A/N: I'm being followed by Cimar of Turalis Wildehopps! Sorry this wolf just had to howl when I found out. I told all my friends in the fandom already and this was just minutes ago. I got the email notification and dropped my phone in surprise I kid you not. Between twilight fox loving how I'm doing with it and Cimar I totally freaked out. Okay on with the story. BTW on an unrelated note I did this supermarket job of Nick's for five years so when I say it's horrible and disgusting I know it for a fact. Also I did everything short of handling the register and management so I know every cleaning method and customer service technique they use to make your shopping experience safe, quick and enjoyable.

Disclaimer: Down the garbage chute flyboy! So many conflicting articles about Zootopia sequels and I want none of them to have primates or characters with the name 'poopypants'. I'm not kidding. That's actually in one or two articles. Please Disney don't do anything that stupid.

Chapter 3 Eew gross!

Judy and Nick would neither talk or acknowledge each other the whole drive to work. They didn't want to give Finnick more ammo to use in his teasing. Of course once they were stuck on garbage duty together they had to talk just to pass the time. Finnick, of course, kept sending Raymond and Kevin to check on them. The two polar bears had no clue what was going on and Nick wasn't about to tell them.

Judy quickly came to despise garbage duty. It was smelly and gross. The one good part was Nick. Every time a bag broke or they needed to double team a heavy bag or whatever he'd crack some dumb joke or pun and make them both laugh.

"Hey Fluff," he said after one of the bags from the ladies room split, "what did the wolf say when his pants fell down? Sorry about the full moon!"

The laughter took her mind off the nasty blood stained things her gender tossed in the trash. (You know you've had to do it at some point ladies and guess what the cheap garbage bags some stores use don't do the job and somebody has to clean it up. Sorry to point it out but eh shit happens)

"So wolves howl at the moon? For real? I thought it was one of those tall tales my granny would tell us about life on Earth."

Judy was fascinated by the things that the stories got wrong and those that were actually true. Like elephants aren't actually scared of mice but will go out of their way to avoid them on account of the size differences. Or the fact that foxes are not these wandering Casanovas going from girl to girl in order to get their rocks off. The whole mating for life thing was really extreme for a fox in fact to the point that they both die when one does. Nick hadn't told her that. Finnick did that morning in the van during the drive. She had thought he was just trying to get a rise out of her but Nick had confirmed it. The look he gave her when he said that was confusing. If she didn't know better then it may have been one of longing.

She liked some of their co-workers. The polar bears Raymond and Kevin acted all tough but were surprisingly well mannered, even when teasing Nick about his current punishment detail. Ace had a definite wandering eye when he looked at her but was genuinely concerned about Nick's problems with customer service. He was cute for a rabbit but not her type. At least that was the reason she gave him when he had asked her out. The first time, three seconds into the introduction. The second time he had started by saying that he would love to show her the sights since she was new to the city. She replied that Nick was taking her on a tour on their next day off. He wasn't but Ace didn't need to know that.

"Hey, there Judy," Ace said near the end of their shift, "listen I know I'm coming on a little strong and I'm sorry for that, but you know I don't see too many females of our kind. I saw you and I just thought that maybe I, I don't know, could give it a shot at love. Ya know?"

"Ace," Judy said sweetly, "I don't want to date right now. If you don't get that through your thick head I'm going to cause harm to your little head. Is that clear enough for you? If you want to know why tell Nick that I said it was alright for him to tell you. Got it?"

The squeak that came from Ace at her not too subtle threat was mildly amusing as he turned to hurry away. Too many guys had pulled that fake apology ask out before with her to not spot it. Hopefully once Ace heard the story they had come up with he'd leave her alone, but something told her he was equally likely to redouble his efforts.

…

Mars

Jack Savage had been humiliated. His own officer had escaped the forced relocation by stealing a police space capable cruiser. The tongue lashing he had received from the government officials was equally mortifying. How it had gotten to the news outlets he had no idea but he reputation had taken another hit there. And now the biggest problem he had to deal with was the riots. Every day there was another riot. The families of the does that had been on the first shuttle were all pissed. The fathers, mothers, brothers, and boyfriends and husbands had begun gathering in ever increasing numbers and angrier and angrier groups. His remaining officers, all male of course, were all on overtime trying to stop the riots from getting out of hand. They were failing miserably. Cottontail and Leaps had both been injured the night of the first deportation and were not back to full duty yet.

Over and over the same thing was being said at every riot. 'Bring back our does.' The Hopps family were one of the most outspoken of the leaders of these riots. The damned press had somehow gotten the news that the transponder in the cruiser Judy had stolen had failed somewhere between Mars and Earth and that had only inflamed the problem. He was getting the brunt of the blame for her apparent death when the news broke that the Jupiter relocation was akin to a death sentence for all those involved. Shortly after a house belonging to a member of MSH(Mars Space Headquarters) was burned out by a crowd of angry family members led by one of Judy's brothers. No bunny had been hurt but he had been arrested nonetheless. The reports were just getting worse when his office assistant, an elderly doe with no living family a replacement for his young attractive one who had already been deported, came in.

"Mr. Savage," the old girl stammered when she spoke but her typing was remarkable for her age, "there is a call for you from the motor pool."

"Thank you Agnes." he said as he picked up the phone. "Chief Savage here…. Repeat that. What?!"

He hung up with a dark smile on his face. She was alive on Earth. The transponder was just reactivated.

…

She was right about Ace. He played the false sympathy card on his fourth attempt. Nick had been forced to hold her back from decking him. The whole thing only made Finnick laugh his head off before telling Ace to meet him in his office. The threat of being fired for sexual harassment and the not too subtle hints that she might be a pred chaser shut Ace up pretty quick. It was a very despondent Ace who left the store shortly after. Produce mammals got off early and a good thing too or he might have left with a busted nose.

About an hour before their shift ended a familiar elderly hyena lady dropped a glass jar of salsa.

"Clean up on the condiment aisle." Raymond's scratchy voice sounded over the PA system.

"Ah damnit!" Nick said, "Carrots, grab that mop and bucket. I need to get some cardboard."

Judy did as he said and watched as he snatched up a stained piece of cardboard and a box that he had set aside earlier in the day. They brought what they needed to the mess and Nick blinked at the old lady who was apologizing for being so clumsy. Judy wondered why she kept calling him Mr Foxton and gave Nick a look that he answered by mouthing the word later.

"Oh Mr Foxton I'm so sorry about this," she whined, "I have arthritis and it just slipped out."

"It's okay Ma'am." he assured her as he used the piece of cardboard to scoop the glass and as much mess as he could into the box. Then he sighed before continuing, "And it's Wilde Ma'am, not Foxton. Before you bite my head off, I acted very rudely the other day and I'm very sorry for it. I should not have said what I did to you that way. I hope you can forgive me."

"Took you long enough Mr. Wilde," she said, "I actually was just waiting on your apology."

The old hyena lady carefully put a jar of salsa in her cart and wandered off down the aisle. Nick looked on in disbelief.

"She knew the whole time?" he said more than a little shocked. "Okay just keep mammals away from the mess till I get back."

Nick lugged the box away through the back and to the compactor. Just as he was tossing it in the wind blew up and threw the box back over his head. Luckily the glass completely missed him somehow but he was covered in salsa. Careful to not just toss it this time he got the box in the trash and ran inside to get some paper towels. After getting some of the gunk off his face and uniform he snatched up a broom, a dustpan and a container of the powered cleaner that he used on messes like this. Nick tried to not run while hurrying back to Judy. Last thing they needed was another mess to clean up.

Judy saw what had taken so long just from his uniform and fur. He poured the powder on the remainder of the mess and swept it up into the dustpan. Then he had Judy mop up what was left.

The shift was finally over and a disheveled Nick led Judy to the bus stop. He told her about the old hyena lady. She told him that apologizing the way he did was a sweet thing to do and he smirked at her.

"Well, Carrots maybe you are making my awful days a bit better."