Chapter 7 – Judy and Nicks next day off

Judy and Nick never ended up going to the Sheepherd Fairey exhibit that Sunday. Instead, they were called into work unexpectedly. The case of the missing females got a bit more intense when the body an unknown squirrel showed up in the steps of Zootopia City Hall. Understandably, this set the citizens of Zootopia into quite a frenzy. Who could just leave a dead female on the steps of city hall?! What the heck was ZPD doing?

The citizens' ire was roused by the Zootopia city counselor at large, a big badger named Jerod Clawell. Counselor Clawell was also the president of the "Zootopia Family Association." The ZFA ran a strict anti-interspecies relationship platform. The group was responsible for introducing legislation criminalizing interspecies mating (narrowly defeated) and managed to pass a law banning interspecies marriage in Zootopia. The Counselor Clawell decried the ZPD's failure to protect its citizens from savage sexual violence.

After an unpleasant press conference, which left Chief Bogo flaring his nostrils in fury the rest of the day, all ZPD officers were called in to pull over-time. The ZPD didn't have any leads. The prostitute had no clues to her identity and the trauma to her body was extensive. She had several claw and bite marks, however the cause of death was declared by the Zootopia Head-Coroner to be strangulation. The female had signs of extensive sexual trauma, with vaginal tearing suggesting that she had been violated by a much bigger mammal than the typical rodent (A fact that Chief Bogo ordered to be kept quiet, he didn't need Clawell using this piece of information in the Badger's his crusade). The running hypothesis was that the poor squirrel was a prostitute, but this was just a conjecture based on her skimpy dress. The CSI team was unable to find any DNA or fingerprints and the city hall and traffic cameras in the area had been wiped clean.

With so few leads the ZPD could only increase their presence on the street. The ZPD patrolled the city in force, focusing in the areas of town with night clubs and strip clubs. Officers were not given any time off and all scheduled vacation was canceled. The level of intensity kept up for 2 weeks, when finally, after no results, the officers at ZPD were finally given a day or two off to recuperate.

Judy and Nick were finally told they could have two days off, exactly 3 weeks after there last break. Both were dead tired after pulling 16 hour shifts each night. They each only went home to fall into bed (Judy sometimes forgetting to take off her uniform first!) only to return to work a few hours later.

Judy called Harrison as soon as she got the good news, as she promised him she would when she called to cancel three weeks ago. Even though Judy had woken Harrison up with her 6 a.m. phone call, he insisted that he take her out that evening, no problem with short notice. Judy agreed and hopped home to catch a few hours of shut eye before her date. Once again, Judy did not tell Nick, but Nick was a clever fox and new exactly how to interpret Judy's hasty good-bye.

Nick decided to make a call of his own, "Octavia? Hi, its Officer Nick Wilde."

Later that afternoon, Nick was heading into the ZGH when he got a text from Lola.

Hey Slick, are you free?

I'm headed to the hospital to visit some sick kids right now, call you later?

No… that's ok. Could we meet up tomorrow instead? Remmy and I can meet you at the Zootopia Commons for lunch?

Sounds good, Nick typed, pausing and adding Should I bring Judy?

Definitely ;-)

Judy was getting ready for her date. She didn't have time to go shopping, so she had put on the little black dress she kept in cases of an emergency. As she was adding a touch of eyeliner, her phone buzzed. Thinking it could be Harrison calling, she stopped and reached for it. It was a text from Nick.

Hey Carrots, want to go to the Zootopia Commons with me and meet an old friend of mine tomorrow? She really wants to meet you.

Interest peaked, Judy's ears flick forward. Old friend? She? Nick rarely introduced her to his "old" friends. She had only met his fox friends because she had picked up some beer for them once while they were at Nicks playing poker. Nick always avoided any conversation with his past with a joke, effectively diverting her attention.

Sure, I would love too? When?

Around noon, meet you at that wolf statue you like?

I'll be there!

Judy went back to her mirror, smiling at the thought of meeting an old female friend of Nick's. She wondered if it might be his mother? Hmmmmm, maybe, he never mentioned his family except that one time about how his mom had bought him a ranger uniform.

A knock at the door returned Judy to the present as she rushed to open the door and reveal the dashing rabbit holding a bouquet of expensive hothouse flowers. Harrison took Judy to one of the swankiest restaurants in town, Haridges. It was the panicle of fine dining located at the top of the Menagerie Tower, the tallest building in Zootopia. Judy was stunned by the breathtaking views and the refined decor. It was by far the nicest place that Judy had ever been, she felt a little overwhelmed especially when she saw the menu did not even list the prices! Harrison seemed quite at ease and soon drew Judy into pleasant conversation.

Nick had just finish spending a good three hours playing with Dr. Fleet's patients. He was pretty tired after giving "foxy" rides to the children, playing dead foxy pretty often towards the end. The children's enthusiasm for him, especially the little bunnies' group hug, really touched his heart and he spent far longer than he intended with them. Nurse Octavia couldn't bring herself to interrupt their play and let Nick stay past visiting hours.

When Nick had finally extricated himself from excited younglings, it was already getting late when he found Octavia. "Hey, Octavia," Nick said giving his best smile, "When is your shift over?"

"Why do you ask, Officer Wilde?" Octavia replied with a tilt of her head.

"Well, I was hoping I could buy you a drink or something. And please, call me Nick."

Octavia stared at him as only a cat can. "I'm flattered, Nick. However, I'm a married."

"No, no, no!" Nick waved off. "I mean, you're a very handsome female and all, but I… I was just hoping we could have a chat!"

The tiny cat looked at Nick with amusement at his rebuke and attempted recovery. She twitched her tail back and forth, "A chat about what?"

Nick froze in his embarrassment, then sighed and rubbed the back of his neck with his paw. He looked at Octavia's toes and admitted, "To be honest, Octavia. It's about my partner… I just want to find out a bit more about your Dr. Fleet. I want to make sure she won't get hurt."

"Hrrrrmm," Octavia purred in contemplation. "Well, he is not my Dr. Fleet, but I'm off in about a half hour, after I put the younglings to bed. I'll meet you at Flatline, it's a bar about a block down Main street."

"I'll see you then!"

Judy and Harrison finished their first bottle of fancy wine, Judy having slowly sipped her one glass pacing herself. Their conversation turned around to family, Harrison told Judy that he was from a relatively small rabbit family, only 40 siblings. Harrison looked at Judy rakishly and asked, "Having 275 brothers and sisters, I expect you want a large family?"

"Oh, I haven't really thought about it too much, I've always been so focused on achieving my dream of being a police officer to think about having a family," Judy replied shyly. She really hadn't, she had barely considered the idea of dating, let alone children!

"Nonsense, a fine lady bunny such as yourself. I'm sure you can't wait to spend your days taking care of little bundles of bunnies!" Harrison replied dismissively. "I've already seen you with my patients, you're a natural mother!"

"Thank you," Judy said, adding silently to herself "I guess!" Judy steered the conversation away from the uncomfortable topic. But Judy had trouble enjoying the conversation, her mind kept coming back to Harrison's assumption that she would want to spend her days raising baby bunnies. Honestly, she had enough of child rearing helping out with her siblings as the eldest of 276 kits. She wasn't distracted enough to fail to notice that Harrison only seemed to talk about his work with the rabbit kits and not the other young mammals on his ward.

The Flatline was a classy dive bar frequented by many of the hospital workers at ZGH. Octavia had just arrived and Nick was picking up their drinks from the bar. A vesper martini for the kitty and a blueberry beer for the fox.

"So, you're worried about your bunny partner, Nick. Why?" Octavia asked.

"Wow, you really get to the point don't you?" Nick smirked.

"I'm a busy cat who just finished a 12 hour shift. I'm sure you can appreciate that I would rather be home with my husband and kittens right now." Octavia shot back.

"I'm sorry. Thank you," Nick replied ashamedly, "I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me."

"So?"

"Well, I just… I know this is the first time my partner has seriously dated in while, maybe ever. I just, I guess, I just got a bad feeling is all. I thought you might be able to tell me a bit more about the good doctor."

"Why do you have a bad feeling?"

"Let's just say, I didn't get the impression that Dr. Fleet like the idea of his love interest having a fox partner," Nick said bluntly, looking to see if Octavia would react.

"She would kick all of our asses at poker," Nick thought as he waited for the cat's reply.

Octavia finally blinked and sighed, "Your probably not wrong. I don't relish speaking poorly of my co-workers, but if Officer Hopps believes in equality and the coexistence of mammals as the media has portrayed… then I think Dr. Fleet could possibly be the absolute last bunny for her."

Nick stared at the small cat for a second then asked, "Why do you say that?"

The ocelot turned her golden eyes to the fox, "Lets just say that Dr. Fleet is not the most popular mammal in the pediatric ward."

Nick waited for Octavia to continue, "There have been multiple complaints made about Dr. Fleet and his… attitude towards non-rabbit mammals. I can say that in my own experience, he has been rude and unprofessional at times towards me and other staff members on the ward. I try to shield the patients, but I have seen him be… unkind to our non-rabbit younglings."

"How is he still working then if he acts that way?!" Nick asked, his anger rising at the thought of the sick little mammals being mistreated.

"He is a brilliant doctor. His research and advancements in the area of rabbit pediatrics brings in many bunny donors to the hospital." Octavia shook her head at Nick's dumbfounded and irate expression, "Dr. Fleet can also be very civil and accommodating to the hospital board and important patients, he's not stupid in his prejudice."

Nick took a moment to school his features back to normal, "Thank you for telling me, Octavia. I'm glad that my gut isn't crazy."

Octavia took a sip of her martini and turned her staring eyes back to Nick. After a tense pause, the cat asked, "So what are you going to do?"

The question took Nick by surprise, "I… I have to tell her. Speciesism is against everything that Judy believes in."

"Be careful there, Nick. Sometimes mammals don't like to have what they wish to ignore rubbed in their faces."

"I appreciate the warning, but I promised my partner that I would be honest with her. Not telling her would count as not being honest in my book."

"Just make sure you are telling her for the right reasons," the cat purred in her deep voice, flicking her tail. "To protect Judy and no other reason."

"I can promise you one thing, Kitten. Everything I do is to protect my partner and for no other reason."

"If you say so, Nick. I hope I helped." The cat purred again accepting Nick's outstretched paw. She grabbed his paw tightly and pulled him close and whispered in a deep, dangerous voice, "If you call me, Kitten, ever again. I'll claw your face off."

The little cat released Nick and sauntered away. She turned and waived at the door leaving a stunned Nick watching her dumbly. Nick didn't know whether to be scared shitless or to laugh his ass off at the Finnek-esq statement. He did know exactly what he would do next. Nick dropped a twenty on the bar and swept out of the bar into the night.

The evening was already starting to leave Judy with a bad taste in her mouth when Harrison asked her to spend the next day with him. He detailed an elaborate date, including a gondola ride, champagne and caviar under a tree in a park, followed by a night of dancing at another Bunny Society cocktail party. Judy kept a smile plastered to her face and told Harrison that it sounded lovely but she already had plans for tomorrow. "I'm going to the park with Nick and an old friend of his for lunch."

Harrison's dashing smile froze on his lips and his ears slumped down the back of his head. "Really, Judy. You are going to spend your off time with your… work partner?"

"We often hang out on our off-time."

"You hang out socially with a fox?"

"Nick is my friend, Harrison," Judy responded, confused at his incredulous tone.

"Judy," Harrison said taking Judy's hand and looking her seriously in the eye. "Some of my best friends are other species of mammals, predators even, but I wouldn't be caught dead being seen socially with them. It's just not… natural, darling"

Judy stared blankly at Harrison. She felt blood rise to her cheeks, not a blush, but pure rage. Her vision blurred as she slowly extracted her paw from Harrison's and mumbled, "Excuse me." Judy drifted away from the table and didn't come out of her haze until she was in the elevator heading away from her dashing date sitting at their fine table. "What a dick," was the only coherent thought in Judy's head.