Author's notes:

Hello and welcome to my first published fic! I have a few chapters written out so expect regular updates.

Rated M for mild blood and gore as well as some sexy times later.

Oh, and chapter one takes place during the movie, I wanted to change a few events to fit the world I'm building.

***The Gondola Pier***

The two figures darted across giant tree branches hundreds of feet in the air. A fox being chased by a bunny was an odd sight and might have elected a laugh were they both not currently being followed closely by a savage jaguar. Thankfully officer Hopps had already called it in to HQ so all they had to do was keep away from the beast long enough for backup to arrive. When they spotted the gondola pier Nick was elated, they'd be able to escape Scott free and give the cops an exact location to start their search for Mr. Manchas once they left him behind. Nick didn't notice Judy sliding off the side of the pier until he arrived at the gondola and saw she wasn't right behind him like he'd expected. Instead the jaguar was approaching him slowly on all fours. He could still leave and save himself, but he'd be leaving the carrot headed cop to die in a horrific way, and he couldn't do that to her no matter how much of a pain she could be.

Instead Nick stepped away from the gondola and balled his paws into fists, his knuckles popping loudly in the quiet rain. Nick saw the muscles tense up on the jaguar's back, but before the chauffeur could pounce Nick closed the distance and landed a solid blow on Mr. Manchas' chin. The large cat placed a step back surprised, Nick knew he didn't really hurt him, but he was just getting started. Before Mr. Manchas could get solid footing again Nick was on him with a flurry of blows concentrating on the jaguar's eyes trying to get him to turn his head away. After a few tense moments Mr. Manchas reared back swiping a claw down wildly, Nick took this as his opportunity and while blocking the blow with his left forearm stepped in and uppercut his paw as hard as he could directly into the jaguar's throat causing the cat to fall backwards gasping.

As soon as the jaguar landed with a thud Nick heard a ratcheting sound, he noticed Judy cuffing one of Mr. Manchas' paws to a nearby light pole. Nick let out a sigh of relief and stepped towards officer Hopps and she looked up at him with shocked admiration written all over her face, "Nick, sweet cheese and crackers, that was amazing! Where on earth did you learn that?"

Nick allowed his mask of cool indifference to slide in place quickly hiding the panic that he was barely holding back. "Spend enough time in Zootopia carrots, you'll learn a thing or two."

"Nice try slick, most of the cops I trained with wouldn't have been able to handle him half that well, and I'm including the rhino who trained us. I want an honest ans… LOOK OUT!" Judy spotted Mr. Manchas getting back up behind Nick and grabbed his arm pulling him out of the way of a vicious swipe of the jaguar's claws likely saving his life. Sadly this also pulled Nick off his balance and the two tumbled off the pier into the vines below.

***On the gondola after Nick's flashback***

"After they placed the muzzle on me, I just felt so powerless and afraid. If a bunch of kids my own size could do that to me, what could the bigger mammals do, what would they do, all because I was a fox. So I made myself a promise, I'd never let anyone get that kind of power over me ever again. I started buying self defense tapes at thrift shops and learned how to fight. I got plenty of opportunities: I was an angry kit after that night for a long time. Some fights I won, some I lost, got my tail beat plenty of times, but I never let another animal walk over me like that again."

Judy's heart broke for the fox standing next to her, his life has been so cruel to him and she could now see that all he'd wanted to do was be a good mammal, but he hadn't even been given the chance. Had things turned out just a little bit differently she might have ended up just as jaded as him, thank god the Mammal Inclusion Initiative occurred when it did. She took a step closer to the tod and placed a comforting paw on his arm, "Oh Nick, I'm so sorry. You're a good mammal, and anyone who can't see that is a bigoted idiot! Myself included, I'm sorry to admit."

Nick regretfully pulled away from her and sighed, "It's okay carrots, I'm used to it."

This did little to comfort her though, "No, no it's not okay! I always believed myself to be better than that, to look beyond the species and see the mammal within, but it took you stepping up to defend my life and then my job to really see you Nick." Judy went to wipe some tears from her eyes when she noticed that her paw had a bit of blood on it. "Nick! You're bleeding!"

Nick looked down at his forearm staring ruefully at the torn sleeve, "Oh, it's not too bad. Our good friend Mr. Manchas got one decent swipe at me, but I was able to avoid the worst of it. Honestly I'm more upset about the shirt, do you have any idea how hard it is to find long-sleeve pawiian shirts?"

His joking tone did little to calm the bunny cop, "That's it, take your shirt off!" She was busy taking a small first aid kit out of one of her pouches and didn't notice his expression turn sour. When she glanced up at him he went to object, "I'm not hearing it Nick, take that shirt off and let me treat the wounds, now!"

Nick's mouth snapped shut and began regretfully unbuttoning the shirt. Once the last button was undone he turned his back to Judy, opening it up and slipping the shirt off his shoulders. Once the shirt started to lower Judy let out a gasp: his back was a patchwork of scar tissue pulled taught over layers of muscle. She now suspected he wore an ill fitting shirt to intentionally hide his clearly impressive physic.

As Nick turned back she noticed that he had scars on most of his arms and chest as well and he said regretfully, "Sorry, I don't let most mammals see this. I think they find it unsettling…"

Judy snapped out of her stupor, "Huh? Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to stare like that. Are these all from defending yourself?"

"Yeah, pretty much. It's the price I pay for upholding my code I suppose. Some folks don't like foxes and are plenty willing to show it."

Judy stepped forward and placed a paw on his chest, "Then you shouldn't be embarrassed by them: these scars are the evidence that you won't be held down just because of what you are. Instead you will fight back because of who you are."

Nick couldn't look away from the shining purple eyes that were now seemingly staring into his soul. He brought his paw up and laid it over hers and said softly, "Judy."

"Yes Nick?"

"Thank you for saying that, but weren't you going to look at my cuts?"

"Oh! Right, let me take care of that right now."

Judy began by cleaning out the cuts with some alcohol wipes, and set about patching him up. After she had cleaned the cuts and ensured it wasn't still bleeding too much and that nothing major had been severed she wrapped them up with some gauss pads and bandages. "Well, at least these scars will make a good story. How many mammals get to say they fought a savage jaguar bare handed and won?"

"Haha, probably not too many. Although… hmm."

"What is it slick?"

"Well, Mr. Manchas went savage after getting clawed by Emit right?"

A look of horror crossed Judy's face. "Nick, we'll make sure that doesn't happen. Emit clawed Mr. Manchas days ago, so we have time even if that was the cause. We don't know that's what happened here anyways so we shouldn't panic."

"Well for the time being, you should keep that fox repellent close to paw." That last part came out a bit sadder than he had meant it to and he bent down to pick up his shirt to avoid making eye contact. As he was buttoning up the front of his shirt he glanced back at Judy to see her holding the fox repellent in her paws. She wasn't holding it to use it, instead it was like she was contemplating it's very existence. Nick hesitated before asking, "Why do you have that? I don't think it's standard police kit…"

Judy looked up at him and said, "It's not. My parents were nervous about me going to Zootopia on my own and tried to get me to take a whole bag of anti-fox supplies. I only took this to get them to drop it, or that's what I thought. I should have thrown it away the second I got on the train!"

Nick knelt down on one knee to look at her on an even level, making a point to not look down at her, "So why didn't you?"

"Well, I guess you're not the only one with scars Nick." She brushed the fur aside on her cheek revealing three faint scars, "When I was about 9 years old a bully knocked me down and clawed my face. I'd never been more scared in my entire life, before or after, except now maybe with Mr. Manchas. The bully even made a vailed threat about foxes eating bunnies. I think… I think I just carried that moment of terror along for my entire life and moving to Zootopia, well, I guess it was more unsettling than I wanted to admit."

Small tears started to form in the corner of her eyes and Nick quietly realized to himself, "She's just like me." Nick reached up and cupped her scarred cheek with his paw wiping away a tear with his thumb, "Hey fluff, it's okay. I know exactly what that kind of thing can do to a kit, the kind of damage it can leave behind. Besides, if I do go savage, it'll be a good thing you have it."

Judy looked at Nick for a long moment before she casually tossed the fox repellent over the side of the gondola. Nick watched in shock before shouting, "What are you doing carrots? You might need that!"

"No, I trust you Nick. I know it doesn't make logical sense, but I do. So consider that me placing my trust in you, and this" she offered up her carrot pen, "is my apology. I shouldn't have roped a civilian into this investigation in the first place. That being said, I wouldn't have made it half as far without you, every lead we've had was because of you. So please, help me see this through?"

Nick sat back stunned, here was a bunny, a bunny that was once attacked by a fox no less, placing her faith, no her life, in his hands. He could take the pen and walk away, maybe even some day convince himself that he was right to do so, she said it herself: she shouldn't have gotten him involved. He took the pen from her paw and studied it for a moment. He then looked into her eyes and pressed the erase button and he noticed the look of disappointment that crossed her face for a moment. Then before she could say anything he pressed record, "Alright officer Hopps, I'll stick by your side till this is done, one way or the other."

Judy let out a squeal and jumped at Nick wrapping her arms around his neck screaming, "Thank you thank you thank you!"

Nick was again stunned by her apparent complete faith in him and slowly brought his arms up and hugged her back softly. He then coughed and stood up saying, "Boy, look at that traffic down there. How about we go out to Chuck in Traffic Central?"

*** Under the Bridge***

Judy slid down the embankment to the underside of the bridge and there she spotted the fox she had been looking for. Nick was sprawled out on a lawn chair, Judy was ecstatic to see him and moved to run over to him but hesitated when she saw the state he was in. His pawiian shirt was off laying on the ground next to him which would normally leave his chest bare, but there were a multitude of bandages and wraps covering a good portion of his fur. Judy stopped dead in her tracks as Nick casually tilted his head towards her, his mirrored sunglasses helping to give off the impression that he was expecting her (which he was, as Finnick had texted him the moment Judy had left the van) and was completely unfazed by her presence. Judy had come here to ask him for help one more time, but seeing him in this state, it broke something in her. Instead of trying to appeal to his moral compass she instead shouted out, "I'M SORRY! Oh Nick, I'm so sorry: I did this to you. I've spent the last 3 months replaying the press conference over and over in my head and I realized what a horrible mistake I made both during and immediately after. There is no excuse for what I said." She started to walk over to him now, "I became everything I strove to stop, I set out to make the world a better place for all mammals, and instead I made it so much worse for the mammal I care about the most." That line did take Nick by surprise, but he still didn't say anything or react outwardly at all, he was curious where she was going with this. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to make it up to you Nick, but if you give me the chance I'd like to spend the rest of my life trying."

Nick stood up finally and picked up his shirt slinging it over his shoulder and turning his back to Judy before walking off under the bridge. Judy let out a sob before saying, "I came here to ask for your help again, but I don't deserve it. At least I can let you know that you were right all along: I really am just a dumb bunny."

Nick stopped walking for a moment and slipped his shirt on without buttoning it up. He turned around and walked back, still silent, he stopped just a foot from her and spoke for the first time, his voice soft, "I was furious you know. For years I kept everyone at arm's length, if they couldn't get close to me they couldn't hurt me. Then along comes officer toot toot, turns my comfortable life upside down, threatens me with jail time and drags me off to some wild goose chase to find some missing mammals. She also believed in me, convinced me I could be what I had given up on being all those years ago, and became my only real friend in this god forsaken city. I allowed myself to open up, just a little bit, and that small crack in my guard was enough for you to slip the knife in."

"After the press conference I wanted nothing to do with you: I thought you had betrayed me. I hated you for a while, but then it sunk in, you didn't say what you did out of maliciousness, you were trying to give honest answers to impossible questions, and honestly you should never have been put up there by yourself in the first place. You certainly could have answered them better, but that's in the past now." Nick knelt down to get on eye level with Judy and pulled his shades up revealing a bad looking black eye, "I looked for you, you know." Judy was taken aback by that but Nick pressed on, "About a month ago I went into the ZPD asking about you and the asshole working the front desk told me you resigned, well, he told me that after he threatened to have me arrested. Do you know why I went looking for you?" Judy shook her head, "It's because I saw you on the afternoon news breaking up an Anti-Pred protest. You were yelling at them all to disband and you looked tired, so tired and miserable, exactly how I felt all the time after I walked away. A month later I walked into the ZPD, but you were gone, I did nothing for too long and then it was too late to clear the air. I'm sorry too Judy, I shouldn't have taken it all so personally." He cupped her cheek like he did months ago on the gondola, "I made you a promise not that long ago." In his other paw Judy noticed the carrot pen appear and he pressed the play button, "All right officer Hopps, I'll stick by your side till this is done, one way or the other."

Judy let out another sob and jumped into his arms hugging him tightly, "Thank you Nick, you really are the best mammal I know." She started crying and buried her face into his chest.

"Oh you bunnies, so emotional, okay bring it in." Nick wrapped her up in his arms holding her close and allowed himself to wallow in the scent he had missed these last three months. He thought to himself, "Wait, I missed her scent? Now is not the time to think about this Wilde!" As to distract himself he said to Judy, "Although you are pulling at my bandages, ow ow ow!"

Judy hopped back quickly, "Oh sorry! You didn't get these from Anti-Pred groups did you?"

Nick looked away, "Not... exactly. I got most of these for sticking up for you actually."

"For... me?" Judy was surprised to hear that.

Nick was having a hard time holding eye contact, "Yeah, there were people who would say some not so kind things about you, either how you attacked predators with your conference, or how you betrayed prey for breaking up their protests. Well after I had gotten over my initial anger I didn't take too kindly to their attitude so I decided they needed an adjustment." Judy gave him a flat look, "Hey, I said I had gotten over my initial anger, not that I wasn't angry..."

Judy's expression softened, "You really did all that for me?" Nick nodded, "Well, I shouldn't thank you for assaulting mammals in my name... but, thank you Nick, for always sticking up for me. First with Bogo at the gondola and now this. Why do you fight for me when it would always be so much easier for you to just walk away?" Nick remained silent and simply stared at her for a long moment, "Alright, now get that shirt off mister! I need to check over your bandages before we set off, I have a lead to follow up on." Nick begrudgingly slipped his shirt off only wincing slightly as Judy set about checking over his wounds. As she was taking care of him Nick reflected that these last few months were the first time he fought a mammal for someone other than himself in his whole life.

Author's Notes:

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