Author's Note: Happy Fourth of July everyone (even to my non american readers, I know things aren't exactly good here, but we're a very resilient nation). As a little holiday special, I strongly suggest (non americans included) that if you haven't heard the song God Bless the USA to look it up right now (it's one of the few songs that actually makes me feel emotional, you have to hear it yourself). Anyhow, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Chapter Three: Baggage

ZPD Precinct One

Chief Hopps' office was an interesting place for Skye Frost, not being what she pictured as a little girl and not expecting to be called up there on her very first day. Aside from the large mahogany desk and the rabbit sized chair designed to accompany it, and the flag of the United Mammalian States in the back right corner next to the window, there was some decor that suggested a far more personal, less bureaucratic touch.

One of the first things she noticed was that on the wall to the left of her were two submachine guns in a display case that had a plaque of some sort that she couldn't read. There were also quite a few pictures of the long dead original Nick Wilde. Skye knew that Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde were partners at one point, but didn't really understand what was with all of the pictures until she saw what looked like a wedding photo on the chief's desk and it hit her.

"He was more than a partner," asked Skye to Hopps, "wasn't he?"

"Those were the best years of my life," replied Hopps, "but it's too bad it had to end. Things have never been right since that day."

"No shit," replied Nick, "Dad said he'd have plenty of time to teach me how to be a man as I grew up. You should've sent Grassman and O'Laughlin to the chair."

"It's good that you still don't know death the way I do," replied Hopps, "you've never had to shoot a mammal with the intent to kill. That's a luxury that your father and I never had!"

"Some mammals aren't worth saving," said Nick, "Stripes and Joker are two of the most vicious and disgusting creatures to ever walk the streets of this godforsaken city. Sorry for acknowledging that they ruined our lives by fucking up Dad."

"Some unresolved anger," asked Skye.

"You remind me of marriage counselors when I used to see them," replied Hopps, "but enough distractions, we have business to attend to," she turned to Nick, "Junior, you have had eight partners in the last four years. That's an average of two partners you've run off in a year. Completely unacceptable, especially because I know you are capable of far more than that."

"Do I have to partner with him," asked Skye.

"Yes," replied Hopps, "you don't have a choice. I swore I'd give Wilde one last chance before I canned him," she continued, "I figured that since he identified as more fox than anything else, bless his heart, that he'd be more receptive to one of his own kind. Plus I read your file, I think you'd be a good influence on him."

"I don't know if you know this," said Skye, "but I've met your son yesterday and he didn't exactly make a good impression on me."

"Was he smoking again?"

Skye nodded yes.

"My God Junior," said Hopps, "grow the hell up! I've been feeling some of the same things you have all this time and I still manage to act my age because I accept that I can't bring him back no matter how badly I want to and that there are still some things worth living for in this world. We'll see him again someday, but for now we have responsibilities to live up to. Be nice to Officer Frost, help train her at her job, stay within department regulations and I'll let you do whatever you want. Just don't run her off or you're fired and not invited to Christmas this year. Good day!"

Nick and Skye made their way out of the office, seeing that Chief Hopps was no longer in a talking mood. It wasn't long before they heard the door slam followed by something that sounded like crying.

"I know I'd never speak to my parents that way," said Skye to Nick, "so what's with all the bad blood anyways?"

"Try losing your childhood ten years before you should have," replied Nick, "and she was no help when I really could've used it."

"Did you have anyone to talk to," asked Skye.

"Gabriel had already moved out by then," replied Nick, "even though he saw some really sick shit as a kid, he just couldn't help. Uncle Danny was all fucked up from the same assholes that killed dad, and his daddy issues didn't make helping me out any easier," he continued, "Uncle Benji spent a ridiculous amount of time cleaning up my mom's mess at work and mom drank way more than she should have for the next couple years then kept lecturing me about accepting what happened and moving on. Dad was the only mammal who could really get down to my level, so when he died, so did my chances of not turning out like this."

"Sounds like a fun childhood," said Skye, "maybe we can get something to eat at the start of our patrol and talk about this like mature adults?"

"Alright," said Nick, "I'll bite, but you let me have a smoke first."

"Aren't you worried about lung cancer," asked Skye.

"Aren't you worried about being ripped to shreds by a twelve gauge," asked Nick sarcastically.

(Christmas in Hollis by Run DMC)

Skye could feel all of the unresolved tension even as she left the building for the parked cruiser and began her first day of work with what appeared to be the most hated officer on the force. She knew it was going to be a long day.

Zootopia Correctional Facility

D-Wing of the massive prison was home to some of the worst offenders in the city. Serial killers, drug kingpins, pedophiles and every other kind of violent sociopath occupied the heavily reinforced cells. In one of these cells was career criminal David "Stripes" Grassman, a zebra who at the age of seventeen, murdered Narcotics Sergeant Nick Wilde while robbing a Happytown pharmacy. He remembered facing the fox, who had a checkered past himself, demanding that he drop the shotgun.

Much the amusement of his friend, a hyena named Kevin O'Laughlin, David pretended to lower the shotgun, before casually pulling the trigger and making a hideous red mess out of the fox. O'Laughlin, who went by the alias Joker, just couldn't stop laughing as the fox lay there dying.

Joker had even more fun when the other cop, a kangaroo, barged in to his partner's aide. Joker simply put his revolver back in his pocket and intentionally grazed the kangaroo's sides with David's shotgun, howling with glee at the suffering of two cops.

David knew that since he was doing time for capital murder, legally he'd never see the light of day. But twenty years was a long time and having learned the ropes of crime after being in the joint, along with a much more accommodating field of crime now that he'd grown up, now was the perfect time to escape, possibly bust out Joker alongside with him and have some real fun.

"Guards," he groaned curled up in bed, pretending to suffer from some sort of chronic illness while hiding a homemade knife, "my insides feel like shit!"

"So what," groaned a moose prison guard as he slowly approached the cell to unlock it, "if you get sick and die, nobody's crying for you." He unlocked it and walked up to David, who actually managed to convince the guard that there was something wrong with him other than his brain.

"Funny," said David slyly as he felt the guard approach him, clutching the knife, "I feel the same way about you assholes.

He then stood up and had the guard in headlock with the blade to the moose's throat before he could react.

This city is about to be my bitch, thought David as he prepared to carry out the escape plan.

Author's Note: I figured that while I set up Nick Jr. and Skye's relationship that I'd also dive deep into what happened to Nick and what it did to Judy. It also seemed like it would be the best time to introduce the villain of the story. See you all tomorrow!