her pleading eyes changed to narrowed ones. "Fine. But I need some information. If I don't get something I'll go crazy. We'd still be following orders either way." Didn't she realize the danger that they could be put into for investigating? No way was he letting his partner risk her safety.

Still, Nick couldn't ignore her determined gaze and he knew that trying to stop her would not end well for him. Sly Bunny. He bent forward to her eye level, lifting a corner of his mouth. "I just don't want to see my girl getting hurt."

"I-" Her brows were raised and a tinge of redness shone on her cheeks. He had caught her off guard and knowing that made his smirk grow wider. She crossed her arms and thumped her foot, the surprise wearing off. "I'm not yours." Judy averted her sight and shifted away. "And you don't need to protect me." She jabbed her finger towards his still smiling face to affirm her point.

Nick could see that she was being serious and tried not to think about the other part of her statement. He had to admit that, even in her anger, the reaction was pretty funny to watch. Her boldness reminded him of the first day they had met. Looking back to that day and her pointing motions amused him, causing Nick to chuckle. Judy's bewildered expression made him laugh harder and, soon enough, a she was smiling and shaking her head at him.

"You're crazy."

"You say that like its a bad thing." He winked. "Come here." He motioned for her to move closer. When she stayed in place, Nick reached out to pull her in but she hopped away out of his grasp. She had a playful smile that challenged him to catch her. That's how she wants to play it?

For the next few minutes a grinning Fox chased a squealing Rabbit up and down a stairwell, both forgetting that they were fully grown adults. It probably wasn't the smartest idea, because soon Nick was on the floor holding his ankle. "I've been defeated. My honor is gone."

Judy looked back at him, still bouncing from the burst of energy. "Oh no, can you stand on it?" She went over and helped him up.

After shifting his weight and twisting the foot around he decided that it just felt uncomfortable with a slight pain if he moved in a certain way. "I always thought my first time getting injured on the job would be more flashy than this. I won't need to go to the hospital or anything. I'm fine."

"I wish I could've filmed that." Judy laughed for a few seconds until she slapped her paw to her mouth. "Nick! I know what we can do. The hospital. I didn't even think of that!"

She was literally hopping now and Nick put his paws on her shoulders to slow her movements. "Whoa, slow down, Fluff. We're doing what?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow. Be ready by noon!" And with that, she zoomed out of the stairwell.

"Well at least I cheered her up," he said. Bogo was giving them the next few days off and he already knew The Fluff would be dragging him all over town until she was satisfied or gave up. He wasn't sure which would come first.