Chapter 2
The next morning came much too for Judy Hopps. Her mental alarm clock woke her up at her usual 5:30 am wake up time. When she saw the time on the clock next to the bed she groaned. She didn't even go to sleep until one in the morning and while she was usually an early riser today the rabbit was not ready to get up before the sun. She tried to squeeze in a bit more shut eye but eventually admitted defeat from her own body and got up at 6:30.
Checkout wasn't even until 8 and Judy didn't have to be at work until five that night since she and Nick have to work the night shift this week so she tried to think of something to do to pass the time. However, there wasn't much for Judy to do in her suite. She didn't want to turn the TV on in fear of making too much noise and waking up her "neighbors". Ultimately Judy decided on doing some yoga. Of course one can only do yoga for so long. Once she had enough she glanced at the time again
"It's only seven?!" Judy groaned quietly. She was so bored and not used to being pent up in one place for so long.
Suddenly she heard a "ping" come from her phone. She quickly checked it and noticed right she had a notification.
"One new message"
She quickly unlocked her phone and saw she had a text message from Nick.
Sly Fox- Good morning Carrots! How was your night with the elites? ;)
Judy couldn't help but beam at the simple message. It was as if he knew that she was going stir crazy and needed something, anything to keep her occupied until checkout.
Dumb Bunny- Morning Slick! I'm surprised you're up so early! Usually I have to drag you out of bed by your tail ;)
Sly Fox- Har har :P. Seriously though, how was it?!
Dumb Bunny- It was amazing! But also terrifying and so intense! It was kind of a long night but I'll tell you all about it when I see you at work!
Sly Fox- Well I'm sure you did gr8! Y'know despite the fact you didn't have your favorite partner against crime ;)
Dumb Bunny- Thanks Nick! I really wish you could've been here, I could've really used your help last night…
Sly fox- Yeah now I need to know what happened last night why can't you just tell me over text?
Dumb Bunny- It'll sound better in person it's kind of a long story to tell over text. I'll just tell you on the way to work. I gtg check out now! ttyl!
Grabbing her suitcase, hotel key, and car keys Judy made sure everything was all set and then exited the luxurious suite. On the way to checkout Judy passed by Auli'i's room and noticed that there were no mammals standing guard anymore.
'Huh, she must've already checked out.' Judy thought to herself with a shrug and continued walking until she reached the elevator and took it all the way down to the lobby.
Once Judy got to the lobby she handed the receptionist her hotel key and then went to her cruiser and started her long drive back home.
Like the ride to Inglewood The long three hour drive to her apartment in Zootopia was uneventful. There was quite a bit of traffic from the morning rush hour but for rush hour traffic it was a smooth drive back home.
Finally arriving back at her apartment complex Judy parked the cruiser on the side of the road right in front of her apartment. She grabbed her things and made the trek up the numerous flights of stairs to her room or as Nick referred to it- "the closet".
It was nowhere near the suite Judy was just at and it made her yearn once more for a place like it but nonetheless it was her home and it was all she could afford at the moment.
"Hey Rabbit! How was your weekend in Inglewood with Auli'i Cravalho?!" Bucky shouted from next door.
Judy froze. She never mentioned her assignment to her neighbors. The only mammals who knew were the ones at work and if any of her coworkers said anything they could lose their jobs. Judy started to panic but automatically took a deep breath to calm herself down.
"How'd you know where I was?" She asked while trying to keep the panic out of her voice.
"Um, have you seen the news today? You're all over the new stations. ZNN, FOX, ZBC…" Pronk explained
"What?!" Judy exclaimed
Quickly Judy unlocked her phone and went to the ZNN app and sure enough a picture of her kicking Auli'i's attacker was the first thing to be shown.
"Oh sweet cheese and crackers…"
Judy clicked on the article a read it thoroughly. The article talked about how the two were confronted by an unidentified male attacker went on to say how Judy knocked him out cold and had to be taken to the hospital for a concussion.
'Wow I really got him… I hope he's okay despite the kind of mammal he is.'
Judy was surprised to see that Bogo hadn't called her yet but she knew he would want to talk to her about this when she got to work. Any sort of police brutality, even justified, could mean a lot of trouble (and paperwork) not just for Judy but for her boss as well.
Judy tried not to dwell on the situation at hand and instead distracted herself by unpacking her small suitcase and went on a cleaning spree in her small apartment. By the time Judy was unpacked and situated it was nearly time for her to get ready for work. Since Judy had the cruiser she needed to pick Nick who lived the opposite direction from work so she left a little earlier than usual.
Judy sent Nick a quick text saying she was on her way and went down to the cruiser and drove the short drive to Nick's apartment a few streets over. Nick was already standing outside waiting for her in his uniform and quickly hopped in the cruiser when he saw her pull up.
"Holy crap Carrots! You're all over the news!"
"Well hello to you too Slick. No, "How was your mission Judy?" "What was it like meeting Auli'i Cravalho? How was Inglewood?" She asked sarcastically.
Nick let out a small chuckle. "Y'know I'm really starting to rub off on you Carrots… I couldn't be more proud!" Nick mockingly gushed.
Judy rolled her eyes and Nick continued to push for details.
"Seriously though! You're everywhere! What happened?!"
Judy then proceeded to tell her best friend and partner everything that happened with the attacker on her mission.
"You didn't even notice some mammal taking your picture? No flash?" Nick asked, surprised.
"Well I was kind of in the middle of something, excuse me for not thinking about fending off paparazzi too." Judy muttered bitterly.
"You're right Judy. I'm sorry... Has the Chief reached out to you yet?"
Judy sighed. "No, but I have a feeling he's going to have a word with me once we get into work though." Judy said as she parked the cruiser.
Nick and Judy walked into the precinct surrounded by it's usual hustle and bustle. Officers coming in with their arrests, co workers were quietly chatting among themselves, and Clawhauser was of coursemanning the front desk.
The fox and rabbit walked up to the front desk so Judy could give the cruiser key back.
"Hey Clawhauser!" Judy greeted
"Oh Judy! I'm so glad to see you're alright! I saw you on the news this morning and I was so worried that you or Auli'i got hurt!" Clawhauser exclaimed.
"Thank you for the concern but I'm fine and so is Auli'i."
"Phew! Well I'm glad to hear that! Oh and Judy! before you go to the bullpen, Chief Bogo wants to see you."
"Great. I can only imagine why." She muttered bitterly and looked over at her partner.
"I'll meet in the bullpen Slick." Nick nodded and gave her and Clawhauser a lazy salute before heading into the bullpen.
'I shouldn't be in trouble right? Chief would've called if it was super important right?'
'Of course he is the Chief and he could've gotten busy and didn't have a chance to call.'
All these thoughts consumed Judy until she knocked on the Chiefs door and he told her to enter.
"You wanted to see me sir?" Judy asked nervously.
"Yes Officer Hopps I did."
Bogo's tone was sweeter than honey which just made Judy even more nervous.
"So, I was watching the news this morning, The good old ZNN. The usual stuff was on everything from big government projects, to a little kindergarten mouse who wrote quite the paper about who she admires most."
Chief Bogo took a pause before continuing.
"And then to my absolute surprise they show a photograph of one of my best officers kicking some mammal unconscious!"
Judy was about to explain herself but Chief Bogo cut her off.
"Now I'm sure you had a good reason for doing that, Hopps. There's no doubt in my mind that he was a criminal who deserved what he got but this is a very serious matter. You know that when things like THIS make it to the public the story always gets twisted and it makes us look-"
Chief Bogo was caught off when his office phone started ringing. He glanced over at it and held up a hoof to Judy before taking the call.
"Hello? ... Yes this is him … Oh Miss Cravalho! ..."
Judy's eyes went wide.
"Yes, I know it wasn't her fault … yes she's here … Okay, I can let her know- you want to talk to her? ... Alright here she is."
Bogo handed Judy the phone and then exited the office.
"Hello?"
"Oh Judy! I saw the news this morning! I'm so sorry to see all that! I should've just gone out the front entrance with you! None of this would've happened if I would've just taken the main exit!"
"Auli'i I already told you that it's not your fault!" Judy protested.
"I guess… But I still feel guilty! And some of the media is making you out to be the bad guy! I know that while there are rotten cops who do bad things this isn't the case and I will totally vouch for you! You're a hero Judy! You're my hero!"
Judy let out a small sigh of relief.
"Thank you Auli'i. I really appreciate your support in all this. But I'm not a hero, I'm just a police officer who was doing her job."
"And you're modest! Look, I'm going to do an interview with ZNN and try to clear all this up. I promise everything will be okay."
"Okay, thanks again Auli'i."
"It's no problem! I pretty much owe you my life so this is the least I could do. Take care now Judy!" And with that Auli'i hung up.
"Guess I should get to the bullpen" Judy muttered to herself. She hopped down from the chair and made a quick dash to the bullpen. When she got in everyone was sitting down and the Chief was just getting started on assignments. Bogo didn't say anything to her when she walked in to the shock of her coworkers and carried on.
"Alright, assignments. Officers Grizzoli, Fangmeyer, Delgato; your teams will be patrolling the rainforest district once again for any signs of illegal drug activity. Officers McHorn, Rhinowitz, Wolfard; your teams take Sahara Square. Let's see about catching some more of those speeders today. Officers Higgins, Snarlov, Trunkaby: Tundratown. Keep an eye out for any suspicious deals going on in the area. And finally Officer Hopps and Wilde you guys are on patrol duty here in Savanna central. Everyone's dismissed."
Nick and Judy grabbed a set of patrol keys from the front desk and started their day. It was mostly a typical day until they went on break. Judy parked the car on the side of the road and the two went for a quick walk to a local sub shop.
On the way to lunch Judy couldn't shake the feeling that every mammal on the street was staring at her. Some pointed over at her and one pig even walked up and screamed;
"Omg you're the mammal who saved Auli'i's life!"
Judy just gave the pig a small smile and a wave and continued walking.
"Well, it looks like you're the talk of the town today, Carrots." Nick teased
Judy didn't say anything and just blushed and rubbed her arm shyly.
The two mammals walked into the sub shop and nearly every mammal stopped and stared at Judy and thanks to her keen hearing she could hear all of them muttering about her.
"Oh my goodness that's Judy Hopps! The one who just saved Auli'i Cravalho's life!"
"Can you believe she and Auli'i Cravalho made it out of that alive and without a scratch?"
"Did she really have to kick that guy unconscious though? Couldn't she have done something without it escalating into violence?"
Judy wanted to just get her lunch and get out of there. Everyone was looking and talking about her. Most looked at her awestruck, others looked angry and disgusted, and some even looked scared. She was so consumed with everyone around her that Nick had to nudge her when it was her turn to order.
Quickly she ordered her food and handed the cashier some money.
"Nick, I just want to get back to the car. Would you mind just getting my sandwich and bringing it out to me?"
Nick gave her a skeptical look but didn't ask any questions.
"Uh sure Carrots."
"Thanks Nick!" And with that Judy bolted as fast as she could out of the sub shop and got right in the drivers side of the cruiser. She took a few deep breaths to calm her racing heart.
'How do celebrities deal with this on a daily basis? The judgement and the constant praise. It's all so… overwhelming.'
While Judy was trying to calm herself down Nick entered the vehicle with their lunches.
"Here you go Judy." Nick said as he handed her a white to-go container.
"Thanks Nick." Judy opened the container and started to dig into her veggie sandwich.
"So, you want to tell me why you bolted out of there like that?"
"Nick, didn't you hear all those mammals talking about me? The whispering, the glances. It was just too much."
Nick nodded.
"I did notice every mammal's head turned in our direction but my hearing is nowhere near as good as yours... "
Judy sighed. "I hate this. I just hope this is all over soon."
"It will be Carrots. You know how quickly stories go through in the media. You'll be old news by next week! Besides, isn't Auli'i doing that interview later on ZNN? That should help clear some of this up."
"Yeah she is. Thanks Nick, you always know what to say."
"Well I got to use this silver tongue somehow." He said with a smirk.
Judy rolled her eyes.
"Alright Slick, let's get back to work."
"Yay! Work!" He exclaimed sarcastically.
The rest of their shift went pretty well for the most part. Nick and Judy did have to pull over a few speeders and such. Of course the mammals that got pulled over were either awestruck by Judy or disgusted but she chose to not let it get to her and continued on until hers and Nick's shift was over.
The two mammals parked at the Precinct quarter after five and clocked out for the day. When Judy and Nick got there a bunch of her co-workers were gathered around the television in the break room.
"Hey whatcha guys watching?" Judy asked
"ZNN. Auli'i Cravalho is going to be doing an interview soon!" Clawhauser exclaimed.
Judy took a deep breath. She felt Nick put a paw on her arm for support and she looked up at him gratefully.
A few moments later there was a "whoosh" like sound and the ZNN logo came onto the television screen. Then a white wolf in a turquoise suit sitting behind a large desk came onto to the screen
"Hello! I'm your host Andy Lagopus and today we have a very special guest. The one and only Miss Auli'i Cravalho!"
Auli'i gave a small wave to the camera before turning back to Andy.
"So Auli'i, I just want to start off by congratulating you for winning the award for "Breakout Star"."
"Thank you! It was truly an honor!"
"I bet it was!... However I'm pretty sure most mammals want to know what happened after the show. You and your bodyguard, the renowned police officer Judy Hopps, were confronted by some mammal who was trying to rob you, correct?"
"Yes. It was absolutely terrifying! If it wasn't for Judy I would've gotten robbed and the both of us could've gotten seriously hurt or worse! But thanks to Judy's bravery, quick thinking, and quick reflexes she saved our lives!"
"Yes, I'm sure I can speak for every mammal that we're glad to see you and Judy come out of that incident unharmed. Although from what I've heard the attacker has suffered from a concussion and other injuries... I have to ask, there are some mammals who think that Judy's actions were unjust and that she took things a bit too far… What do you have to say about that?"
Judy scowled at the screen momentarily.
"Well, I'm going to have to disagree with them. If Judy wouldn't have taken action then who knows what would've happened to us. She was just doing her job in protecting me and making sure I was safe! I can say that she fully succeeded without a doubt and the actions she took were appropriate and necessary."
Just like that Judy's scowl was wiped off and replaced with a blushing smile. It meant a lot to her that Auli'i defended her with such high praise.
"I couldn't agree with you more Auli'i. Thank you for coming in to speak with us and I'm sorry to say it looks like we're out of time. Thank you for tuning in with us." Afterwards the ZNN logo came back into view and went into commercials.
All of Judy's coworkers in the room looked over at her and gave reassuring smiles that made Judy's heart swell. It was moments like these that made her proud to be a police officer. To honor, protect, and serve her community.
Nick gave her a pat on the back.
"You did good Hopps." He said honestly. The other officers around them nodded their heads and muttered in agreement.
"Thanks Slick." She turned to face the rest of her coworkers, "And thank you guys for always supporting me and always having my back."
Judy let out a huge sigh of relief. She felt as if a huge weight was just lifted off of her but honestly, it no longer mattered to Judy what some mammals out there thought of her actions. As long as she knew what was right and she had her work family by her side there was nothing she couldn't overcome.
A/N: Thank you so much to those of you who finished reading this story! I really hoped you enjoyed it! Thank you to JBlaser for requesting this idea! If any of you guys has any requests for me to write anything else feel free to PM me! I'm more than happy to take requests! Until next time!