It has been about a year and a half since the night howler incident. Nick Wilde has joined the ZPD police force and has been partnered with Detective Judy Hopps. Judy is an extremely ambitious bunny and she made detective within a year, especially because of all of the fame from solving the night howler case. Judy was insistent that Nick also be promoted up to detective along side her and basically strong armed Chief Bogo into saying yes.

For this, Nick was extremely grateful. In fact, he was grateful for everything this bunny has done. If it wasn't for her, Nick would still be miserable, alone and hustling the streets of Zootopoia. The moment she came into his life, was the moment it completely changed. He had done a complete 180 and gave up the life of semi-legal and not so legal activities to become a police officer. He would never have joined the force if he was not able to work with Judy.

Nick was not stupid, far from it. However, when it came to his feelings or emotions. He was most definitely a dumb fox. Although it felt so long ago, when he was teasing Judy in their police cruiser and said "You know you love me." She responded, "Yes, yes I do." It was simple and short, returning the tease. But as time went on, that stuck with him.

He began to notice as they were working together, that occasionally he would be entranced with a certain white, fluffy object that just so happened to be connected to her rear. He would fantasize about playing with the cotton ball. If that wasn't bad enough, he started to explore in other areas as well. Just like any other male, they all watched certain "entertainers" conducting themselves in some not so family friendly ways. Over time. he began to notice that his search history involved less vixens and more rabbits. It was then, that he began to realize, I am falling for Judy... He thought to himself.

This was a constant awkward strain. He constantly told himself, that he could not have a romantic relationship with Judy. There were just too many obstacles. For one she was his partner at work and that kind of fraternization was forbidden by police policy. But not only police policy, but also city policy. The city of Zootopia had strictly forbidden the engagement or otherwise romantic collusions of two animals of differing species. As time went on, and the city became more progressive, there were protests in the streets and strikes chanting, "love is love". Eventually city policy might get overturned, but at the moment it was forbidden.

Nick woke up at an early hour. He was in his two bedroom apartment and began cleaning himself and getting dressed in his uniform. Nick may have been considered a detective by some, but he still was required to wear his beat cop uniform when he was on duty. Judy however, was not required to do so, but she insisted that she should wear her uniform anyways. Nick smiled to himself as he made his morning toast and blueberry jam. She is so cute when she gets like that. He shook his head. No Nick! If you keep thinking like this, they are going to split you and Judy up. He sighed. Why did his life have to be so difficult?

He pulled out his phone and began answering some emails. Nick's apartment was nice, large and semi-luxurious. This means that it was way out of his paygrade as a cop so he put a couple ads online looking for a roommate. He had already gotten a few and set up interviews for later this evening.

When Nick made it to work he went straight into his and Judy's office. As per usual, Judy was early. "Hey Carrots, long time no see." He joked.

"Nick, I saw you yesterday." She replied.

"That's still too long for me." In all seriousness, it was too long for Nick. "Who is going to laugh at my masterful jokes if I'm all alone."

Judy rolled her eyes, "you need a hobby Nick."

Nick pouted and began working on his paperwork. After a couple hours they had planned to go to the evidence lockup to try and figure out a lead on their newest case. Mammals were being found dead and nothing that was left behind could tie them to a killer. After checking out some of the evidence and picture of the crime scenes, they laid out all of the files and object on a large table in their office. They began making a map on a white board, while also relating the objects trying to find something or anything in common.

"A dead tiger, rodent, deer and wolf." Judy said with her paw on her chin. "Whoever is behind this is killing animals of all shapes and sizes."

Nick looked over all of the pictures and the autopsy files of each victim. "All female and none showed any signs of a struggle." Nick rubbed the top of his head. "That means they either knew the killer or were caught off guard. But, they were all shot in the front chest so I assume they were looking at their killer when this happened." Nick stretched his head back, "Ugh, but other than that they have nothing else in common."

Judy was still studying the files. "I think we need more evidence to be certain of anything. If we can somehow scrounge up any person that knew to two of theses people, then I think that is a good lead or at least a place to start."

Nick shrugged, "There isn't much we can do right now. We already interviewed their families." Nick's stomach gurgled and shrieked. He chuckled, "I definitely cannot think on an empty stomach, lets go get some food Carrots."

Judy nodded her head, "Agreed."

They made their way to their favorite food joint. It was right near the precinct and served the best black-bean burgers. Judy would always order half of a burger, because her small bunny belly could only hold so much food. She typically got filled on the salad before the burger even arrived. They dug in as soon as the food arrived.

"So tell me, Fluff." Nick said in-between chews. "What has the famous Judy Hopps been up to outside of work?"

Judy sighed, "nothing really, I have been staying at home inside reading book or studying this case. I don't know Nick, I have a horrible feeling about this one." She continued munching on her salad, eyes gleaming when she stuffed a carrot into her mouth.

Nick chuckled, "And I thought you said I needed a hobby." She chuckled and rolled her eyes. "To be honest, I have been pretty bored myself." He checked his calendar on his phone and closed his eyes. Stop being so weird Wilde, I'm pretty sure bunnies can smell fear. "Tomorrow is Friday, we have the weekend off, how about we do something fun tomorrow. Maybe a movie."

Judy raised an eyebrow and gave Nick a quizzical look, "Well that depends, what movie?"

Nick shrugged, "any movie you want Fluff, as long as the movie doesn't have too much fluff."

Judy's eyes widened, "Any movie?"

Nick nodded hesitantly, "Yes?" Although now not so sure about his decision.

Judy beamed and almost pushed herself onto the table, "Great! I have been wanting to see this one movie and have been waiting for it to come out." She sucked in a breath, barely breathing between words. "And it came out last week, I didn't to go alone! Isn't it weird to go alone! I think its weird!"

Nick just sat there smiling and watched Judy go on about the movie she wanted to see. I love to see her when she's this happy. His smile faltered a little, I wish this could be a date. But I know the stupid policy. Nick had never cared about policy before, as long as they didn't bother him he didn't care. He always saw people protesting and would steer clear of the unwanted eyes. But now it felt different. He cared about their cause and actually agreed with it. He wanted to go out there and protest himself. But who would listen to a fox? He felt like he would just deter people to agree with it.

Eventually coming back to reality, he noticed that Judy was still going on about the movie they were going to see. Her violet eyes intent on seeing this movie, never breaking her gaze looking at him. He chuckled inwardly and finished his lunch. Judy only finished talking about the movie once they finally returned back to the precinct. She was excited and that made Nick look forward to the following day even more. The rest of the day was just completing boring paperwork as they had no more leads to go on.

This dragged on as Nick just wished tomorrow would come. Sure he enjoyed spending time and joking with Judy, but not doing paperwork for hours. Judy always forced him to focus and cracked down on his jokes. Quite honestly that made paperwork even harder to do.

As they were just about done, Chief Bogo walked into their office flanked by an unfamiliar muzzle. He was a large grizzly bear in a full suit and red tie. He had dark glasses on and reached for his ID. He showed a badge that had his picture on it and ZBI.

"Good afternoon," the bear had spoke. "I am Agent Bear with the Zootopia Bureau of Intelligence. It appears that the case you are working on is connected to one of our most wanted cases. As a result, as of now we are taking over your case." The bear began remove case files and evidence from their office.

''WHAT!" Judy and Nick yelled in unison. "B-but," Judy stammered. "We have been working on this case for months! We can't just get kicked off this case!"

Bogo lifted his hoof, "Detective Hopps, it is now out of your paws. Please let the agent take the case files and I will assign you both a new case next week." Judy threw her paws up in protest and opened her muzzle to speak before Bogo cut her off, "I understand you both put a lot of effort and work into this. Why don't you both take the rest of the week off to clear your minds."

Judy clenched her paws and stood there steaming before she took a deep breath, "Come on Nick." She jerked he head towards the door. Nick gave her a mock salute, "Yes ma'am". As they made their way out of the door, Judy shot daggers at the bear before storming out of the office. Nick followed in close pursuit.

The entire precinct was crawling with ZBI agents collecting files, data and evidence. Judy shook her head in denial before continuing out of the precinct. "I can't believe it!" She yelled.

"Neither can I," Nick awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "But, on a good note, we got the day off tomorrow." Judy glared at him causing Nick to gulp. He checked his watch and saw the time: 4:32 pm. He sighed, "Do you want to grab a drink or something to get your mind off of things?"

Judy shook her head. "I'm probably just gonna go home. I'm not in the mood to go out right now."

Nick raised and eyebrow, "You're going home to work on the case aren't you?" Judy's eyes shot up and got slightly red. She stammered causing Nick to laugh. "I was spot on." Nick gave Judy his signature smile causing her to un-tense her shoulders.

She smiled a little, "You know me too well Nick. I'm gonna head home anyways but this doesn't change the movie plans for tomorrow!"

He shook his head, "Of course not! I'll see you tomorrow Carrots at noon?"

She nodded and said goodbye before trotting off still looking a bit upset.

Nick sighed and made his way home. He knew that work was one of Judy's favorite things and seeing her upset like that did not make him feel any better. Being honest, Nick was happy to have time off and wanted to spend the day with Judy. He just wished there was something he could do to make her feel better.

As if on cue Nick got a text from Judy:

JUDY: Hey Nick, I totally forgot! The Hopps annual harvest festival is this weekend. I know you weren't able to go last time and was wondering if you wanted to go this weekend?

Nick was excited to go and he had nothing better to do. Last year he was at the police academy and was not able to attend, but this year he thought he could make it. So he responded:

NICK: I'm free this weekend. Sounds like a plan Carrots

JUDY: Great! I'll pick you up on Saturday at 7 in the morning.

He always wanted to visit BunnyBurrow because of everything Judy had said about it. It would have been a little weird for a fox to go alone, so he decided to just wait until Judy asked him to tag along. He smiled a little to himself, it felt like this weekend was going to be a lot of fun.

He pulled out his keys and unlocked the door. He threw his keys on the nearby table and slumped into his couch laying his head back. It was a long and tiring day, especially getting kicked off the case. Nick started thinking about ordering a pizza for dinner when there was a knock at his door.

Nick groaned and got up to check who it was. Who would be visiting me? I don't have many visitors. Nick still had his uniform on and answered the door. There stood a few animals looking at him with anticipation. "Nick Wilde?" One of them asked.

"Yes, I am indeed Nick Wilde, may I ask why you are here?" Nick raised an eyebrow.

A grey wolf spoke up, "Sir we are here for the roommate interviews." Nick's eyes grew wide and slapped his forehead with his paw. He completely forgot about the interviews. Nick motioned for them to come inside and he let them sit down on his couch. On the other side of the room there was the dinner table where he began interviewing each animal one at a time.

Nick looked at the time, it was almost 7:00 pm and he was finally on his last interview. None of the candidates so far peaked his interest. They all seemed mediocre. This last one was the grey wolf from before. He was definitely a wolf but also quite a bit smaller than most wolves. So much so that he was able to walk around Nick's apartment without too much issue. He had bright blue eyes and a sly grin, one Nick knew all too well.

Being a police officer had his perks. He was able to pull public records and background checks for each candidate. Nick pulled out his file and looked at the pictures. The grey wolf with blue eyes matched the grey wolf sitting before him. "You name is Jason Wolfe?" Nick asked.

"The one and only, but please call me Wolfe." He said smiling. So far everything was in order. He had no record at all, not so much as a parking ticket.

"Where do you work?"

"I work at ZBI." He answered proudly. Nicks ears flattened. They just didn't give him a break today.

"What, are you people stalking me and Judy?" Nick said, anger rising in his tone.

Wolfe's ears drooped. "Sir I don't understand."

Nick shook his head, "ZBI agents just barged into our precinct and took over my partner's and my case. Now they send agents to my home too?"

Wolfe chuckled lightly and returned looking embarrassed, "No Sir, I am a janitor for the ZBI headquarters. I like to say I'm a facilities agent to try and spice it up a little."

Nick laughed and rubbed one of his ears, "Sorry about that, kind of had a rough day today." Wolfe waved his hands dismissively. He had excellent credit and a stable job. He definitely looked like the best candidate he had and probably will get. Nick then pulled out a contract Judy had helped write for him. By help, Judy did all of the work.

"Okay Wolfe, I am happy to have you as a roommate. If you are willing yourself, go ahead and sign this contract that basically removes liability, and our agreed upon price." Wolfe did a once over of the contract and happily signed it at the bottom. Nick stuck it into a manila envelope and stashed it away. "When would you like to move in?"

Wolfe's head perked up and he began panting excitedly. Nick assumed he would be wagging his tail if he wasn't sitting. "Is right now okay?" Wolfe asked. Nick chuckled and nodded his head. Wolfe immediately jumped up and hurried outside to collect his things. Wow, he came prepared. Nick thought to himself. He looked down and saw a key lying on the table. And I forgot to give him a key. This thought was immediately followed by a knock on the door. Nick answered and sure enough stood Wolfe with a single suitcase.

"That's all you have?" Nick asked bewildered.

Wolfe chuckled, "Dude, I'm a janitor. Also do you have a spare key by chance?" Nick handed him the spare key and gave him a sorry about that glance. Nick then returned to slouching on the couch while Wolfe unpacked his things. I am hungry! Nick paused, I wish Judy wanted to grab something today. She seemed so bummed and I wish I could have done something. Nick heard rustling from the other room that sounded like he was hanging up clothes. I would have missed the interviews. Nick sighed.

"You alright Nick?" Wolfe asked peeking his head out the door.

Nick waved him off, "Yea I'm fine don't worry about it. Just a long day." Don't let them see that they got to you. He thought to himself.

Wolfe exited the room and headed for the door. "No, you aren't fine. Come." He jerked his head to the door and Nick gave him a confused look. "Let's go grab a drink and a bite to eat. My treat." Nick smiled and he followed Wolfe to the nearby restaurant. He might be able to get used to this roommate thing.