It had been a day since the Raid on the warehouse and things were calm on the surface, but underneath, the ZPD was working overtime, picking everything apart to try and find out where the guns were coming from. Nick was back at work and he and Judy had gotten some nice, shiny commendations for their work, and people had been cracking good-natured bloodbag jokes at Nick, who would often shoot back that he had managed to con Bogo into giving his two days of paid vacation, and all it cost him was a massive hangover!

Judy was practically bouncing with excitement when they got to work. She never would have thought that two days at her job could seem so much like work without Nick around. His presence just seemed to make the days go by faster. She had missed his subtly reassuring presence, his easygoing and slick manner, and especially his scent… she barely resisted the urge to take a deep whiff of it.

"Did I miss anything, Carrots?" He asked. "Besides the raid?"

Judy sighed as they walked to their office. "Unfortunately, no. All we know is that the suspect refuses to talk, all we've gotten out of her is a name. Natasha. And even then we don't know who she is beyond that She didn't have any identification on her but she does claim to be a Zootopian citizen."

"Any ideas on motives?"

"No."

"Mind if I talk to her?" He asked. "I might be able to con something out of her."

"Don't you mean 'interrogate?'" she asked.

"I leave the interrogating to the muscleheads like you, i work in more delicate fields," he teased.

Judy jumped up and punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow! Brutish bunny,"

"Fragile fox," she shot back.

"Think we should go and see Bogo?" He asked.

"Maybe, he might have found something since last night."

They walked to Bogo's office, but the door was closed, they snuck up to the door and heard someone yelling at Bogo. Nick and Judy shared a curious glance.

"I don't care what you have to say! TUSK was created exactly for this reason!" Came the voice.

"Be that as it may, you never gave me any channels through which to contact them. And we had to move fast, we had no idea how long it would be before they moved or sold those guns, and the ZPD has a duty to the citizens before all else."

"Very well, but why were you even investigating that warehouse?"

"Anonymous tip," replied Bogo. "The owner gave us permission to investigate the premises, seeing as he was the one who owned the warehouse."

"You had no right to go over my head! TUSK was supposed to-"

"Miss Mayor, I quite frankly do not give a damn about a paramilitary organization so new that they do not even have an official office yet, and I was not about to risk the lives of our citizens for the sake of making TUSK look like anything other than a group of jack-booted thugs!"

"You have no right to-"

"And you have no right to tell me how to do my job!" Yelled Bogo. "I am the chief of police of Precinct one, and the commander of the most elite and skilled officers in the city, and I will not be talked down to in my own office."

There was a moment of silence.

"This conversation is not over," the voice replied. Moments later, Mayor Swinton stormed out, past Nick and Judy without any acknowledgement. She stomped away, heels muffled against the carpet.

Nick and Judy walked and looked at Bogo.

"I thought I felt knockoff Preyda," Nick joked. "Making my pelt crawl." That got him some odd looks.

"How can you tell?" Asked Judy.

"You mean you can't?" He asked. "The stitching on that outfit is atrocious, you'd think that she'd be able to afford some real Preyda with the kind of money she makes as Mayor."

"Right, tailor's son," said Bogo. "It's uncanny how good he is at that." He took a breath. "She was mad that I didn;t use some kind of ancient police magic to contact TUSK before that raid last night."

"We heard," replied Judy.

"Of course you did. Now was there any reason you're here?" Asked Bogo. "Or are you just here to gawk at the Mayor?"

"We wanted to know if you heard anything," replied Nick.

"No, I would have told you if I had."

"What's going on with the snow sheep?" Asked Nick.

"She's keeping quiet. Just sitting in her cell, fuming. We can nail her on arms dealing charges but that's it," he sighed. "If we can't get her to talk we might be at a dead end with this investigation."

"Mind if we take a crack at her?" Asked Nick.

"It is your case, after all," replied Bogo. "Be my guest."

Nick smirked and cracked his knuckles. "Time to dust off the old confidence skills," he smirked.

Judy just rolled her eyes.

"Let's go, Slick."

Nick and Judy walked into the interrogation cell, the snow sheep was sitting, cuffed to the table.

"What do you want?" She sneered.

"And a lovely morning to you, too," replied Nick jovially, smiling.

"It would be lovelier if I were free, and not rotting in here."

"Should have thought of that before you tried to sell weapons to gangs and were willingly complicit in the deaths of several dozen mammals," replied Judy with a sneer.

"A few dozen filthy criminals, is anyone really mourning their loss?"

Judy got a fiery look in her eyes and lunged for her, Nick held her back.

"You'll have to forgive my partner, she gets really angry at total people she doesn't like," he replied. "Look, Nat, may I call you 'Nat?'" He asked.

"No."

"Great." He put Judy down. "Look, Nat, we have everything we need to put you away for a very long time. But we might be able to help you out if you help us first. Just tell us where we got the weapons and I'll try and to get some time taken off your sentence, maybe get you out before you're an old maid."

Natasha grimaced. Bad enough that she had gotten arrested, but now this filthy fucking fox was talking to her like he was her equal. The mere thought disgusted her. "Like I would ever trust anyhting a filthy fuckign fox would have to say," she scoffed. "But I would like to congratulate you for conning your way onto the police force."

Judy scowled at her but Nick grinned, sensing a pressure point.

"Why, thank you. I take great pride in my skills, but obviously not as much as you take in your skills."

"What the hell are you talking about, Pelt?" She sneered.

"Why, how else did you get onto that job?" He asked. "Obviously not your brains, seeing as you couldn't even keep your location a secret from a couple of rookie detectives."

Natasha sneered at him. How dare he? How dare this fucking fox talk down to her.

"I'm guessing your boss really liked how you filled out that miniskirt you were wearing when we brought you in," he replied.

"Whatever you think, you're wrong." She growled.

"Yeah… Maybe you're right," he sighed. "After all, I'm just a dumb fox," he said, winding her up. He was getting to her, he could tell. "But then again…"

"I don't know what you think you're doing, but I won't talk."

"I bet your boss didn't hire you for your looks," he replied. "I bet they hired you because whoever decided to hire you couldn't have been too bright in the first place," he replied.

"Shut up."

Nick kept going, he knew he had hit a nerve.

Judy watched with baited breath.

"Yeah, seems like a real dumbass to me. Couldn't even manage to stop two essential employees from getting snatche dup by the law."

Natasha was fuming in her seat. How dare he. How dare this filthy fox even dare to speak of her master like that.

"Judy, back me up here. How easy was it to outsmart whatever fuckwit she's working for?" He asked.

"Pretty easy," she replied, smirking and leaning against the table. "We sure aren't dealing with any kind of mastermind or anything, that's for sure."

"Yeah. Maybe he should just pack it up and go home. Pathetic as they are, we'll probably have them behind bars and someone's prison bitch in a month."

Natasha couldn't take it anymore and exploded. "SHUT UP! Claw would never lose to a fucking savage like you! He'll see you all collared and muzzled! Made safe for all of us!" She screamed at Nick before turning to Judy. "And you, you'll have it even worse you species traitor! You'll be thrown into prison with the rest of his kind! And all the other traitors like you!" She was ranting and raving now. "Every last one of you!" She screamed at Nick. "ANd when that happens, I'll make sure you get special treatment! Oh yes, you'll get muzzled, neutered! Thrown in a cell and left to rot!" She stopped yelling, panting.

Judy looked at Nick. He kept a neutral expression, but she knew he was troubled.

Nick broke out into a grin. "Well, thabk you for your information, I'll hold up my end of the bargain and see if I can get one of your life sentences reduced."

Now that she was free of the fog of rage that had clouded her mind, she realized what she had just done. She had been conned… "I'LL KILL YOU WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE! I'LL MAKE SURE YOU AND YOUR PRETTY BUNNY SUFFER AND FUCKING DIE!"

Nick and Judy left her to her screaming as they walked out of the interrogation room, deciding to let her cool off.

Nick and Judy were in the break room. No one was around, so Nick dropped the act, slumping down in a chair and sighing heavily. Judy hopped into the same chair, large enough for the two of them to share.

"You okay?" She asked. "You're looking pretty down after that."

"She kind of got to me," he sighed. "Just wondering when this will end."

"Prejudice against predators?" She asked.

"... Yeah." He sighed. "And what she said to you. I don't like feeling that way, like I'm dragging your reputation down by forcing you to associate with a shifty fox." He hopped out of the chair and grabbed some more coffee.

Judy looked at the floor, dejected. "I told you, I don't care about any of that, you're a respectable member of society, you earned your badge, you earned your place as a detective."

"It's not about how you see me, it's about how everyone else sees us. I don't care about me-"

"I do!" She yelled. "Nick! You're my partner, you cared about me! You were there for me when no one else was! I don't care about what anyone else thinks of me! I'm happy as your partner!"

"Do you really mean that?"

"Absolutely." she replied.

He took a sip of his coffee and smiled. "Thank, Carrots. That means more to me than you could ever know."

She smiled back as he resumed his seat next to her. "Wanna talk about what she said?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "Any way to irish up this coffee?" He asked. "I'm going to need it."

"If she was telling the truth, then this is about a crazy guy on an insane, speciesist crusade," she sighed. "Why can nothing ever be simple?"

"There goes out hope that whoever was in charge of this craziness would cut their losses in Zootopia and start elsewhere."

"And you call me naive," she teased. "We should go and tell Bogo."

"I am not looking forward to that conversation."

"Let's go."

The conversation with Bogo had not been an easy one. Bogo's mood darkened with each and every word they said.

"You mean to tell me that she said that this is about apparently attempting to reinstate old shock collar laws?" He asked, purposefully keeping his tone measured.

"Apparently," answered Judy.

"My blood pressure did not need this today. I assume you know that this means that another attack is in the works?"

"Of course, sir."

"I'll notify all precincts," he said. "We're going to keep the entire city on lockdown if we have to," he said. "You two, go and see what you can find out about this 'Claw,'" he ordered.

"Yes sir!" Replied Nick and Judy in unison. They departed his office.

Back at Nick and Judy's apartment, a soft click was heard as the door swung open. A lean, muscular black wolf stalked in. He looked aroubnf and grimaced. Nowhere to hide and set up and ambush, and he didn't relish the idea of attacking a cop when she was just getting off-duty with a belt that included zip-cuffs, a handgun, a tranquilizer gun and probably some form of pepper spray. He sighed and considered his options. For what she must have been paid as a cop the apartment was incredibly spartan. Just a bid with a mountain of stuffed rabbits on it, a desk, chair and computer.

He looked around the apartment and considered his options. While walking, he felt a floorboard creak under his paw. He pressed it and found it to be loose. He grinned. That would do. He kneeled down and carefully pried off the floorboard and removed his backpack and got to work. He had a few hours and would make sure that when she came home, Judy Hopps would die.

Judy and Nick had done a quick search of Zootopia, getting in touch with some of Nick's web of criminal contacts, but no one had heard of anyone that went by the alias of Claw. After many fruitless hours, they were on their way back to the precinct to punch out and return the car to the motor pool.

As they drive back, Judy finally worked up the nerve to talk to Nick. "Hey Nick, the night we went to see Tepes, you said something to me that I wanted to ask you about."

"What was it?" He asked. "I probably said some weird stuff."

"Nick. You told me that you loved me."

Nick couldn't stop his eyes from going wide and his pupils constricting as far as they could go. "Well. Yeah," he said, desperately trying to play it off. "You're my best friend."

"Nick. Don't treat me like that," she said. "I can tell you're keeping something from me."

"Carrots, I was blasted out of my mind," he said, desperately trying to talk his way out of it. She cooks the know! She couldn't."

"Nick! Please be honest with me!" She pulled over and put the car in park. "Tell me what you're talking about."

"Remember what I said a while ago. About how painful it is to want something you can't ever have?" He asked her, unable to even look at her. "And how when you have the opportunity to have it, it's almost terrifying."

Judy looked at him intently.

"For me, that something, was someone," he said. "You. Judy I love you." He didn't dare look at her. He couldn't. "At first, I thought it was just some passing fancy or my preyophillia. But it wasn't. Judy, you're amazing. Your strong, fearless, warm, kind, beautiful…" he clenched his paws. "You're the most amazing woman I have ever met in my life."

"Nick…"

He didn't hear her and just kept going, the floodgates were opened and he couldn't stop spilling his guts. "I don't just want some roll in the sack, some one night stand. I want you. And I can't ever have you."

Judy reached over and slapped him. "Nick! Of course you can!"

That got him to look at her. "What do you mean?"

"Look. I did some soul-searching, and I came to two conclusions. One, I am definitely a predophile," she told him, emboldened by his confession. "And two, I love you. Nick! I feel the same way!"

Nick was quiet for a moment, and then began chuckling, softly at first, but it evolved into full-blown laughter. "So it's true, the universe really does hate me."

"Nick. What do you mean?" Judy asked, worried for her partner.

"First, I meet the most amazing woman I have ever known, when I fall in love with her, and then she loves me back. The ultimate torture. I can't ever be with you."

"Why not?! Why can't we try?!" She was getting angry with him.

"Because it would be too painful to lose you!" He yelled. "Because I'm too much of a fucking coward to ever actually try having a relationship with you!" He punched the dashboard.

"Why can't you at least give it a try?!" She needed to know.

"Because if you left me, I would never be able to find anyone else ever again!" He took a long shuddering breath in. "Judy. Foxes mate for life. If I got into a serious relationship with you, that would be it for me. I would never be able to move on. I would never be able to find anyone else. I would be psychologically incapable of doing so. So, I resolved myself to this. Loneliness is so much less painful when you never lose anyone in the first place."

"And what about me?!" She asked. "What if I want to try? What if I want to be selfish and try and have a relationship with you?!" She was on the verge of tears. "Nick. I've never felt this way about anyone else in my life. I want to try, I want to be with you, I want to fully love you and be with you. I want to make our relationship work through thick and thin. Please. I can't promise that it would be forever, I'm not prepared to promise that it will work out. But please. I want to have this with you."

Nick didn't respond. He just went back to staring at his paws.

Judy could tell he was thinking. She could practically see the wheels in his head turning. She stayed silent, letting him contemplate what he was going to do. After what felt like hours, she heard him speak.

"Okay. Okay Judy. I… I'll think about it, I can't promise anything else, but I'll think about it.

"Nick…" she sighed, and then smiled. "Okay. I'll take it." She started the car again and began driving them back to the precinct. After a while, she spoke again. "And I don't think you're a coward," she told him. "I'll never her think that."

Nick didn't know how to respond to that. He just sat in his seat and tried to ignore how awkward it had gotten in the car. Could he really do this? Could he really make that leap for happiness with Judy?

Judy parked the car at the Precinct Motor Pool and got out, followed by Nick. They reported to Bogo with their confirmation that whoever Claw was, they were clearly a new force on the scene. Bogo dismissed them for the night.

After the duo had punched out, they went their separate ways, Judy to her apartment and Nick to his train to get back home. Judy had a pretty short walk, that had been the main reason she had chosen the apartment she lived in. She turned on her lights and collapsed on her bed. After giving it some thought, she pulled out her phone. She hesitated for a moment before calling Nick.

Nick saw that Judy was calling him and he answered. "... Hi."

"Look, Nick. Things were kind of awkward between us after we left tonight. I don't want things to stay like that."

"I don't either, Fluff," he sighed.

"Look, even if you turn me down, I won't hate you, or even be mad at you. Really."

"I know, I don't think we could ever hate each other," he replied, and then listened for a response. "Carrots?" Nick asked when he didn't hear a response.

"Nick. I hear ticking," he heard her say, suddenly serious.

"What do you mean?" He asked, worried.

"Hold on." He heard nothing for a while, and then the sound of Judy grunting and wood breaking. "Oh my god… Nick. There's a bomb in my apartment!"

"WHAT?! Carrots! You have to get out of there!"

"Call the ZPD!" She yelled before he heard something crash, followed seconds later by a loud explosion.

"Judy? JUDY?!" He yelled into his phone as the call was dropped. He rapidly called 911.

"Listen! My friend just told me that there was bomb in her apartment! You need to get someone out there! She needs help!" He ran away from his train and towards Judy's apartment. "SHe lives at the Grand Pangolin Arms! Hurry! I think she might be hurt!"

He kept the phone up to his ear as he sprinted as hard as he could to Judy's apartment, only hanging up after they told him that they had dispatched Fire and Rescue to the building. It was even worse than he thought, the building was on fire and he could smell smoke and blood.

"Judy?! JUDY?!" He called, tears welling up as his desperation mounted. He ran to the building and looked around. He saw a bright red trail of blood leading to an alleyway next to the building. He followed it.

"Oh my god…"

Matthew had been watching. He had hidden a bomb beneath the floorboards of her apartment. He flicked the switch when he saw the lights in her apartment go on, and that started a twenty-second timer that he used to get clear of any suspicion before the explosion happened. He gave a smirk as he heard the screaming start, and smelled the smoke in the air. That bunny was dead, and he had a mayoral payday waiting for him.

Notes:

Well, Here's the next chapter. I'm off of school now, so I basically have nothing but free time to get these chapters out. I really value your feedback, I want to know what you think of the way I write and the plot fo far. Constructive criticism is especially valued.