Hello and welcome to what will be the last installment of this story. Rest assured there are other stories from this Zootopian world that are soon to be published.

I found myself wanting to finish this introduction to my version of Zootopia as quickly as possible so I could get to the stories I really wanted to write. These other stories I have devoted much more attention to in my off-time. I apologize to my readers if this story has come off seeming a little half-baked or contrite, I tried to do this subject justice with the level of focus, detail and attention I can spare it from my other demands. The next story in the sequence I promise will have a lot more to it.

Now to prepare you for this chapter:

Any just assessment of an incident will include scrutiny of all of its members. The actual investigation will go on much longer than the week I have devoted to it in this story, and the events of this chapter will reverberate in the department for months if not years to come. These first days are where the tone will be set for the events that follow. Judy and Nick's own conduct will come under scrutiny as well.

I have Chief Bogo interrogating his own staff regarding their conduct, but he is also under observation by Internal Affairs in this matter so that his actions are also being accounted for. Bear in mind that this is a work of fiction and is not necessarily representative of the ideal modus operandi of departmental investigations. It is meant to peel back the layers of the ZPD and its officers and reveal that their relationships, motivations and actions are not always what we assume.

On with the story.

At last Friday had arrived, and both Judy and Nick were due for their interrogations with Chief Bogo. They came into work in the morning as usual and went straight for the bullpen, passing Ben Clawhauser who was at his desk and trying his hardest to sit up straight despite the fatigue of his most recent session in the gym. Though Chief Bogo was quite busy with the departmental investigation and was under investigation himself as part of the routine, he was not letting up on the cheetah officer in the slightest, and had started to come down even harder.

To his credit, Ben was taking the possibility of a transfer to patrol very seriously and pushing himself hard. Judy and Nick each waved to him as they went passed the front desk, and Ben waived back as enthusiastically as his exhaustion would permit.

In the bullpen, officers were much more subdued than they had been at the start of the week. The constant interrogations by Internal Affairs, the repeated questioning by the Chief, the late-night seminars about harassment in the workplace and team-building exercises, coupled with the demands of their regular police work had exhausted most everyone and created a very strained environment. McHorn looked even crankier than usual, Grizzoli had been looking rather disconsolate and depressed, Delgato looked nervous, Paddington was edgy, Fangmeyer was groggy, Wolford looked exhausted, and Perkins - who had to take charge of day-to-day operations - was looking quite worn down himself.

While Judy had started the week bright-eyed and bushy-tailed she was starting to feel a lot of the depression through the collective mood around her. Nick was also lacking in good cheer, especially since the confrontation with McHorn and Grizzoli. Both of them had suffered put downs from the other cops the whole week, but while Judy had enjoyed some positive reinforcement from her fellow female officers, Nick had endured only disdain and deprecation without any support. He had grown tough skin in his years of conning and ducking the police, but this was getting to be more than his thick fox-hide could take.

Perkins gave everyone their assignments with frank officiousness and dismissed them to their duties.

Judy and Nick had patrol via squad car again and today was Judy's turn to drive. She got the keys from the lock-up, unlocked their squad car and drove herself and Nick to their designated patrol sector. Nick scanned the streets and breathed tensely through his nose as he watched for any wrong-doing among the citizenry. He had been very quiet and lacking in quips since Monday, and while Judy figured he was just tense because the department was tense, she had decided to let sleeping foxes lie... provided he did not actually fall asleep on the job. Given that both of them were due to talk to Chief Bogo today there was reason to be tense. Francince, Jayashri and many of the officers in their branch had already had meetings with Chief Bogo. None had been put on suspension as such, but some were due for further interrogation pending recommendations from Internal Affairs. Even some of the female officers were due for further inquiries, some had had complaints leveled against them as well. Judy was surprised at how much distrust and negative feelings there were among the department, though having only been there a little over a year she was not surprised that she had missed some of it.

She was just glad something was finally being done about it.

Shortly before noon, Judy and Nick came off duty temporarily and ceded their sector to Officer Wolford. Nick was starting to get hungry and figured he would probably grab a snack in the cafeteria while Judy had her talk with Bogo. She warned him only something small, and not sugary. Ever since becoming an officer, Nick had started to eat considerably more due to his more active lifestyle. As his body's demands for food increased, Judy had done her best to curtail his less-healthy eating habits and keep him eating just the right kind of food to remain healthy and able to do the more strenuous activities their job required. The cafeteria was usually a place where she policed his eating habits, but if she were out of sight, maybe he could get some comfort food.

Judy brought the squad car back to the garage and locked up, then went straight to the Office of the Chief. As she approached, the door opened and McHorn walked out, dragging his hooves and looking brow-beaten. He spied Judy nearby and scrunched his lips tightly. Whatever he thought to say or do he either thought better or just decided it was not worth the effort and went walking on. Judy had never seen McHorn look so dejected before.

"Hopps, daylight's burning. Come on in." The Chief called to her.

She turned around and entered through the door. The Chief closed it behind her.

"Take a seat, Hopps."

She got up on the chair and faced the desk as the Chief walked around it and took a seat.

"Chief, is McHorn all right?" She asked.

"Confidential meetings Hopps. I don't tell you about the other's meetings, and I don't tell them about yours."

She sat down and allowed her ears to droop. More than likely McHorn was in some sort of trouble with the department. Judy thought she would be pleased to see justice being done, but the faces of those she saw punished... once in a while it could get to her.

Bogo launched right into the discussion.

"So Hopps, here we are with another departmental upheaval of your initiation." Though he sounded less than enthused, the Chief did not seem to regard this as a waste of time.

"Only making sure we practice justice within and without Chief." She replied.

"Well now the spotlight falls on you Hopps. Do you know why I called you in?"

"Does it have to do with our discussion after the morning meeting last Monday?"

"Not directly, though if you want to make any official statements about that, one of the sub-investigators back in the Cubicle Jungle I'm sure will take it down as part of my own investigation. We're here to discuss what prompted that exchange; specifically dealing with what you and your partner were doing at the concert the week before that discussion. I thought you and Wilde were behaving inappropriately, I informed you and you alone of my thoughts, and now we're going to discuss what I saw and try to understand your actions. After my own inquiries you're free to submit additional statements to the Investigating Team from Internal Affairs that I mentioned earlier."

Judy settled herself into the chair and looked back at her Chief with all measure of respect, but with a glance behind her eyes that seemed to say: bring it.

While Judy was in her session with Bogo, Nick went to the cafeteria and tried to sweet-talk one of the staff there into letting him purchase one of his favorite comfort foods: creamed crickets. Not the healthiest or tastiest of choices, but one that Nick always associated with some of his better meals as a younger kit. A simpler and at moments even happier time.

One thing that Nick had learned, as an acquaintance of Judy, was that she put plans in place that endured even in her absence. In this case, she was good friends with the kitchen staff and told them that Nick would be served very specific kinds of food; creamed crickets were not on that list of acceptable fare.

Yet where there were crafty control-freaks like Judy, there were also crafty sneaks like Nick.

He had to effectively bribe both the cooks and the cashier to get them to rescind on what they had been asked to do by Judy, so he ended up paying almost double for the food. Even so, when he sat down at his table with a steaming cardboard bowl of the insect stew he was instantly glad to have it. He needed a little comfort right now. He had seen a number of their fellow officers go up to the office this past week, stay for what seemed a long time, and then come out looking quite shaken. In some cases the officers emerged looking very down and had left work - most likely on suspension. Some had left the office looking angry, and on one occasion an officer came out of Bogo's office in tears. Nick was not sure what was in store for him or Judy, but he hoped neither of them came away looking so down about it.

As Nick munched on his creamed crickets, Officer Delgato came into the seating area, walking slowly like he had a lot on his mind. He raised his mane just enough to spot Nick. Both officers locked eyes and in acknowledgement of the other's presence, Nick tilted his head. Delgato returned the nod and walked over to sit near him. The lion put his paw on the chair opposite Nick and by a few non-verbal exchanges they agreed that Delgato would sit.

"I'm being called in for questioning any minute now." Delgato said at last.

Thinking back to Delgato's treatment of Fangmeyer, Nick had little sympathy. "I'm up for questions at the end of my shift tonight." He responded with a noncommittal air. Delgato didn't seem to catch the attitude Nick had for him. He seemed genuinely surprised that Nick was going to be questioned at all.

"Wouldn't have thought you would have complaints against you. You're pretty new here."

Nick did not want to share that much of what was going on in his own hearing; it was his business after all. However, Delgato's frankness was a bit disarming, so he decided to at least share the basics. "The Chief saw what he thought was inappropriate behavior at the concert after party a couple weeks ago. He and I are just clearing the air I guess... I hope."

"Lucky you. I wish I was as confident about what I've got in store for me. I received a complaint against me a little while back. I was told by the one who made the complaint that it was no longer an issue and she said she was withdrawing it, but I guess the Chief needs to be sure."

"Do you know who complained?" Nick asked.

Delgato nodded. "Yeah, Fangmeyer. She was right to do it, I did do something inappropriate, but I thought we moved passed it."

Nick didn't like the fact that Delgato seemed to think there was nothing to his misconduct, but kept a lid on his thoughts.

"You've been here long enough I'm sure you heard me tease her a bit. You know why I do it?"

Nick shrugged.

"I was a shrimpy cat when I was younger. Rail thin, poor physical condition, a lot of my playmates said I'd never grow to be a real lion."

Hearing that made Nick think of his own childhood and he instantly had some sympathy for his fellow officer. "Sometimes I think kits can be crueler than any perp we deal with." He offered.

Delgato nodded. "Fangmeyer was one of the popular cats at my school. She used to call me 'pussycat' because of my small stature."

Nick nodded solemnly. "I'm sorry."

Delgato looked up with a bemused grin. "Strangely I'm not. Her put-downs got me to push myself harder to succeed. I think half of the reason I'm here is because of it. I told her back then that one day I was going to prove myself a tougher cat than she'd ever seen. I worked myself ragged to get good grades, exercised more, had my growth spurt and then went to the Academy. And when I made officer and we ended up in the same precinct I... I rubbed her nose in it quite a bit. I guess I was pretty immature about it, but I felt like getting her back for all the grief she gave me when we were younger."

Nick was stunned to hear this. Delgato wasn't an unusually big cat, but Nick had assumed he was just another meat-headed jock who had always been the big cat in his domain. Just last year he had seen Delgato in Savanna Central during a chase involving a 'savage' Siberian Tiger. It had been a few weeks after Nick's fallout with Judy over her derogatory comments about predators, Nick was just out walking when suddenly the tiger just went crazy and savaged several animals in the park. The lion officer was walking by and almost single-handedly incapacitated the drugged-out tiger and had him in handcuffs even before SWAT had arrived. The tiger had obvious advantages in both size and strength, but Delgato still came out on top. He had looked pretty smug about it too when it happened.

The ribbing that Delgato gave Fangmeyer always seemed more flirtatious than vindictive. Now it turned out to be a bit of late childhood payback. It may have been immature and unprofessional in the grand scheme of things, but not quite the inappropriate, sexual harassment kind of behavior Nick had presumed.

As this went through Nick's head, Delgato chuckled and then spoke.

"Never would have thought I would have developed a thing for her."

That got Nick to do a double take.

"You... you're into her? After all of that?"

"Heh, yeah. She and I used to flirt a lot on the job since we can't date or anything; partners and all. Kind of nice in a way. We work together, look out for each other, we've gotten to be really good friends. Almost like we were in some weird, arranged marriage kind of situation... Anyway, a couple of months back, before you joined I guess, she got a boyfriend. I've given her grief about it everyday since."

He looked down with a melancholy expression, his mane drooping around his face.

"It helps, you know? You act like a jerk so you feel like not being together the way she is with her boyfriend is how it's supposed to be."

Nick did not know what to think if that. He was sure he would rib Judy if she ever got a boyfriend, but not because he felt the need to justify a lack of similar relations with her. Nick had now become hooked on the topic of Delgato and Fangmeyer and wanted to hear more. Delgato looked emotionally deflated, so Nick decided to infuse a little more energy into the conversation.

"So... why are you being called in? What was her complaint?"

Delgato looked up, this time not as bemused and a little more withdrawn. "About a month ago I went out to a bar with Fangmeyer and Grizzoli after work. She was a bit upset, some fight with her boyfriend. Grizzoli went home early but I stayed to comfort her. She got a bit emotional and I - stupid of me really - I kissed her because I thought she needed to feel cared for. She kissed back for a bit, but then backed away when she realized what we were doing and left. Then the morning after, she told me she had submitted a complaint the night before. She said she was sorry and was withdrawing it, but I felt angry about the whole situation... the teasing got a little out of control after that... I'm hoping the Chief is merciful about it, but I think I may have pushed my luck. Jayashri was in there with him earlier. I'm sure the part about the kiss will come up again. She said she wasn't upset about it and didn't begrudge me the slip in etiquette... still, I wish it didn't go down like this."

Nick was floored by this news. All he had seen was this big jock of a lion picking on a female leopard. Now it turned out she used to be the bully and this whole exchange had come from an escalation of childhood payback and one-upmanship that culminated in a forward display of affection. Nick was hardly one to judge these matters, but it suddenly seemed just a little less clear whether the fault lay purely with Delgato.

"Uh sorry for bothering you with all of this Wilde. I know you don't know me or anything about any of this. Maybe that's why I feel like telling you. You're still a bit of a stranger so you have no reason to side with either me or Fangmeyer... Anyway, wish me luck. I'm hoping he bites off my head quickly."

With that, Delgato left and headed up the stairs to Bogo's office. Nick suddenly felt sickened thinking that he might have cost a seemingly decent mammal dearly in his career. More than the problems Delgato might have with department policy, Nick felt sorry for what had become of his partnership and friendship with Fangmeyer.

"Yeah, good luck." He said as the lion walked away.

Nick did not sit alone for long. Grizzoli materialized near the stairs where he had lost sight of Delgato. As the polar bear walked by Nick could see the solemn frustration in his walk. He looked annoyed, but more than anything he seemed concerned.

Nick decided to speak.

"So that's why you were concerned about the investigation."

Grizzoli looked at him, first with a look of annoyance, but then a softening of the features led to a frustrated look of acceptance.

"Rick told you about Jayashri's report, huh?" He didn't wait for Nick to answer. "He's been one of my teammates since I started here. I knew he had a thing for her, but they seemed to have made peace. Now with this... who knows what the Chief is gonna do to him."

Nick looked down.

"I'm sorry about that. I get what it means to want to look out for a friend."

Grizzoli looked up and then let his eyes relax as he accepted Nick's words.

"I just hope he'll be okay."

The bear officer walked away and Nick decided he had no more appetite for the crickets. He tossed them in a nearby waste bin and just sat waiting for Judy. He went over some of the citations he had written over the week in his notepad, deciding if he needed to revisit any of them and if they warranted further consideration. Most did not.

Once Judy was out of her session with the Chief, they returned to the garage, go to their car, and went back out on patrol. The rest of the day seemed to go by in a flash. Nick was again in the passenger seat and though he spoke to Judy when spoken to, he had little to say. He sat there keeping his thoughts bottled up and feeling glum. The talk with Delgato had gotten to him, especially the backstory about the lion as a cub and his interactions with Fangmeyer way back when. Nick did not hold Jayashri in low-esteem because of past bullying, he had known a great many bullies as a kit, and he had seen some grow out of it and become better animals; Fangmeyer seemed to fit that with that group. Nick ultimately admitted that he felt glum because he found reason to empathize with the perpetrators that had brought all of this about. The only upside he could see from the interaction was that Delgato seemed to feel comfortable enough to share problems with Nick in a tense moment and Grizzoli had at least looked upon Nick with something other than disdain... if only this kind of trust would hold.

Judy herself looked a little deflated after talking with Bogo. Which is to say, she looked just happy instead of exuberant to be out on the beat that afternoon.

Later in the afternoon and after their shift, Judy and Nick had returned to the station so Nick could have his own session with the Chief. He arrived on schedule, but one of the earlier sessions had run long and Bogo had some other departmental issues to attend to, so Nick had to wait. He now sat fidgeting nervously outside of the office and waited to be called in. Having nothing to do regarding the situation at hand, and with Judy off taking care of their reports, Nick took the time to reflect on the events of the past few days. The confrontation with McHorn and Grizzoli was of course one of the more scary events, though he seemed to at least be at a slightly better place with Grizzoli after Delgato shared his concerns about the interrogation. Despite the solidarity Nick maintained with Judy on the issue, few of the other officers seemed to maintain solidarity with him. Fangmeyer, Francine, Sharp and the other officers that had started to support the new measures had mostly sided with Judy but shown Nick little in the way of regard. Nick just happened to be on the side of the argument with growing numbers, he was still not counted as one of them.

The tension around the precinct was at near boiling and Nick was getting even more disdainful looks than usual. Ever since the confrontation with McHorn and Grizzoli he had been accosted on two other occasions by others who had seemed to reach the conclusion that a fox, regardless of uniform or character, was the first suspect in this departmental debacle. Nick had suffered prejudice for most of his life, and he had known that wearing a badge would not change that fact, but there was one thing he had been counting on when he made officer: he would be part of a pack.

If the last week was any indicator for Nick it was that the pack had not welcomed him. A few of its members like Judy and Ben cared for and supported him, and he seemed to be on tolerable terms with Bogo, Maddox, Fangmeyer, Sharp and perhaps even Delgato, but the vast majority of officers were not favorably disposed towards him and had made no secret of it now that the department was in upheaval. Nick knew being a fox did not endear him to a lot of animals, but after coming through the Academy at the top of his class, working with Judy, and doing his level best as a cop for the past several months, he had hoped that some of them would at least consider looking at his accomplishments and making judgments on those qualities... they had not.

As Nick stewed in his thoughts, who should come trotting by but the one individual in the whole precinct who seemed to remain blissfully unaffected by the Chief's crack-down. Ben was wearing police track clothes and trotting toward the gym.

"Hey Nick. You wanna join me for a jog? I got two miles to complete and I got side-by-side treadmills picked out for me and just one more."

Nick grinned. Happy to see someone staying above the fray, and even more importantly, willing to talk to him in a friendly tone.

"That sounds great Ben. But I'm due for a grilling in the office any minute now. Save me a treadmill for another day, buddy."

As if in answer, the Chief's door opened, and the horned head looked over at the chairs where the fox and cheetah officers spoke.

"Wilde, come in." Came Bogo's stolid voice before his head went back inside and left the door slightly ajar.

Ben looked to Nick, who gave him a look that seemed to say 'here goes nothin'. Ben went jogging towards the gym, and Nick trudged towards the office.

Wilde entered the office and saw the Chief bent over his desk making some notes on a sheet of paper. The great horned head lifted and spotted the fox.

"Take a seat, Wilde." He motioned to the chair before turning back to his paperwork on the desk.

Wilde came forward and hopped up onto the chair. He found himself right under Bogo's nose and was suitably intimidated to be looking up at the Chief from this chair.

"As I recall, the last time we were in my office you informed me that I should have come down on you instead of Hopps regarding that issue at the concert, Wilde. We'll we're here to go over that incident in explicit detail and determine whether I do need to come down on you after all."

Wilde gulped. Bogo set out a sheet of paper and drew a pen from a cup on his desk. His eyes never strayed from Wilde.

"On Friday night, two weeks previously, at the Concert Event where the incident that led to this long overdue shake-up occurred, I cited the behavior between you and your partner, Officer Judith Hopps, as being unprofessional and directed my disappointment explicitly towards Officer Hopps. You informed me that this neglected both your own involvement and the question of who initiated the actions which I identified as inappropriate. So I am going to start by asking some questions:
The night of the concert, did you make any suggestive advances towards Officer Hopps?"

"No I did not." Wilde answered flatly.

"Did you make physical contact with Officer Hopps in excess of the limits of her personal space?"

"I... bumped my chest against her back a few times, as a tease. My actions were those of a friend, I wasn't trying to proposition her. And it wasn't intended to make her receptive to anything or make her uncomfortable. We've made similar contact when hanging out after work or in the gym. It was a friendly gesture in those instances, it was a friendly gesture in this instance too."

Bogo nodded and wrote something on the paper in front of him without looking down or away from Wilde.

"Did Officer Hopps at any point give signals, either physical or verbal that your conduct was unwelcome or making her uncomfortable?"

Wilde calmly shook his head. "No, she's my friend and she trusts me. She never said anything was wrong with my behavior and I have every confidence that she'd have said something if I did anything inappropriate."

Again Bogo nodded and wrote.

"Did Officer Hopps give you signals, physical or verbal, that she desired further contact?"

"No."

Scribble.

"Did Officer Hopps respond to your interactions in any way, and if so, how?"

"She elbowed me back, rather softly given her strength, and she smiled at me. She called me a 'jerk' in a manner that was also teasing. Pretty much an echo of the attitude I was directing at her."

Bogo scribbled as Wilde spoke, then he asked further:

"Was your interpretation of these events suspect, Wilde? Were you inebriated or otherwise impaired regarding your ability to exercise proper judgment?"

"I had one drink that I nursed during the evening, but only the one, and I remained entirely lucid."

Bogo wrote again while holding his gaze. Wilde imagined that as an officer pulling over a driver this kind of simultaneous staring and writing would terrify a number of animals; Wilde was certainly quite intimidated.

"You admit to having taken substances that may have compromised your senses?"

Wilde was delicate in his response.

"I admit I consumed a substance that in excess would compromise my senses. I did not consume to excess and was aware of my actions, and as I said before, they were those of a friend, and not meant to solicit anything from Officer Hopps."

More staring and scribbling.

"Have you ever shown this kind of behavior to other members of the department either on or off duty?"

The questions continued for several more minutes. Bogo continued scribbling and never looked away. Wilde had no choice but to maintain the same excruciatingly direct eye-contact. It began to wear on the fox, particularly since many of the questions were echoes of previous questions but were phrased differently in order to see if there would be an inconsistency with his earlier answers. Finally Bogo dropped the pen, folded his hooves and craned forward to look at Wilde.

"What is your interpretation of the events in question, Wilde? Give me a summation."

Wilde exhaled, avoiding any semblance of a temper over the repeated questioning on the these events and the harsh insinuations that they carried.

"My interpretation is that my partner and I were at a social gathering as friends. We spent a lot of our time together, and we frequently interacted with friendly, non-sexual, physical contact and some mild verbal teasing. Clearly it was not interpreted that way by others and we seem to have overstepped the boundaries of professionalism. I'll make sure there isn't a repeat of this in the future. I will emphasize, however, that I've always tried to be professional when representing my uniform and this department, and I have never had or hinted at any kind of romantic interest in my partner or any other member of the department."

Bogo nodded and sat back.

"That's about what I gathered... Officer Wilde, your statements are in agreement with those of Officer Hopps, and I have determined that your actions and hers do not fall under the umbrella of misconduct. Therefore I see no further need for any more inquiries. You are welcome to make a formal statement to the Internal Affairs investigative team if you wish. If you mention anything there that you failed to mention here you may be called for further questioning to make sure we have a complete picture of this incident."

He took up the sheet of paper and another that was resting on the desk, most likely the notes on Judy's testimony, and dropped both in a manila envelope that he then stuck in one of the drawers of his desk.

"I am returning both you and Officer Hopps to active duty tomorrow. You will be receiving a new assignment in the morning. And I trust that your professionalism will remain in effect as you continue your duties."

Nick had to do a mild double take and then nodded.

"Was there anything more you felt needed to be discussed?" Bogo asked.

Wilde wanted to ask about Delgato to see if the big cat had come out all right. He had no great sympathy for Delgato, but the lion seemed a decent enough officer; such that at the very least Wilde did not wish him ill. He could not really come up with a reason that justified the Chief telling him what had happened, so he settled for not mentioning it.

"Uh, no. Nothing comes to mind that would count as any of my business. I just... hope everyone's getting the same fair treatment I seem to have gotten."

"I'm being as fair as policy and circumstances permit me Wilde. If there's no other business, then that'll be all. Dismissed Officer Wilde."

Wilde decided to let it go for now. He got down from the chair and started to make his way to the door.

"And Wilde." The Chief said as Wilde reached for the handle. Wilde turned back. The Chief still had his stoic grimace, but there was a softening in the eyes that Wilde could almost identify as respect. "Your earnestness about fairness is appreciated," the Chief continued. "Don't ever lose your grasp on it."

Wilde nodded and turned the handle.

Judy met Nick as he left Bogo's office.

"I think something good came out of all of this." She smiled. Nick looked at her with a more cynical expression.

"If you say so partner."

She persisted. "I mean it. We got the department to self-scrutinize, we got them to admit to internal misconduct, we got the Chief to evaluate the situation and self-evaluate, and we came out of it without getting in trouble ourselves."

Nick thought back on the call to the Payroll office and how his offenses in his former life almost got noticed and threatened his current doings. He thought of Delgato, about whom he still had not learned anything new. He thought about McHorn and Grizzoli, and the other officers who had taken out their frustrations on him and would no doubt continue to do so in the times ahead. He also thought of Fangmeyer and the other officers who were on his side of this argument, but still did not see him as one of them.

Nick thought of all of this and found he was unsure whether he could agree with Judy. She would probably go on being the darling little bunny officer who kept a starry-eyed view of the world and hoped to keep making a difference. For himself, Nick could only see the prejudice that surrounded him, and he felt his natural cut-and-run urge starting to build.

"Somehow I don't think we're done just yet. What happens if officers start getting suspended? Or fired?"

Judy had a momentary flashback to the sight of McHorn trudging out of the office and how down he looked. The sympathetic side in her agreed it was sad, but the ambitious, do-gooder side in her said that it was his own doing that led to this and he deserved what he had coming.
"That isn't our doing," she said. "Rules are rules and we have these particular ones for a reason. We just got the department to remember to enforce them."

"Like you said Carrots: 'we got them to...'. We started this thing. I'm not saying we shouldn't have, but I have a feeling there will be some problems. For the department and all of us."

"So we stick together. Partners and teammates." She responded in a peppy tone. Nick found he had no enthusiasm left to help give a smile.

The gym door down the hallway opened up and out staggered Benjamin Clawhauser wearing a sweatband and officer training clothes. Ben was looking super worn out, huffing and puffing as he moved, but he still had a grin for Judy and Nick as he came trotting down the hall.

"Hey guys. I'm off for a cool-down jog. Interested?"

"Not tonight Ben, let me know the next time, I'll go with you." Judy said. Nick gave a grin to show his thoughts were the same as Judy's. Ben shrugged.

"Suit yourself… See ya tomorrow. And hey Nick, next run - you're with me."

The big cat shuffled passed them, his steps landed heavily on the stairs, but he continued moving. They watched him until he exited building and closed the front door behind him.

"Well, at least we'll always have Ben."

A look went from the listener to the speaker before both descended into spasms of laughter.

"Good one Carrots."

I have touched on these stories off and on for several months now and I could not focus on one with my dissertation in the works and now a new, more demanding job. The first chapter of this story was always planned, but the other chapters grew out of my mental wanderings when I realized a lot of my writing was predominantly focused on Nick, and did not address issues that Judy may face as a minority gender in her line of work.

Additionally, I thought this story provided a good first step towards the events I have planned for later stories. The tone at the end of the movie was quite cheerful, but I felt that a compelling story needed to address many of the attitudes that persisted and were left unresolved. The department did not just magically accept Nick, the movie itself criticizes the insipid idea of all dreams coming true so easily.

Also, just because Judy solved a case with Nick's help and welcomed him to the police service as her partner does not mean the whole of Zootopia has adopted Judy's bright-eyed, hopeful, and inclusive way of thinking. Further, just because she got over her own prejudices does not mean everyone else has forgotten their own.

In my story, Judy got a lot of animals to address some pervasive issues related to gender, but as a result of this intervention, Nick has become a target for continued prejudice related to his species. Judy, Ben, and to some extent, Bogo, may just see him as Nick Wilde and a descent animal, but the rest of Zootopia is not yet adjusted to the idea of a fox law enforcement official.

That will be the topic of my next story 'The Rabbit, The Fox, and the Wild' (Rated M). I hope you keep reading.