A/N: Thanks to TheHumanPerson, Ravyne and Katt B, forcedInduction, Baneblade, Wolf Guard Miestwin, JustNibblin, Zootopian Fluff, Matri, ktrk5, ChaoticImp, Ngrasta, Sappopo, Pyrophoricity, ImNotLost18, Erebusthehyena, Cimar of Turalis WildeHoppes, Shardetector, Drust, Danny-171984, Shvanell, DiegoRedeemedLover, upplet, and Irual, for reading and reviewing. I'll be responding to everyone soon!

Had to take a little break from this story to allow the fields of creativity to rest. I also had work. I do film and video work so creative capital must be spent there first. However, I had a ton of new little fic ideas that may very well pop up soon as a drabble collection.

One last thing, I used to be fairly good at proofreading my own work. I guess not so much anymore. I have discovered an old trick though that should dramatically improve grammatical errors: voice to text. The ears discover what the eyes were missing. Anywho... Enjoy!

Rules Were Meant to Be Broken

by Ultimate Naco Topping

Chapter 9 – I Know I Left a Plot In Here Somewhere

Thumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthump.

Judy clamped hard onto Nick's knee with her paw stopping his incessant nervous leg from rattling the whole train car apart.

"It will be okay," she said flatly.

"You're almost becoming a serviceable liar," Nick shot back.

The rabbit ever so slightly turned her head towards him, just enough to eye him in her periphery. She could see his tension. His shoulders were pinched tight. His paws took over his nervous movement from when she stopped his leg. Nick was on edge.

"Maybe if I had a better teacher, I'd have mastered it by now...," she replied with more honey than vinegar hoping a good round of banter would ease his nerves.

He sneered.

Over time, Nick was giving Judy lessons in the art of the hustle. While the old Nick entertained the idea that a fully-trained con-bunny with Judy's indomitable cuteness would be the unstoppable force to his sly-fox immovable object, the lessons were purely to make her a better police officer, interrogator, and, one-day, detective.

He hadn't shown her anything too complex, but they had started with how to read mammals—a subject that if she couldn't get past, there was no point in teaching her anything else. How a mammal walked, talked, stood in a line, where they kept their gaze, what kind of clothes they wore, and the objects they carried were all part of a tapestry that a street hustler could use to identify the right mark.

Or... an angle that a detective could use to crack a suspect.

Judy was horrified at first. The blasted Bellweather fiasco was entirely predicated on getting prey to make snap judgements about predators. Now, Nick was telling her that was exactly what she had to learn to do with all mammals to be a better cop. The fox bent over backwards to explain that in order to get an animal to cooperate with you—for hustling or as part of an investigation—you had to find a common ground to step off from. Not everyone that she was going to meet was going to have unpaid taxes she could leverage against them. That meant sizing them up in a few precious seconds and acting accordingly.

Once the profile was in paw, you could start a conversation. A caribou with a nice watch would always stop to give you the time if asked. A panther in a soccer jersey was always ready to talk about the game from the other night. A giraffe absorbed in her cellphone could be further distracted by asking for directions. Whatever approach you took with an animal, the goal was always the same: divert their attention and get them to lower their defenses just long enough to get what you needed from them.

If you were a thief, you were diverting their attention so your accomplice could pick their pocket. If you were a hustler, you were getting them to buy what your were selling. If you were a cop, your goal was to get them to give up information.

Nick left it at that. He had learned the picks and the lifts, but he tended to steer clear of them as a trade and their many legal problems that followed. However, the mammal reading skills were indispensable when it came to getting what he wanted while constructing a hustle. You had to figure out what they wanted so you could get them to give you what you wanted. So, that's what Judy had to learn first.

Once on board, she wasn't half-bad out of the gate. Once she realized that there really were obvious things that gave away every mammal that weren't speciest to observe, Judy was on board. Nick moved her on to lying much quicker than he anticipated. That's when the real resistance came out.

"Come on, Carrots. You've lied before. Haven't you at least told someone you were 'fine' even though you weren't? Or that it 'was nice to see them'?"

"Yes, but that was different. That was to be polite. This is... This is... to trick them into them giving me something I want."

"Exactly. When you tell someone that you're fine when you're not, what do you want? You want them to not ask you any more questions! Or when you say 'it was nice to see you', you want them to still think you are a friend so if you do need something from them in the future, you can still get it."

The rabbit shot him a look bordering on contempt.

"That is twisted..."

"Just watch and learn," Nick said cooly unaffected by her disappointment.

They had just returned to the station mid-day after solving an easy vandalism 'case'. Seemingly all the good cases were still beyond their reach. They were approaching Clawhauser's desk and the fluffy cheetah was receiving a fresh batch of case files.

"Benji? How's our favorite spotted cat doing?" Nick said full-on con-mammal charm activated.

"Hey, you two!" Clawhauser practically singed. "Just getting the new..."

"Wait a minute," Nick interrupted while also bringing him and Judy to a stop. "Is that uniform hanging a little looser around your chest? Have you lost some weight?"

The ZPD's front desk mammal tilted his head to the side ever so briefly in confusion before a smile spread across his muzzle. He tugged on the fabric of his uniform with a tiny squeal.

"I knew it! I mean, I just started wearing this Fit Bit yesterday," he said holding up his wrist to reveal the device straining to stay on him. "I didn't think I'd get results this fast, but thanks for noticing, Nick!"

Nick suavely closed the distance to the desk and leaned against it.

"Don't mention it, Spots," he cooed giving a nearly apoplectic Judy a wry glance. "I'm sorry, I interrupted you. You were saying something..."

"Oh, yes!" the cheetah said picking up the pile of fresh case files. "Chief told me to hand out any new cases that came up since roll call... Bunch of snoozers... except..."

Spots started thumbing through the stack of files giving Nick a chance to irk Judy with a wink.

"...Chief still wants to ease you guys in to the big stuff, but there is this juicy B&E at the Zootopia Museum of Art..."

He let the words hang as he seemed to be deciding whether or not to give them a crack. Nick kept his calm cool friendly neighborhood fox face on. Judy was stuck between wanting to death glare her partner and screaming in excitement for an actual case.

"I think you two can handle it," the cheetah said holding the case file out to the pair.

Judy jumped to snatch it but was a moment too slow for Nick who smirked in victory.

"Thanks, Benji, we owe you a box of...," the charming fox said walking away before stopping. He turned back to the cheetah with another smile and waggled a finger. "Oh, nope. Wouldn't want to undo all that hard work you've been doing."

"Oh, stop," an embarrassed Clawhauser replied. "And good luck!"

When Judy finally caught up to Nick, they were out of their colleague's hearing range—and Judy was capable of frying an egg on her forehead.

"THAT... was... you...," she seethed but words weren't coming fast enough. Finally, she stopped walking with her partner and stomped her foot. "You lied to him!"

"I like to think I offered him encouragement," Nick said over his shoulder without stopping.

Judy was forced to catch back up again.

"You know there's no way that he's lost any weight after only twenty-four hours!"

"Perhaps, but after he almost broke down crying this morning when he refused the donut Grizoli offered him, he needed to hear that he was on the right track. And WE needed a bonafide-for-real case for a change."

"But this feels so wrong... I'm not sure I'm okay with this...," Judy trailed off as if a small piece of her once pure heart was breaking off and falling into the abyss.

"Do you want to give the case back?"

Nick's question was followed by several steps of silence.

"No," the rabbit growled.

"There's my willing accomplice!" Nick cheered. He moved to pat her on the head but his paw was stopped by a look of guilt, shame, contempt, and the threat of rabbit on fox violence.

"You'll feel better once we catch this master thief. Promise," Nick opted for a more conciliatory tone as they finally reached their squad car.

The case turned out to be a media storm barn-burner where all clues pointed to the museum's janitor, but Judy had managed to follow her gut. She cleared the innocent hyena who was being framed by the museum's assistant manager and real thief: a gazelle with a mountain of gambling debt.

As the train carried them through Savanna Central, Nick looked down at his best friend and stifled a smile.

"There are no bad teachers. Only bad students," he said turning his shoulders to her a giving her a more relaxed look.

"That... is the opposite of how that sentence goes," she replied.

She reached over, grabbed one of his fidgeting paws, and maneuvered it around her shoulder. The contact seemed to do the trick to calm the fox down for the rest of the train ride. Even as they were greeted by the hulking mass of Kevin the polar bear at the harbor-side train station and escorted to Mr. Big's private boat, Nick seemed to remain cool.

The ride on the boat was somewhat less tense than Nick had feared. Probably because Judy stood excitedly at the bow letting the wind ruffle her fur and flap her dress against her front. The fox concentrated on his mate drinking in her joy at the simple boat ride. She was wearing a light yellow dress with a pleated skirt. A blue belt paced her midriff with matching blue ribbon tied near the tips of her ears. He felt a little sheepish in joining her at the bow in his typical Pawaiian shirt, tie, and slacks combo, but not as sheepish as he felt about expending any worry about the day to come.

He was with Judy. He was safe.

The island sat in the maw of the river that formed the Canal District farther upstream. The river then dumped itself into the bay that flanked Savanna Central. Everything had an Old World Tuskan flare. Stucco-styled villas with red tiled roofs. Vineyards and olive trees. You could almost taste the wine and the pasta when you stepped onto the dock.

They were greeted by the entire Big clan but the principle interaction was between Judy, Fru-Fru, and Little Judy. Nick had to gulp before giving a solitary wave to Mr. Big who returned only a raised eyebrow.

Fru, who always insisted on being called just Fru, decided they should have brunch first. Once seated, it took all of ten seconds for the big news to break. Judy showed off the ring which Ellen had given them. She also gave the abbreviated version of how they suddenly went from best friends straight to mates. The entire time Nick felt as though Mr. Big was eyeing him under his bushy eyebrows—but he couldn't be sure.

Fru then revealed her own big news: she was pregnant again. Judy squeezed Nick's paw so hard that he yipped. The rabbit didn't notice as she gave him a look bordering on near rapture. The fox suddenly had a new mental picture of 'baby crazy' and was suddenly terrified for reasons he could not fathom.

With brunch finished, Mr. Big excused himself to go attend to some 'business'. Nick wisely stayed with the ladies as Fru gave Judy the grand tour. They were shadowed by one of the younger polar bears that Nick hadn't really met before. The buildings, paths, and spaces on the island were intricately woven to accommodate both the tiny shrew family and their polar bear attendants. Occasionally the bear would lift Fru and Little Judy from one level or path to another like a moving living bridge.

Eventually, they found themselves in the main garden and lawn out behind the central villa. Nearly the entire Big clan seemed to be assembled. The older adults hung around the fringes talking while the kids all played together with their parents and Judy. As per usual, Nick took up post along the edge and stole looks from his partner.

His thoughts went immediately to her overjoyed reaction at Fru Fru's pregnancy—and more importantly the tell-tail sent spike the rabbit gave off as a result. That scent was one of the cabal of scents it wasn't polite to discuss in public. That one specifically was the 'I want to have a litter right now' scent. It filled the fox with anxiety the likes he'd never felt before.

He wondered why he didn't feel this way the day before when the topic came up. Maybe it was because they were talking about it as a matter of course. It was agreed they'd wait to make detective and they'd aim for two or three kits or cubs when they were ready. Simple. Easy. Scent-spike free.

Today, with her face, her squeal of delight, her squeeze of her paw around his, and her sudden change in scent, it all suddenly became a reality.

She's going to be the mother of my kits, was all that Nick could manage to think.

The visuals he was being provided weren't helping. Judy appeared to be engaged in a recreation of Gulliver's Migrations as her normally petite bunny frame loomed over the tiny shrews. Her laughter and effortless handling of the children, like he'd seen many times before during their Ask a Cop sessions, brought everything together in an expansive bundle of nerves.

Reality wasn't crashing around him. It was slowly pressing him down into the earth.

It was one thing to pine after your closest female friend hoping to spend the rest of your life with her. Actually having that hope matched and acted upon was another. But there was something new beyond that that had never once entered into his dreams. They weren't just committed to spend their lives together—they were committed to bring new lives into existence.

Some day. Eventually. When they were ready, said his conscious self.

Now! Now! Now! shouted his deeper animal urges.

He didn't know how to reconcile the two feelings, but the fox realized one thing: the trappings of reproduction were in no way the exclusive realm of females.

He needed to shake this weighty feeling off. Deep down, he knew this is what he wanted; what he desired; what he needed. But it was all hitting him at once putting a look of unease on his face that shouldn't be there.

"A mammal shouldn't look troubled on the day after his wedding," crooned a voice that did nothing to put Nick at ease.

Nick turned to see Mr. Big approach him along a raised platform that allowed the shrew to enjoy the back patio in the company of larger sized mammals.

"Technically, we didn't have a wedding," Nick offered very delicately. "We haven't even filled out the paperwork yet."

Mr. Big stopped and puffed his cigar. Then, he waved his paw in the air.

"Toe-mate-o. Ta-mato. But if you two do have a ceremony, I know some mammals. Good rates."

Nick released a freight train of tension with the softest of chuckles. Mr. Big sized him up.

"There's a good cub. Nothing to fear from the big bad shrew."

Nick begged to differ but did not voice his objection. Mr. Big settled in beside the fox to watch the family play.

"You're something, Nicky," the crime boss started after several moments of silence. "I can't remember a mammal that ever worked their way back into my good graces."

The fox's instincts were screaming at him that this was some sort of a setup. NO ONE ever worked their way back into Mr. Big's good graces.

"Are you sure that's not just Judy's all-encompassing aura covering for me?" Nick asked softly.

The shrew scratched his chin in thought.

"Perhaps, but you're here now. And though I sense you have business to discuss with me, I'm feeling no animosity towards you."

Rats... No offense to rats, Nick thought. Might as well rip off the band-aide.

"As a matter of fact, there is something I need to ask about. If I may..."

Big took a long pull from his cigar. It looked drastically oversized in his paws but it was the smallest available for any mammal. He let the smoke tumble from his snout before eyeing Nick again.

"That depends on whether or not I'm talking to a cop."

In an instant, whatever remaining attentions Nick had on reserve were pulled into the conversation. It was more instinct than necessity. Mr. Big was now maneuvering the conversation with subtle phrasing that only a lifetime of skirting the law could teach. It was a language that the fox, while a little rusty, knew all too well. It was intoxicating to a silver-tongued wit such as himself. It's why when Big took him in, he stuck around until his unfortunate slip up. He would be lying if he said that he didn't miss this type of verbal 'sparring'.

"You are talking to a member of the Wilde Family," Nick said gaze unbroken from the jovialities on the lawn.

His host nodded with an almost pleased growl.

"So you've patched things up with the rest of your family. I am glad to hear of this. Without his family, a mammal is nothing."

There was a pause as they both let the words sink in. Mr. Big continued.

"It always pained me to hear about that business when you were a pup. You're father was a good fox. He wanted better for you... and your kind. Even though your family's business has kept it clean, that's why they held you out. Out of respect for him. You understand that now don't you?"

"Yeah, it all turned out," Nick winced but it was somehow in a good way. "Now, I'm a cop with a bunny for a mate."

"Like I said, you're something, Nicky," the shrew smiled—or at least that's what Nick thought he saw him do. "But enough of the past. What did your dear Uncle Harris send you to ask about?"

Nick drew his breath slowly. Mr. Big always knew a lot more about any situation than one would ever think he did so it didn't surprise him that his guesses were this accurate. He probably saw the world as a grand chess board and he controlled many more pieces than any of his fellow crime bosses, government officials, or law enforcement agencies.

"He sends his respects. He's had some visitors recently. Polar bears. He knows they aren't yours. Or better yet, at least one of them isn't anymore."

"Hmmm... Petrov. Koslov's cousin," Big said as his mood soured ever so slightly. "Too hot tempered for our tastes. We had to cut ties with him. Has he been causing trouble?"

"If casing the casino qualifies, then yes. My uncle doesn't think he's working on his own. He was hoping you would know."

"Digger," the crime boss said so quickly and matter-of-factly that it conveyed anger.

"Digger?"

"Another hot head we had to send away. My sister-in-law's nephew. A mole."

Nick raised an eyebrow at the realization the Big family had an interspecies couple. It was the first he'd heard of it but then again, he hadn't been near the family in the intervening time when interspecies coupling stepped into the light of day.

"He was working his way up the ranks but his ambition nearly started a turf war with the Jackals. He embarrassed me. He embarrassed the whole family. But I took pity on his poor mother and banished him."

Nick felt his stomach drop. The choices were always banishment or icing. He had been the recipient of Big's 'pity' once. He could hear the faintest hint of regret in the shrew's voice that he hadn't iced the mole.

"I heard not too long ago that he was back in town and looking to put a crew together. Now we know why."

"I'm sure the other families won't appreciate him changing the balance of power."

"Nor your bull-headed chief."

Nick smirked—not at the subtle jab at Bogo—but at the double-speak it concealed. Big couldn't help because he'd have to cross crime family territorial lines, but he could grant his blessing to the involvement of the ZPD to help rid all concerned of their mole problem.

Silence followed that was surprisingly relaxed. Big exchanged his cigar for a tiny cocktail and Nick was offered the same only fox-sized. He didn't refuse as per not-wanting-to-be-iced.

"So, why aren't you out there playing?" the crime boss finally offered.

"Not entirely my style," Nick replied.

"Well, if I were a younger mammal and had a beautiful bunny for a mate, I wouldn't be standing where you are."

"We've already played plenty," the fox said a little too saucy. He regretted it immediately.

"That's your mate you're talking about there. Show a little respect."

Nick's regret and respect registered in an audible click of his jaw snapping shut

"You gotta learn to know when I'm messing with you...," Mr. Big chuckled.

Nick let a nervous laugh escape and took a swig of booze.

"I once wore that face you had on earlier. I was once a newly minted groom myself. It didn't take long for those burdens and responsibilities to worm their way through the cracks. Of course, we already had our first child on the way and work was tough to find for those of us who just stepped off the boat..."

Nick's swiveled his entire attention to the old shrew not really believing that he was receiving a heart-to-heart.

"How'd you cope?"

"I just did what I had to do. There's no magic in it, Nicky. Just willpower. Either a mammal has what it takes or he doesn't. While we don't have to be the provider-protectors for our mates like days of old, we still have to do whatever it takes to be the males our mates deserve."

Nick again had to internalize what he was hearing. The shrew was telling him that marriage was a test of the will but beyond that, there was no road map or secret list of items to check off a list. As if sensing the young fox's doubt, Mr. Big continued.

"You're a lot like your father... and your grandfather, and your great-grandfather. They all had it. You've got it. You'll do fine."

Nick smiled in a rare moment of ease in the company of the most feared crime boss in all of Tundratown.

"We're not so different, Nicholas," Big said after another small break in conversation.

"Oh?" Nick raised an eyebrow wracking his brain to draw a real parallel between himself and the crime boss.

"We both took to the shadier side of the street because we had to. Prejudice is cruel and tough to overcome. It buried my chances at the straight life long before you were born. But you, thankfully, didn't get too deep..."

Or iced, Nick thought to himself in a very quiet whisper in a sound proof bunker in his own mind.

"...I've tried to steer my offspring towards legitimacy like the bunny has steered you. More mammals like her and we'd have some real hope. It won't be for us though, but maybe in a generation or two. But our children? Our children's children?"

Nick nodded. His sort-of-father-figure-that-could-still-have-him-dissappeared-at-any-moment was leaving a lot unsaid—probably because he didn't have to articulate it to a fellow predator like Nick. The world needed a lot more Judy's. Mammals capable of seeing their own misguided beliefs about others for what they were and jettison those beliefs from their being. And not only that, but become willing to take on those prejudices head on by seeing passed exteriors and into the hearts of their fellow mammal.

Yes, the world needed a lot more Judy's. She couldn't be cloned, but Nick suddenly had a different thought—there was another way.

Maybe three kids wasn't enough...

He quickly stuffed that thought down a deep hole in his subconscious with a shiver and looked on as the rabbit and shrew kits continued to frolic.

As if something tingled in her brain, Judy looked up to see Nick looking straight at her. She smiled which dragged a smile out of the fox. Once again, he realized that he didn't have anything to fear. With a deep breath, Nick gave a thankful nod to their host and began walking towards his mate and the Big offspring asking them if they knew how to play an old fox game called Catch the Skulk.