The Best of You

by Closed-Cycle

In the wake of the Night Howler incident, the city of Zootopia does its best to pick up the pieces, although not everything is picked up. Loose ends rarely tie themselves and often make others. Nick and Judy will once again be forced into hardships as they attempt to solve the next big case and tie up what's left.

3. The Case

17

The best of you

Chapter 3: The Case

Judy stares at the buffalo. He stares right back at her. The stillness in the office does nothing to calm the nerves of the rabbit. She frantically searches for a reason for the line of questioning. Nick had taught her that more often than not the reason for the question is more important than the question itself; just like the lie itself is usually a moot point when compared to the reason behind it. Her nose is on the verge of twitching itself off her face when Bogo leans back in his seat, the action knocks Judy form her stupor and she immediately knows the answer.

"Sir, Office Wilde proved himself in the academy, just like all the other officers in Precinct 1. He got A's in all his classes and even did better than me in the driving exams and night activities. I would not have asked for him specifically if I did not have full trust in his abilities." She forces her ears back up straight, bringing them off her shoulders. Not having nearly enough time to guess the reason for his line of questioning, Judy goes with the most honest answer she could give.

"So, you trust him with your life?" Bogo crosses his arms.

"Yes, yes I do." Judy tries to hide the small bit of doubt in her answer. She trusts him, sure, but with her life? Having such a heavy question asked so bluntly, by the chief of police, no less, causes her to squirm a little on the inside.

"Good, that's the answer I was expecting, I'm glad to hear he did well on his first day and ticketing the supposed street racer was a bonus as well. My officers are like family and I'm responsible for every one of them, as you know, please let me know if he has any problems fitting in... or problems with others on the force."

"Yes sir, I will." His last comment sounds odd, she doesn't know of anyone giving Nick problems so far, or even heard anything bad said about him. Still it is off seeing the brief glimpse into the soft side of the chief.

"Do you think Officer Wilde is ready to help with a potentially serious case, or do you believe he needs more time to get acquainted with the force?" So that's what this is about. The rabbit can now answer with much more confidence than before.

"If the academy is truly a good gauge of a recruit's ability to both handle and prevent civil unrest then his graduation is proof enough that he is capable. As I said before, I wouldn't want any other mammal by my side out on the beat and I feel the same way towards a more high-profile situation or case. Although, I will be honest, I'm not sure how he will feel personally. I think it would really depend on what the contents of the case would be."

"That is what worries me. Would you let him in, please?" Judy hops down from the chair and walks quickly to the door. She opens it and stick her head out into the hall. Her ears drop. He isn't there. He should most definitely be right outside the door, waiting. He didn't walk off, somewhere did he? Judy briefly contemplates how far he could throw a Fox off the balcony and into the main lobby. She looks to her left around the edge of the door and spots Nick a few steps down, leaning on the balcony railing, using his phone. More relief than she would like to admit hits her as he pockets his phone and makes his way into the office. It isn't until he passes by her that she sees the look on his face. Why he is so worried she can't understand. Both officers get on and then stand in the single, large seat placed in front of the chief's desk.

"Officer Wilde, how was your first day?"

"It was good, sir." I really shouldn't have made that joke this morning.

"Good, I was informed that you ticketed are supposed street racer, is that correct?"

"Yes sir, we caught him speeding and running red light, we ticketed him for both." Judy glances over at Nick. Saying it like that made it sound like they were so much harder on him rather than letting him off easy like they did. It is somewhat alarming to her how well Nick can lie without ever actually doing it out right.

"That's good, I'm glad you two were able to take care of that. Let's hope we don't have any problems from him again. Now, I would like to get to the real reason that I called you hear, it pertains to the night howler incident." Both the Fox and Rabbit come to full attention. Their ears turn directly towards the chief. "Our cybercrime division has reported findings involving the possible production of a new narcotic. We have some sleeper profiles on various forms that frequent use by drug traffickers and dealers. Talk of new drugs comes and goes like the seasons, it seems, so about six months ago when there was talk of a new substance it was mostly overlooked. Most of the time when this happens, it's usually just a mix of pre-existing substances, household cleaners, or even prescription drugs. We expected this to be the case but nevertheless kept tabs on it. Part of the reason we were slow picking up on this was that the new drug seemed to be called many different things by different users and dealers. It's also worth noting that the alleged users on different forms often claimed different effects from the drug. Some would say that they've taken something new called "Wild Dust" and said it produced similar effects to certain amphetamines. Others would say that they got a hold of "Prime" and said they experienced something like being on MDMA before blacking out and waking up somewhere else. One name stayed persistent, however, across multiple forms and websites. User called it "Cobalt", and they clamed it came in many different forms from a blue powder that was snorted, to a dark blue liquid that needed to be injected. Precinct 3 got us a lucky break when they apprehended a mammal acting strangely near Happy Town. Once they got the mammal in, they drug tested him and got a statement form him as well. It took a few tries, but we got him to open up and tell us about what he had taken. He claimed he took a new drug he had never tried before, he called it Prime. When we got the drugs tests back, we were surprised to see it came back positive with Night Howlers, among other things." The room fills with a new level of tension. Nicks paw is at his chin, claw out and scratching through his jaw fur deep in thought. Judy's ears slowly lay back, sticking straight out from the back of her head, something a mouse could probably use as a diving board.

"So… Mammals are using some form of night howlers to get high!? Are they crazy!? How is that even possible without them going completely insane and running around trying to kill anything that moves? Do we know who's distributing the new drug? Or what its made of exactly? Or how its made? Or who's making it or or… anything?" Judy paws are planted firmly on the desk, leaning forward she seems to almost challenge the Chief. He sighs before replying.

"No, Hopps, we have extremely little information on the current situation. This gets us to the reason I even bring up this situation in the first place. We've been placing a few officers from each precinct on this "case" to work on when new information arises. I use this term "case" very lightly, there's no true official investigation yet because there's so little information to investigate. But, given the obvious potential for this situation to go south, it needs preemptive measures. It's not going to hurt to keep a few officers up to date, primed and ready to go in the case something does arise. I would like to offer you the opportunity to be on this "team", as it were, of officers."

"Yes, absolutely, count me and Nick both in." Bogo snorts amusingly at the quick and demanding answer the Bunny cop gives him. Judy hasn't stopped surprising him, and her ability to readily throw herself into an unknown situation is interesting to say the least. It's so unlike a bunny, he thinks.

"Officer Hopps, consider yourself on, but you cannot speak on behalf of your partner. Wilde, if you don't feel comfortable taking the case that's fine, that being said, if you don't, you two will switch partners. If Judy is out on the beat with you and something comes up, we will need her immediately and you won't be up to date, we might lose time switching you out with someone who is. Also, on this note, if you do take the "case" then will need to get you up to speed on some more training and experience as well. I think it goes without saying that basically all other officers have more experience then you right now. Although, at the same time, your one of the few mammals that have first paw experience with Night Howlers, so you would be an asset in the situation were seeming to face." Bogos answer causes Judy's ears to drop flat against her back. He's right, she couldn't answer for Nick on this one. She looks over at him, his claws have moved down from his jaw and now work their way into his neck fur. He looks off into the distance seeming to take in all the information, contemplating his answer. A rock forms in the pit of Judy's stomach. Of course, he's not going to take the case, it's his first day on the job for carrots sake! He has one day worth of experience and is already being offered a "case" in a possibly disastrous situation! The more she thinks, the more the rock in her stomach sinks. She feels sick. After working so hard to get her friendship put back together with Nick after the press conference catastrophe and then getting him to join the police force and having to wait so long, she's going to lose him, again. Time seems to stretch out into an endless expense as she stares at Nick waiting for his inevitable answer of "no." She feels like pulling her ears off, could she ever just catch a break? After what seems like waiting an eternity in limbo, he speaks.

"If Judy is on the case," His paws stop messing with the fur on his neck and drop to his sides. He looks at Bogo with his ears perfectly erect, his tale stock still and his eyes laser beam focused into the water Buffalo. "Then count me in as well." His answer is confident, yet somehow seems to carry some manifestation of an ultimatum that he's made with himself, something he had never fully come to terms with until now.

"Good, I will have you updated on what we know as soon as I gather the relevant information. What we discussed here does not leave this room." He pauses and turns towards the one and only Fox officer. "I'm putting great trust in you, don't make me regret my decision." An impromptu staring match begins. Judy looks back and forth between the two males, trying to figure out why they are seeming to size one another up. Finally, Nick nods his head in agreement, never taking his eyes off the chief. Bogo nods as well. "Now, get out of my office, its late and I want to go home." With that both the Fox and Bunny said their goodbyes and hastily left the room. Silence hangs around them as they make their way from the overhang to the elevator to take them to ground level. Judy couldn't hold it in anymore and as the elevator doors close, she lets it all out.

"OHH NICK! WE'RE ON A SPECIAL CASE TOGETHER, ALREADY!" she grabs his arm excitedly and jumps into the air. Her tale wiggles as the jumps gets her height just over Nicks.

"Woah, hey there Carrots. Heh yeah, that's us, not something id really be excited about though." He smiles at her and pets her head a few times, realizing their closeness she quickly let's go of his arm. She looks at him with a hint of sadness in her eyes.

"What do you mean… you don't want to be on the case?" she wrings her paws while her ears droop against her back. She looks off to the side and forces out her next words. "You know… if you don't Fe-feel ready, you don't have to take It with me. I can always Find another partn-"

"Carrots," he cuts in before she can finish her thought. "I told you in Buffalo Butt's office, if you're on this "case" than so am I, even if I feel I'm not quite ready for something like this AND I know that look your giving me. It's the "You can't do a selfless act because of me, only I can do that because I'm the cute little bun-" a swift punch to his side stops him mid-sentence.

"What have I told you about that word, Nick!"

"Awww but Carrots, are you saying I can't call you cute, even if I think you actually are?" He leans in towards her with his classic con-mammal smile.

"But yo- that word is just so- I mean, you actually think im cu-"

"Woah, woah, woah! Carrots the word! You can't use the C word around rabbit's, remember!" The Elevator doors open, and Nick strolls out before Judy can answer him. She lingers for a second. Does he actually think I'm cute or is he just pulling my ear? I mean, if he actually thinks I'm cute, how should I even feel… Happy? Angry? She looks up at the Fox making his way past the desk in the main lobby. That smug Fox! She runs after him, deciding that the whole convoluted conversation of 'to cute or not to cute' isn't worth the headache and confusing answers Nick would surely give her. On top of that, he had totally just used that topic to get away from the early one! She contemplates the Fox's ability to switch topics so smoothly without her noticing while she catches up to him.

"Hey Clawhauser, you're here late, what's up?"

"Oh, hey Judy, and Nick. Yeah, john isn't here yet, he's late, again" The cheetah frowns as the pair walk past him.

"Sorry, buddy, I'd stay but I have a date with my bed, and she'll get mad if I'm late."

"It's ok guys, I'll see you tomorrow bright and early tomorrow!"

"Bye Clawhauser, catch you later!" Judy replies. The pair waves good bye and make their way out of the building. They walk side by side down the steps and onto the side walk. The late afternoon is cool but not enough to warrant a coat, so it is quite comfortable for the Fox. The rabbit however thinks it is just a little bit too cool. She crosses her arms, mulling over the last hour or so. What Bogo told them is defiantly something to be concerned about. She's still not sure about Nick either. He seems unsure about his decision to work the case, he also smoothly avoided her line of questioning just a moment ago. That fact only furthers her concerns. It is only his first day, maybe he truly isn't ready for something like this. However, he would be a valuable resource on the case she is sure. He had done great in the Academy and his first-paw knowledge of not so legal activities would surely aid them while investigating as well, especially since the case seems to largely incorporate drug dealing. Not that I think Nick dealt drugs, though… He was just a small time hustl-

"Whiskers!" The Fox startles her out of deep thought. "Don't hurt your brain there, I was beginning to think you had a stroke!" He chuckles until he notices the rabbit's ears have shot straight out from the back of her head, neither up nor down. Here we go, she's got her ears put into determined mode, again.

"Nick, are you sure you want to do this with me? I mean, be on the case and everything?"

"I was afraid you wouldn't leave this be." He shoves his paws in his pockets as they make their way towards the metro.

"Nick, really, if you don't feel comfortable doing this then you don't have to. Really. I - I can find a new, um… partner… Everything will be fine. I mean really it will only be temporary and when the case is done, however long that takes, we-"

"Judy." The Rabbits ears drop immediately, and she turns to look at Nick. That got her attention, he thinks. "Listen, like I said, I want to work with you. If you're on this "case" then I want to be on the "case" too." He air-quotes case, mimicking what Bogo had done. "I'll be honest, I'm not sure how ready I am for this, this seems like it's pretty high-profile already and maybe if the circumstances were different, I wouldn't do it. Now, that being said, Bogo seems to think I'm ready, he wouldn't have asked me if he didn't. I think I can help, so I'll be here to assist if I can, and if you want me to."

"Nick, of course I want you to work with me, that's the whole reason I gave you the application for the ZPD in the first place!" She looks over at him. His expression is usually hard to read, having that smug grin plastered on his face almost all the time did that but now it seems that he has slipped up. His ears are slightly down, something she learned to pay attention to. His muzzle broke into a small smile. A genuine smile. His face quickly went from slightly happy to solemn for fraction of a second before he looks back forward with the egotistical smirk he so often wears. Just like that, the real feelings of Nick Wilde are covered up and he evades Judy Hopps once again.

"Of course, you want me on the case, I mean, who else are you going to get to solve it?"

"Oh, that's easy, slick, I'll just walk around downtown in my meter maid outfit and wait till I find some poor unlucky Fox that I can con into helping me." She shoots a smirk of her own at him.

"I'm wounded you think you can replace me, carrots." He places a paw over his heart and his other up and out, in what Judy knew all too well as his "hurt Fox persona". They approach the entrance to the subway and the Fox stops in front of it. They seem to have covered a lot more ground while talking than he noticed.

"Well, I believe this is where we part, carrots, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah its easier for me to take the bus."

"See ya' tomorrow." He gives a slight wave and starts towards the entrance to the metro.

"Hey Nick?" He turns back around to face Judy as she runs headlong into him. She wraps her relatively small arms around his torso for a full-on hug. Her ears flop against his shoulder and beside his cheeks, slightly tickling him. "I knew you could do it, Nick, being a cop, I mean." He wraps his arms around her for the hug, pulling her in tight.

"Thanks for believing in me, Carrots, I'm happy to be here." He gives her a good squeeze before breaking the hug. She lingers for a moment. "You bunnies are so emotional." He pats her head adoringly. She lets go at looks up at him.

"At least you're not calling me dumb this time, I'll see you tomorrow, slick."

"See you tomorrow, whiskers" and with that he makes his way down the stairs and into the metro system beneath the city. He ponders his odd feelings for the rabbit before quickly dismissing them while getting to the platform. Now I have something to take my mind off things, good. Night Howlers are back I guess, them being illegal in the city seemed to do nothing to stop it, what a surprise.

The subway train pulls up to the platform and Nick mindless scans his metro card as he makes his way into the car. More mammals are on the subway at this time and many take notices of the Fox making his way onto the subway. At least I wasn't in trouble I guess, still can't help feeling that I've made a mistake getting myself wrapped up in this case. On the bright side I've got something to take my mind off things, that's good. So, let's see, Buffalo butt told us they don't know much. Pretty much all we got is a new Night Howler drug, but we don't know when, where, how or why. We THINK we know what it used to be called and we THINK we know what it's called now. Cobalt. That's nothing, that's hardly any information at all really, fuck that's really nothing. Nick puts his paw to his face, gently running his claws through his jaw fur deep in thought. The subway jostles its occupants, but it goes for the large part unnoticed, especially by the fox reasoning out the new information. The ride is uneventful, like a subway ride should be, and soon enough the fox finds himself making his way up the subway exit stairs and towards his apartment building. Having thought about possible fun and non-life threating Night Howler drugs the whole ride but having nothing to show for it.

His body seems to go into auto pilot as he makes it to his bedroom and starts the mundane tasks of taking care of his den and himself. First on the agenda was getting some food, which is leftover pizza that is only a day or so old. While he finishes that off, he scans the news for himself, which it seems they have yet to catch up to the curve in that department and lack a segment on the first Fox officer. Or maybe it had already run, and he missed it, either way he throws the pizza box away and heads for the bathroom. He changes into some more comfortable lounge wear, gathers up his dirty clothes and checks the time. It is getting late, which is just the time he likes to go and wash clothes. He double checks to make sure he's gotten the most important clothes, which he does.

Nick pushes open his apartment door with his foot, he then turns to his side and slides through the door with his basket full of dirty clothes. It is fairly late now and most all the diurnal mammals have gone to sleep, and even some nocturnal have turned in for the night. Some were waking up for night shift jobs or the odd night out, but most are asleep. This is Nicks favorite time to do chores, he is nocturnal, for one, so staying up this late doesn't bother him. It also helps that he is almost always the only one in the apartment laundry room at this odd time of night, in-between the busy times.

He walks down the dimly lit hall, easily navigating it thanks to his natural night vision. He wonders why they don't just turn the lights off all the way at this time, or at least red light it. He figures it is because this is a lightly mixed apartment, catering to pretty much all types of mammals but mouse and buffalo and up in terms of size. Although mainly predators stay here as far as he can tell, he guesses that some prey must live here judging from the lights. His level is larger than he needs it to be, taking up to wolf, he wanted to find something more his size, but in his haste to find an apartment, this was the best he could do. The building is very nice, and well kept, meaning the rent is partially outside of his price range. Being a police officer came with great benefits, but its pay wasn't the best it could be, and he has underestimated how much living here plus other necessities would cost. He contemplates where else he could get an apartment with easy travel distance to the ZPD headquarters but also cost less than where he is now. The chances are smaller than a mouse. Although, having an actual job means more consent income then conning, but its monthly hauls seem small to what Nick remember he could make on the streets. He ponders if this is just the way it feels, or a fact as he makes it down the stairs and towards the laundry room.

"well good afternoon, Abby, I see they got you working the night shift?" Walking through the front lobby Nick greats the mammal manning the front desk.

"Good afternoon, Nic- Er Oh, I guess your Officer Wilde, now, aren't you? Good first day?" The reindeer gives a little smirk saying his full title, getting a smile from him.

"A long first day, and just call me Nick, but only when I'm off duty." Nick gives a little wink to her and she laughs.

"You know I saw you on the front page of Ears Up, giving those wolfs girls that kind of smile, might give some mammals the wrong idea, you know?" the doe wiggles her eyebrows at Nick Who rolls his eyes in reply.

"Aww come on Abby, I'm just having some good fun, you know me." The fox stops his walk towards the laundry room beside the front desk.

"I know I know, and I'm sure now you can have your pick of any cute little vixen you want now, can't you?" The doe laughs and smiles, Nick chuckles and restarts his walk towards the laundry room.

"Sure, something like that, catch you later."

"See ya, Officer." Abby laughs and then turns back to her computer. Nick keeps his smile until he turns a corner headed towards the laundry room. My pick of all the vixens, sure. Nick pushes his thoughts to the back of his head.

He makes it down the hall and to the laundry room. He hikes his clothes baskets up with the help of his leg and opens the door. The door is quite big, big enough for a full-sized tiger, so it takes a little extra effort to push open. Nick wishes they had replaced it with one of those multi doors. The multi doors have smaller doors built into them for mammals of a smaller size, but unfortunately this door is not as modern. It does, however, have multiple door handles so shorter mammals didn't have to reach up or bigger have to reach down. This was better then what he had seen some places do, like putting a chair or step stool for the smaller residence and basically saying "good luck". He figures he should count himself lucky, but the door didn't make up for all the rest of the hardships he had been through, or at least he hopes it doesn't.

Just as he expects, he is the only one doing laundry at this time of night. He picks the washers and dryer comb he always goes to, on the small mammal side of the room, and opens it. He throws all his clothes in and shuts the door. He quickly clicks through the options on the control panel and the washer begins to fill with water. He sighs and leans against it while pulling out his phone. He opens up a web browser and searches "Ears Up". Sure enough, there he is on the front page of the news website. It seems to be the picture the wolf girls had taken, and some scrolling down the page reviles it had been.

"We got to see him on his first day as officially being part of the ZPD!" is what one of the girls Ears Up claimed had said when asked about the picture. Nick scrolls back up and examines it. It is a little blurry, could have been focused better, but all in all it isn't too bad. He chuckles at the toothy grin he had given the camera; the Pawpsicle was visible but the short article about the first Fox cop seems to skip this detail. Instead the article was mostly about announcing his first day on the force, the few things the public new about the Bellwether case and then predictions as to how this is all going to play out. Nick scrolls down to the comments under the article, this is usually his favorite place on most of these things.

Most of the comments are the generic ones he's seen, such as "Can't wait to see what he can do." And "The first fox cop, what a time to be alive." Or some version of the sort. Of course, they are mixed in with all the naysayers, which he does his best to block out. As he kept scrolling one caught his attention. It had 56 comments added in the conversion tab under the comment itself. Nicks eyes shoot up to the comment that started such a long discussion.

LOTSofWOLF: "Me oh my, isnt he just SO HOT? And those teeth! hmmm I would love to have a go at him!"

Nick raises an eyebrow at this. The profile picture for the user LOTSofWOLF is, as expected, a picture of a wolf, and a female at that. Nick clicks on the "view all replies" button and a list of all the replies loads under its parent comment. Not to his surprise, the replies are all less than friendly. The first is what he excepts it to be.

MouseMouse: "You sick twisted freak, how could you say that?"

RoverDover: "Your not actually a wolf though right?"

Mattxxx12: "she better not be a wolf! But really there is now way she's actually a wolf"

Mattxxx12: "Prob just a vixen with a wolf pro pic?... I hope"

ImadeTHIS: "aw come on she was just joking"

LOTSofWOLF: "No, I am a wolf, I know what I said…"

MouseMouse: "First a fox cop and now a wolf that wants to fuck him, god has left us to burn"

KGwalker: "I don't believe this, its to out there to be true"

Small2442: "wolf are fucking gross anyways, here is just another reason."

LOX-Fox: "u need to be put in a mental hospital, LOTSofWOLF, there is something wrong with u. im the only one who should have a real "go at him"."

Nick flicks his finger and quickly scrolls through the rest of the comments, skimming them. The rest of it is other mammals voicing their opinions on the matter or how to deal with LOTSofWOLF. Some suggest the mental hospital, others suggest jail, other still suggest that this had to be a joke or trolling, while someone else suggests that their account must have been hijacked by a friend. Nick sighs and closes the webpage. The comments hit a little too close to home on that one, he decides that is enough reading about himself in the news for today.

He looks at the control panel on the washer. 30 minutes until the resinse cycle was done, and then another 30 for drying. Nick sighs. He ponders what else he has to do before he goes to bed. Lay out stuff for tomorrow, musk mask… I should pick up more suppress heat, almost out. And Aspirin, and I might as well stock up on food while I'm at it, shit ok. Nick pulls out his phone again and goes into his notes app. He makes a new 'note' and begins making a list of items for his next trip to the store, whenever that might be. He doesn't mind going to the store really, it's just he would rather be lazing about at home or having a drink somewhere.

After a few moments he scrolls back through his list, making sure he has written down everything he needs. Skimming the list, he finds surpass heats and highlights it. He then taps the bold option, making the lettering much darker than the rest. He goes to save the note but pauses. He feels like he is forgetting something. Something important, or kind of important. Was it something Judy had told me to do or…? No? it was to get something or, look for something. I was already supposed to have it, or no, I should have already gotten it… Finnick! His gift, yeah!

Nick locks and then pockets his phone. He starts his walk towards the mailboxes in the apartment. He exits the laundry room and heads towards the lobby again. Before reaching it, he takes a right down another hallway and comes to a glass door with the same handle setup as the laundry room. He grabs a lower handle and goes into the room. Small, personal mail boxes line the walls. Some big enough that he could fit into, but the smallest ones are made for his size of mammals. He goes to one side of the room and quickly finds his box. He dials in his combination and opens it. Sure enough, he is greeted with a large, beige color envelope. He grabs it and pulls it out.

It seems like there is a magazine sized book inside it, slightly bent from being a bit too large for the box. Written on it in Finicks sloppy, hard to read hand writing is "To Nicky, From his favorite son. Thought daddy could use this to find him the girl of his dreams." Nick chuckles to himself. Oh, this should be good. Nick put the mail under his arm and makes his way back to the laundry room. He hops up on the small washer beside the on washing his clothes.

He slips the package out from under his arm and the spins it in his hand, making the top face up. He clicks out one of his pointer claws and carefully slices the envelope open. It takes a moment, and, in the meantime, he feels his phone buzz twice against his thigh in his pocket. He stops his current actions and retrieves his phone. Hitting the power button, it lights up the lock screen. He hastily unlocks it and dismisses the odd, pop-up message produced by his note app without even reading it. He swiftly navigates to the message Judy sent.

Judy: "Hey slick, how's it going? What'd you think of your fist day?" Nick smiles and types out a reply.

Nick: "Disappointing."

Judy: "What!?"

Nick: "I thought there would be much more explosions and hot babes to save so I'm pretty disappointed."

Judy: "Nick… were cops, not action movie special agents."

Nick: "Oh, well I guess ill be asking for a transfer then"

Judy: "You can't transfer, I'll be partner-less."

Nick: "Aw so you really can't solve cases without me, that's IT!"

Judy: "I can to solve cases without you!"

Nick: "Oh, so its fine if I transfer?"

Judy: "No, you still can't transfer."

Nick: "So you've just been keeping me around for my good looks I see, can't say I blame you, I would do the same" Judy blushes in her small apartment. She rolls over onto her stomach, attempting to get more comfortable on her bed.

Judy: "You are soooo full of yourself."

Nick: "I don't seem some bun denying it though"

Judy: "DO NOT call me bun."

Nick: "What? I'm not allowed to call you Bun either?" Nick quietly snickers to himself, this is good, great even. He was starting to get tired of his current nicknames for Judy, and 'bun' had so many more possible combinations then just that. He repositions himself on the washer as the one with his clothes in it starts on the final cycle. He is in a much better mood than a few moments ago, having a conversation with his favorite rabbit is a great palate cleanser for the comments he had read in the article about himself. Too top it off, he also seems to have a fairly well thought out gag gift from Finnick.

Judy: "NO, absolutely not."

Nick: "But why not, hun bun?"

Judy: "God Nick that is awful! that's something my dad would call my mom!"

Nick: "Sureee, you know you like it."

Judy: "I do not, but hey, I got to go for a bit, I need to shower."

Nick: "Yeah you should, you smelled funny today, kinda like a skunk…."

Judy: "I did not, also that speciest, but brb."

Nick clicks the power button on his phone. The screen quickly goes black and he stuffs It back into his pocket. He smiles as he picks up the envelope. She's just too much fun to tease. He looks down at the oversized envelope and presses on its side, popping opening the top. He smirks when he looks inside, he was right about it being a magazine, and a thick one at that. Damn, they should make me detective already. Nick reaches into the envelope and pulls it out. I wouldn't mind the pay raise of… that position….

Nicks eyes slowly grow to the size of saucers accompanied by his mind going blank as the front page of the magazine comes into view. It has the "Tail Grabbers" logo across the top, featuring a cheetah, the company 'mascot', so to speak, laid across the top of the lettering. As the magazine slides out of the envelope it now exposes a busty bunny leaning over in a frilly bra and panties. She also sports a matching set of black thigh socks with garters. She is bent over, with her arms propping her up. Her arms are made to look like she was pushing down against the other title on the magazine. That title reads "Bunny edition: 276". Nick eyes travel below to the subtitle below it. Printed in white lettering, contrasting nicely to the blue background, is "Bunny cop special!". His heart picks up its pace as a somewhat primal lustfulness crawls up his throat. While his body was begging to know more, his mind was spinning, trying desperately to back pedal. He knows this is wrong. Very wrong. Having a Tail Grabbers magazine is bad enough with their already taboo advertising, but a bunny edition, and the 'Bunny Cop Special' no less. If Nick is caught with this, it would be over, there would be no turning back. He would have to take drastic measures to insure he doesn't endure whatever horrid punishment might follow. His first thought is he will simply throw himself off a building, a very tall building, the tallest one he could find.

Nick is surprised Finnick even managed to get a physical copy of this, not only because it is expensive, but it is also extremely taboo to have a Tail Grabbers magazine in the first place. 4 years ago, they started a new line of magazine. Adding another line of magazines seemed pointless since at the time they already had a seemingly endless line of them anyways, easily covering every species in Zootopia. The new magazine, however, was different. It had a lot of different species per magazine, not just catering to one species. The product line was called "The Watering Hole" and the first magazine put into print focused mainly on all different types of water going mammals. It featured otters, muskrats, beavers, mink and then went onto other mammals around that size such as weasels and squirrel. The real controversy didn't come until the "Wet Pussy Surprise" issue, which featured a somewhat small variety of big cats mixed with water going mammals as well. Most pages had the girls posing alone, like in almost all pornographic magazines, but then it went further by paring many of the girls up to pose with different species and then lastly having the felines pose with the more aquatic based mammals too. The poses themselves weren't all that provocative either, most pictures were even considered funny more than anything. With the cats comparatively massive size, the mink could stand on the shoulders of them, literally. Most didn't know what to think of the magazines at first. A mink buying the magazine would be somewhat short changed because the product wasn't just filled with the most attractive mink but then again, that's exactly what 'Tail Grabbers' was going for. A way for the tabooer feeling mammals to get away with some of their desires while not seeming to obvious to others. Of course, when it was found out that this was the plan all along, the company was met with more backlash then anybody excepted. They then subsequently went belly up, it was the last nail in the coffin for them in the ever-growing digital age of porn. Although, in the time it took for mammals to deiced whether to make heads or tails of the magazine, and in that time the company had gotten away with publishing a small amount of mixed spices addition before they went under. The magazine that Nick holds in his paws isn't a mixed species addition. However, it was made just after it was announced that a certain bunny was attempting the police academy for the first time and has them theme in it.

Nick's stomach flips around inside him. Knowing all this, a feeling of excitement rushes through his body with a strong aftertaste of guiltiness and denial. He can't look through this, he shouldn't look through this magazine. It's wrong, very wrong, for all sorts of reason. He can't help himself. His paws slightly shake from excitement as he carefully flips the front page over. The first page is a car advertisement with a pretty good-looking rabbit laid across the hood. The rabbit turns out to not be a rabbit at all and rather an arctic hare, as far as he could tell, but she made good contrast against the blue car. The caption above the advertisement reads, "It takes a real buck to make this car shake, I know!" He lets out a small laugh, it's a bad joke, he has to admit, but he still finds it amusing for exactly that reason. Flipping to the next page reveals little snippets of articles and on what pages to find them. His eyes shot to a picture of a gray rabbit wearing a very reliving 'police uniform', if it can even be called that. Under the picture is printed "Page 23" in bold letters. The rabbit is a little skinner than Judy and has much bigger breasts. She is gray, and her fur pattern is similar to Judy's but with much less black and she doesn't have black tipped ears either. Her Blue eyes are also a good reminder that this fake police bunny isn't like the real deal at all.

Not bad, that's for sure, but you don't do it for me like Judy doe-… this is a bad idea.

Nick closes the magazine while shaking the less than ideal thoughts from his mind. The laundry room is still empty at this odd time of night and the only sound filling the room is the persistent hum of the washing machine. The room is dimly lit to help predators keep their night vision but is still lit enough to help other mammals see that don't have the pleasure of being able to see in the dark. The end of Nicks tail flicks back and fourth in a vain attempt to let out some pent-up excitement and guiltiness. He looks at the magazine again, skewing his ears in annoyance before dropping it back into his lap. He stares straight ahead for a moment, looking at the main entrance to laundry room. His eye twitches as his grip around the "Tail Grabbers: Bunny cop special" issue tightens. He loosens his grip then looks around the room. He's the only one there. He can't help himself. He can't stop himself. He frantically opens the magazine again and flips through the pages until he lands on page 23, the Bunny cop section of the issue.

His eyes trace over the slender form of a rabbit dressed in an extremely reviling police-esque uninform. The first picture, farthest left on the page, has a full body shot of a grey tented rabbit. Her fur is much lighter than Judy's and she lacks the black tipped ears. The gray reseeds much quicker into white than Judy's as well. Her gaze was cast in a slutty, half lidded bedroom eyes glance. Her dark blue eyes match her fake police uniform well, which is a one-piece suit like the real one the real rabbit officer wears. The suits legs stop above her knees, the zipper in the front was half undone, revealing the space in between the rabbit's breasts which are quite large on the rabbit's smaller frame. One paw is holding a night stick while the other catches the end of it, the picture must have been taken mid-swing when she was playfully tapping it into her paw. She stands beside a police car which is, to Nicks surprise, real. They skillfully left its unit number out of frame. He smirks at that, looks like I'm not the only one to skim the outskirts of the rules on the force. I wonder who pulled this off? I need to meet them.

His eyes move from the left to the right, hungerly taking in the next set of pictures. The Judy-not-so-look-alike now took a pose leaned up against the cruiser. It was amusing to see the rabbit leaned up against something that is clearly made for wolfs or tigers while trying to look tough. She has her paws crossed over her chest, an authoritative grin plaster on her muzzle and her suit zip backed up. The other two poses are of her doing classic porn star poses. They were most likely cheery picked out of hundreds that had been taken on that photo shoot. One is her looking back at the camera with her front away from it, smiling while her paws are on the front door. The other is of her looking back again, one paw on her hip and her free paw grabbing the half-opened door. He flips the to the next page, licking his lips and trying his best to ignore the growing pressure in his shorts.

The blue-eyed rabbit had taken a pose to something he's seen before, but he couldn't quite figure it out at first. He tilts his head sideways at the odd feeling of Deja vu. Then it clicks. His mind nearly fly's apart at the seams as he tries to fully comprehend and piece together what he's seeing. His heart tries to leap out of his chest as his mind plays some pose matching game and pairs it with something Judy had done before. The rabbits left hand was on her hip while holding a pair of paw cuffs. Her other paw is held up and out to the side, with her pointer finger drawing the view into her. Her "uniform" is unzipped as far as it would go, a well-groomed tuft of chest fur and tuft of fur above her crotch is visible, sticking just slightly outside of the suit. Her right ear was bent to the right while her left was sticking more straight up. It was the hustle pose. The pose Judy struck when she had hustled him all that time ago, or at least damn close to it. The caption above it reads: "I'm going to have to ask you to put your paws on the wall, sir."

Nick felt as if he was about to have a heart attack. He hadn't been this aroused since longer than he would like to admit, and it almost hurt, and he is looking at a rabbit no less. And now even thinking about his partner! Oh no no no no no no. His eyes quickly shoot to the next page, his shorts feeling tighter than they ever had before, and he had gotten this specific pair because they were baggy. The next image brought him no relief either. The blue-eyed rabbit is laid across the dash of the massive cruiser. She had finally taken off the upper half of her fake police suit, reveling her breasts and stomach fur fully. Her mid-section is completely snow white. The white fur covers her whole chest and stomach and it only starts to turn to gray as it reaches the very edges of her sides. Her ears lay limp against the dash, one splays out to the side and the other pointing straight away from her head. One arm is placed above her head while the other works its way into the bottom of her open suit. Her legs slightly spread apart, her paw pushing up the fabric around the crotch, showing the rest of herself and leaving nothing left to wonder. Nick breaths in through his nostrils and then out, flaring them, as if trying to breath in the scent from the rabbit in the magazine. He swears he can smell Judy. He stifles a small whine from escaping his mouth as his own paw moves down his mid sections towards his crotch. His mind did its best to replace the fake police rabbit's blue eyes with a lavender color and it even attempts to change the fur color of the rabbit's coat to the coat of someone he knew for real. He licks his lips again. he couldn't help it anymore. He huffs in more air through his nostril subconsciously, trying to find some familiar scent. His paw reaches the noticeable bulge in his shorts, and firmly stro-

The communal laundry room door creaks open and Nick frantically slams the magazine shut and uses it to cover his crotch. He looks up at the door to see a vixen making her way into the room. She hasn't noticed him yet as she moves across the room. Something falls to the floor from her clothesbasket, she grumbles as she stops and picks up the article of clothing. She pauses while bent over and sniffs the air audibly. She looks up and quickly scans the room before locking eyes with Nick.

"Oh, hello, sorry I didn't notice you when I came in." she smiles at him while making her way to a washer and drier combo just two units down from the one Nick is currently using.

"Oh N-No its ok." Nick chokes out. Fuck. Me.

"I don't think I've seen you here before. My names Chelsea, are you a new tenant?" The vixen seems to want to make ideal conversation as she loads the washer with clothes.

"Um, somewhat, I've had a room for a little while…" Nicks eyes shoot from side to side, desperately trying to find a place to hide the magazine and save himself "but this is the first few days I've been here..."

"Interesting, you weren't here when you were paying for a room?" The vixen finishes loading her close into the washer, swishing her tail behind her. She leans back against the washer looking over at Nick, who quickly pulls the magazine off his lap and slams it onto the washer opposite of the Vixen, keeping himself between her and it. She skews her ears at him, flicking them to a new position, attempting to read him without giving away that that is her intent. It is easy enough for Nick to pick up though.

"Oh, I was, um, studying at school? But was almost done and had been looking for a new place online for a while so, I uh, signed the lease when I had the opportunity… too..." He stares at her. She seems oblivious to the magazine of bunny porn sitting beside him. He studies her face, when suddenly her eyes get a little bigger and her nostrils slightly flare. She is breathing in his scent. Her tail moves fluidly from side to side behind her as her ears turn their full attention towards Nick. Oh no…. OH NONONONONONO. He can smell it in the air now too. His aroused musky sent hangs in the air around them and the most obvious conclusion that the Vixen could come to is he's aroused from her. Nick internally groans at the aspect, at least she doesn't seem to know who I am.

"Hey!" Her expression changes, and some new kind of excitement covers her face. "You look really familiar; do I know you from somewhere?" she takes a step closer to Nick. He leans back a little while moving the Tail Grabbers issue more behind him.

"Probably not?" his answer seems to go unnoticed as her face lights up and her tail sticks straight out, becoming extremely bushy.

"OH. MY. GOD. Your Nick Wilde!"

"Am I?" I wish I wasn't. The answer seems to go unnoticed once again.

"This is crazy! WOW! I mean, y-you saved the city! And you're the first Fox police Officer! And we live in the SAME APARMENT COMPLEX!" The vixen starts to wag her tail excitedly but manages to let the initial shock slip away for her face and she mostly regains control of herself. Nick stares at her in bewilderment. How he came to be hiding a magazine full of bunny porn form a young attractive Vixen in the laundry room of an apartment complex after his first day of being a cop he will never know. Well after thinking about it like that, I do know why I'm here, Finnick… I'm going to arrest him…

"So today was your first day of being a police officer huh? I saw something about that on Muzzlebook! So how was it, your first day, I mean?"

"Um, yea, I had a good first day, me and my partner pulled somebody over and um… ticketed him for speeding and running a red light." Nicks eyes dart from one side to the other, trying to find a safe way out of this horrid predicament. He keeps his paw placed firmly over the magazine behind him. He can't remember what is on the back of it and he desperately hopes it isn't anything reviling. The vixen doesn't back away and instead decided to take a step closer.

"Your partner hey? They already got you paired up with someone on the force? I bet he feels pretty honored to have the most handsome fox as his partner on the force, doesn't he?" Chelsea puts on her best smile. She pushes her ears back and turns the fronts of them down submissively, she throws in a long swish of her tail as well.

"I like Her, we work well together." Nick does his best to simply move past Chelsea offering herself to him, hoping she will get the hint and he could get out of this dreadful situation. The vixen's ears twitch, perking to attention. She ever so slightly tilts her head.

"Your partner is a female?"

"My partner is Judy Hopps." The Vixen stares at him with disbelief. After everything that happened involving the rabbit, she thought for sure that the ZPD would have done everything in their power to keep them separated. Especially after Hopps said all those awful things about predators.

"The rabbit, the first rabbit police Officer is your partner on the force? They paired the first fox with the first rabbit?"

"yep, we're partners… On the force." Nick raises an eyebrow at Chelsea. Her paw goes to her chin and she rest her elbow on top her other arm in thought. Her hips rock out to one side, showing off her well-toned form. While she is looking at him, she seems to be staring at something past him. Her head is tilted slightly to the side. Her ear flicks and she comes back into the present.

"Can't you ask to be partnered with some other mammal? After everything she said, I mean, I just- it just seems kinda wrong to me that they would do that to you, especially after the press conference. And, no offense, but I mean your both the smallest mammals on the force, right? Doesn't that make things more difficult?" Nick lays his ears back in a scowl. It seems the press conference incident hasn't left he public eye yet, especially in the minds of predators which it effected the most.

"Judy's a great cop, and I'm more than happy to be her partner on the force. The press conference is in the past and while we can't change it, we can move past it."

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean anything by it, I just thought it was a little odd. I know it can be dangerous out there and I'm sure you trust each other and have one another's tails." The vixen makes a swift move from the seemingly touchy subject, not wanting to ruin her fist meeting with Nick over something so trivial. "But I'm sure you also benefit from her being a bunny, she sure won't scare away any cute vixens headed your way. If anything, she might attract some more satisfactory suiters, you know? Ones that might want to take a bite out of a bunny." She smirks at his flustered expression. Most male foxes preferred more independent and predator female counterparts. After all, it isn't too uncommon for vixens to make the first move in terms of relationships, at least for foxes. The thought of 'biting a bunny' quickly passes through his mind which only worsens the situation. She probably means they would catch and eat the rabbit like prey, which I guess I find eating a rabbit attrat…. Oh Christ no! not like that! The vixen takes a step closer to him, right on the edge of what most foxes consider personal space, which is about a tail's length away. Nick straightens his posture.

"Heh, no, I don't have to worry about that problem."

"Oh? So, your already taken?" Chelsea puts a slight amount of pout in her lips while her ears droop. The vixen can't smell any females on him. In fact, the only thing she can smell is rabbit, which she assumes is Officer Hopps, that makes sense if they work together apparently.

"Oh no, I'm not taken, it's just I don't have the time right now in my life, kinda married to the job." Chelsea smiles at this answer. Everything is pointing to the best chances with her and Nick. He obviously thought she is attractive, judging from his nervous gestures and actions. The hint of arousal in his scent does nothing but excite the vixen as well, why else is he excited other than me? She thinks. They also live in the same apartment complex, which is the cherry on top. This really can't be better. Judging from the Nick being the first police officer, she reasons that he probably likes a more forward and confident vixen, compared to a submissive one. She gathers her confidents and puts on her best foxy face.

"So, Officer Wilde, I was thinking…" The Vixen walks beside Nick and leans against the washing machine he's sitting on. She's inches away form his side and when she places her paws on the machine to help balance herself her left paw bumps up against his thigh. She takes her tail and puts it in between them, running it down the length of a Nicks right leg. The Long brush sends a shiver down Nick spin as the more basic sides of his instincts kick in.

"You were… thinking?" Nick bites his tongue to keep his actions in check. To much is going on at once and the horror of her see the bunny porn magazine just inches away from her in deafening.

"I work late hours at this fancy restaurant but there's this great coffee place next to it, we should go sometime after my shift. We could even go get coffee tonight and talk if you have time." She finishes brushing her tail over him and then focuses on her next move. She just needs to be confident, foxes like that, after all. She is sure she can get the first fox officer. "You know, if you're really pressed for time, you can even come up to my apartment, I have some coff-"

BEEEEEEEP

A loud beep comes from the machine, signaling it has ended its washing cycle and the clothes now need drying. The alarm nearly sends Nick into orbit and he jumps and yips from the surprise. The vixen, also startled, takes a step back, fluster that her date attempt got interrupted by the washing machine of all things. Seeing the magazine is left unattended on the top of the washer, Nick quickly moves towards it. He scoops the basket off the ground and snatches the magazine before the vixen can look at it in one swift motion. He throws the magazine into the clothes basket and then moves across the vixen as quickly as he can to the washer with his clothes. He opens the door to the washer and dumps the clothes into the basket haphazardly, covering the magazine. He picks up the basket and immediately makes his way towards the exit of the communal laundry room.

"Hey-Woah- um wait! Don't you need to, um… dry your clothes? And what abou-."

"What yeah of course, you gotta' clothes your dry after you wash them, air dry them, yeah! Your right about that, I sure do!" Nick cuts Chelsea off before she can get a full sentence out. He makes quick work of getting to the exit and starts to open the door. His body is in auto pilot mode as he removes himself un-gracefully from the situation.

"Hey wait!" The Vixen calls out after him and takes a few strides into the middle of the room, complete forgetting about the oddity of Nick not putting his clothes in the dryer. She focuses instead on the fact she is missing her date opportunity, which is made even more destressing because she had to work up so much courage to put herself out there. "What about our date! OR UMM- I mean! Going to get coffee or something?"

"What? Yeah yeah, I'm busy but I'm sure ill have free time eventually, gotta' have some fun in life you know? Anyways, its late, gotta' get police for sleep work, you know, see you later!" Nicks mind spits out the most coherent sentence it can form as he off handily talks to the vixen over his shoulder. He doesn't notice her face light up with glee as he runs out of the room and off towards his apartment. Chelsea excitedly jumps in the air, having scored a date with the first fox officer. Wait, he didn't give me a time or place… hmm playing foxy It seems, I like that. Chelsea bits her lip and smirks to herself.

Author Note- Hello and thanks for reading my story! I really appreciate it and I hope you are enjoying it so far. I wanted to leave a note here to let you all know that I am also posting this story on archive of our own under the same name. While, story wise it is the same for both sites, I do understand AO3 better and I am able to leave more detailed notes about update times and what not. So, I ask that you please refer to Archive of our Own for more details about the story such if that's what your looking for. Again, thanks for reading!