Ch. 2:

Nick sat on his chair with a tired sigh, holding his phone between his fingers while his feet were still caked with a thin layer of dried cement, his radio playing a melancholy lyric-less tune.

Bone weary he stared at the contact picture of his mother and he wanted nothing more than to talk to her. As a kit he tried to take care of himself but there were moments in his life when eh just needed to be comforted by his mother, hugged and told everything was going to be okay.

But what was he going to say to her? No one at the precinct is willing to give him a chance and he met the devil in the form of a rabbit. No, he would do what he had done for years.

"Suck it up," Nick decided and tossed his phone onto the desk, leaning his head back. But in dropping his phone he had accidentally hit the call button.

Nick realized a second too late, scrambling for the phone but then his mother's face filled the screen, accepting his muzzletime and smiling up at him.

"Hey, sweetie," she grinned up at him before glancing to someone off screen, "I told you he'd call. How's the big city, Blueberries?"

"Absolutely great," Nick lied through his teeth, pulling up a smile.

"Really?" Mrs. Wilde asked hopefully as Honey and Finnick helped her fill the screen, "Everything you ever hoped?"

"Yep," Nick nodded, "And more. Everyone was actually pretty nice and I felt like I was really making a difference out there-"

"What are you wearing?" Finnick spoke up and all eyes turned to the bright orange vest Nick had forgotten to take off.
"Oh, this," he started to panic, "This is just-" Finnick then broke into laughter, rendering the red fox silent, his ears flushed with embarrassment.

Honey roughly pushed Finnick off the screen, "Stop teasing him."

"Ain't nothing wrong with being a meter maid," Old Goat's voice spoke up, Mrs. Wilde moved the phone to show she was sitting on the vixen's couch, chewing something even though she had already lost a good bit of her teeth. "I was a meter maid once, bet none of you knew that. Best seventy years of my life."

Once again if Nick had been a lesser animal he would've burst into tears.

Mrs. Wilde step away from their friends so she could talk to her son, "All cops have to do their share of parking duty, sweetie."

"Yeah, I know," Nick sighed, "It's just, there's a bunch of missing mammal cases and I don't see why I can't help solve those instead of ruining animals' day."

She smiled warmly at him, "Just be patient. I know you Nick, you'll show them what you're made of and become an amazing cop. You're already amazing in fact, you're proving something so many animals, including myself, thought wasn't possible."

Nick's heart clenched as he smiled sincerely at his mother.

"You keep making chances for yourself, k, Blueberries?"

"K, Mom."

"And watch out for radioactive brain waves," Honey suddenly popped up again. "Love ya, Nicky."

"I love you too," he replied and hung up.

"Hey, fox would you turn down that depressing music?" one of his neighbors called out. Nick rolled his eyes and complied.

"Leave the fox alone didn't you hear his conversation? He knows he's a failure!"

"Oh, shut up!"

"You shut up!"

Nick groaned and flopped against his desk, his cheek pressed against the hard wood, "Tomorrow's another day, Wilde."

A voice called through the wall: "Yeah but it might be worse!"

.

Considering Nick wanted to make a good impression on the city as the first fox officer, getting put on parking duty was the last thing he needed.

"Mmph! That was thirty seconds over!" An angry moose called out and Nick cringed as he walked away.

"Ugh, yeah you're a real hero, buddy!" a mouse exclaimed, looking read to bite Nick's toes.

"My mommy says she wishes you were dead," a young hippo child informed him as her mother pulled her along, clutching the ticket angrily in her other hand. Yeah, me too, kiddo, Nick thought mournfully.

He sat on the seat of his Joke-mobile as another angry driver called him out ("Not cool, fox. My tax dollars pay your salary.") and he slammed his head against the steering wheel.

"I'm a real cop, I said," Nick growled sarcastically, "I'll show them what I'm made of, I said."

Quite suddenly a frantic pig appeared at his side, "You! Fox!"

Nick groaned and rubbed a paw across his face as he stood up, "Look, pal, I'm not having a good day either. But if you're upset don't take it out on me, take it out in traffic court."

"What are you talking about!?" the pig spluttered, "My shop! It was just robbed! Look, he's getting away!"

Nick looked to his right to see a weasel carrying a duffel bag nearly as large as him running toward City Center.

"Well are you a cop or not?" the pig demanded, grabbing the sides of the Joke-mobile and nearly tipping it over in his frenzy.

"I am…" Nick began softly then grinned at him and spoke louder, "I AM!" He jumped out of the small vehicle, tossing his hat as he did so and running off, "Don't worry pal, I'll get your stuff back!"

He happily shed his vest as he followed the weasel into a large crowd of animals, jumping over the smaller ones and running between the legs of the taller ones. His ears pricked and eyes narrowed when he saw a squad car screech to a halt, the weasel scampering under it before popping up on the other side and running out of the square.

A rhino stepped out of the car, a walkie talkie in hand, "This is Officer McHorn, we got a 10-31."

"Ah, ah, ah," Nick called as he ran past the rhino, "I call dibs!"

"What," McHorn stared at him in disbelief as Nick grinned over his shoulder, "Officer Wilde, in pursuit! Ha ha!"

He laughed ecstatically as he saw the thieving weasel slip into the walled Little Rodentia, without missing a beat Nick jumping, scaling the wall and landing on the other side to continue his chase. Seeing the weasel using cars to skate Nick almost laughed then realized there were terrified rodents in those cars and quickly hurried after him.

The weasel ditched the car-skates and jumped on top of the building, knocking it down and causing a domino effect to distract the fox.

Nick quickly pushed the buildings back in place, they were heavy, but he was bigger. Nick tried to give chase but found himself tiptoeing around the panicked rodents at his feet, "Excuse me, my bad, if I could just get through here, thank you."

Nick saw the weasel making an escape on the tiny train, calling out a "Bon voyage, bush tail!" as he went. Nick's eyes narrowed and he ran to cut him off. Making it just in time to tackle the weasel off the train, causing them to roll across a large interstate of Little Rodentia, weighing less Weaselton kept rolling after Nick skidded to a halt, the skinny mammal coming to a stop at a donut shop.

Nick pulled himself to his feet and kept going, "If you don't stop right there you hairy overgrown slinky!"

The weasel scowled at him, "Have a donut, coppah!" He then kicked the giant plastic donut that decorated the roof of the store, sending it flying through the air and forcing Nick to duck.

He turned around to watch it bounce along the road and Nick's throat tightened when he saw it heading toward a trio of shrews that just stepped out of a Mousy's. Two of the shrews saw the donut and ran away screaming, but the other noticed it too late, letting out a shriek and covering her head as the plastic sweet was about to crush her. But then Nick was there, catching it just in time.

"Phew," Nick said, holding the donut to his chest as he caught his breath. He looked down at the artic shrew who stared at him with wide eyes, when he was a teenager Finnick had taught him to leave the girls with a compliment, so he winked: "Nice hair."

"Aw," she smiled sweetly, twirling a strand of her coiffeur, "Thank you."

Nick turned his attention to the weasel who had picked up the duffle bag he had dropped when the fox tackled him, "Come to Poppa."

Nick got an idea.

.

Animals in the precinct's lobby stared with wide eyes as a weasel stuck in a donut rolled into the building, stopping at the front desk where Clawhauser and a lady otter looked on with surprise.

Nick sauntered over, placing his foot on the plastic donut and lifting his head proudly, "I popped the weasel."

"WILDE!"

Nick cringed, his triumph short lived as he looked up to the second floor to see a furious Bogo pointing toward his office.

A few minutes later Nick sat in a too big chair before the buffalo's desk who was listing off all the things he had done wrong that day:

"Abandoning your post, inciting a scurry, reckless endangerment of rodents…but to be fair, you did stop a master criminal from stealing two dozen moldy onions."

Nick could match that sarcasm, "It doesn't matter that it's some moldy onions what matters is that that criminal stole and I caught him. And I'm pretty sure catching a thief is more important than fining a few cars for being five seconds over on their parking meters."

"Don't smart mouth me, fox," the buffalo grunted, his eyes narrowed and Nick tried not to shrink into himself, he knew he had done the right thing.
"Sir, my job is to catch criminals." Actual criminals, not some animals that you think look shady so you don't give them a chance.

"Your job is putting tickets on parked cars," Bogo huffed.

Nick opened his mouth to speak but before he could utter a sound Clawhauser's voice filled the office via intercom: "Chief, uh, Mrs. Otterton's here to see you again."

"Not now," the buffalo replied.

"Okay, I just didn't know if you wanted to take it this time, she seems really upset-"

"Not. Now!"

"Sir," Nick spoke up, "I didn't come here to be a meter-whatever you call guys who get put on parking duty! I came here to be a real cop. I want to actually help this city."

Bogo scowled, "Do you think the mayor asked what I wanted when he assigned you to me?"

"If you'd just-"

"Life isn't some cartoon musical where you sing a little song and your insipid dreams magically come true. So let. It. Go."

Nick decided it wouldn't do him any good to point out that the chief had totally just made a Floatzen reference.

All of a sudden the office door barged open, Nick looked over his shoulder to see the otter from the front desk hurrying in, "Chief Bogo, please-five minutes of your time. Please."

Clawhauser came after her, leaning against the doorframe and gasping for air, "I'm sorry sir, I tried to stop her she is super slippery. I gotta go sit down." The cheetah turned and stumbled out of view.

Bogo stood up and walked over to the otter, his expression now patient and his voice soft, "Ma'am, as I've told you, we are doing everything we can."

"My husband has been missing for ten days. His name is Emmitt Otterton."

"Yes, I know," Bogo replied. Nick watched the two with pricked ears.

Mrs. Otterton showed a picture she held between her small paws, showing a picture of her with two kids and another otter that had to be her husband. "He's a florist. We have two beautiful children. He would never just disappear."

"Ma'am," Bogo was still being patient. "Our detectives are very busy."

Nick narrowed his eyes, the detectives may be busy but that wasn't the only reason no one was looking for Otterton, Nick knew of the stereotypes, how otters were reckless, carefree animals who didn't have commitments. Odds were Bogo didn't believe Otterton was really missing, he believed he was off gallivanting. But seeing the fear and grief in Mrs. Otterton's eyes, he knew her husband wouldn't be gone unless something bad had happened.

"Please," she begged the buffalo, "There's gotta be somebody who can find my Emmitt."

"Mrs. Otterton…"

"I will find him."

The two swiveled their heads to Nick who slipped off his chair to stand up straight, hoping to look professional and serious.

"Oh thank you!" Mrs. Otterton broke into a smile and ran to Nick, wrapping her arms around his torso, "Bless you, bless you!"

Again with getting hugs from non-family members, Nick managed to pat her shoulder non too gracefully, risking a glance up at Bogo who was scowling.

"Take this," Mrs. Otterton handed him the photo. "Find Emmitt; bring him home to me and my babies, please."

Nick took the photo and met her eyes, hoping she could see the sincerity in his expression, "I promise."

Bogo had moved to the door and opened it, "Mrs. Otterton? Please wait out here."

"Of course," she agreed happily, waddling out of the office, "Oh thank you both so much." As soon as the door closed behind her Bogo turned on Nick and the fox forced himself not to take a step back.

"You're fired," he breathed furiously.

"What?" Nick gawked, "Why?!"

"Insubordination," he spat. "Now, I'm going to open this door and you're going to tell that otter you will not be taking the case because you are a former cop who had illusions of grandeur and tried to get more than he deserved."

Nick bared his teeth as the buffalo turned around and opened the door, only to see Bellwether talking with Mrs. Otterton. The ewe turned to Bogo with a gleeful smile, "I just heard Officer Wilde is taking the case!"

"Assistant Mayor Bellwether…" Bogo's voice was strained as he pulled up a painful smile.

The sheep pulled off her phone and began texting at a swift pace, "The Mammal Inclusion Initiative is really starting to pay off! Mayor Lionheart is just gonna be so jazzed."

"No! No, let's not tell the mayor just yet-" Bogo tried but Bellwether was already placing her phone back in her purse, vocally glad she had gotten that done today.

She walked over and took Nick's paw, even more touching that made him uncomfortable, "All right well I'd say the case is in good hands," she smiled up at him, "Us little guys really need to stick together. Right?"

Nick didn't know when she had lumped them together but offered a smile anyway, "Like glue."
She chuckled, assuring him that he could always come to her if he needed anything before scampering out of the office.

There was dead silence as Bogo once again closed the door, looking extremely pained, Nick leaned forward, his ears pricked…
"I will give you forty eight hours."

The fox broke into a large toothy grin, satisfaction warming his chest but Bogo wasn't done talking. "That's two days to find Emmitt Otterton. But, you strike out…you resign."

Nick's ears pressed against his skull. He had just became a cop after way too many years struggling to get here. And now he only had two days to solve a case none of ZPD's seasoned detectives could crack?

But Nick might never have another chance at showing them what he was made of. He straightened his back and looked at Bogo dead on, "Deal."

Bogo pulled his lips back in a smug smile, positive he was going to lose the annoying fox in a matter of hours, "Splendid. Clawhauser will give you the complete case file."

.

"That's it?!"

Nick stared in horror at the case file that consisted of one page. Even Clawhauser, with a donut in one paw and soda bottle in the other, cringed at the sight. "Yikes, that is the smallest case file I've ever seen!"

Nick skimmed over the words, no leads, no witnesses, and now that he thought about he wasn't in the system yet so he didn't even have any resources!

Clawhauser spoke, "I hope you didn't stake your career on cracking this one."

Nick let out a hysterical chuckle as he dusted sprinkles off the paper and kept reading, "Last known sighting." He narrowed his eyes at the blurry picture; he could make out Mr. Otterton, and saw that he was holding something.

Nick looked up at Clawhauser who was sucking on the straw of the empty bottle; Nick snatched it away with a hasty thanks and proceeded to use it as a microscope.

"There we go," he smiled, making out the picture better and saw what Mr. Otterton held in his paw. Nick's brows rose, "A pawpsicle…"

"The murder weapon," Clawhauser whispered dramatically, but then nearly jumped out of his fur as Nick let out a agonized noise, dropping the bottle.

"No," he moaned, having spotted a pair of gray ears in the picture, "No, no, no, no…" His arms dragged across the desk as he slid to the floor. "Not that bunny."

.

Judy Hopps walked alongside her sister who pushed a four seat stroller down the side walk, heading to a nearby school to pick up the rest of her kids. Mina who would be starting school next year, held her aunt's paw as they walked.

And as usual the two sisters were talking about Judy's career choices.

"I can probably get you a job at the fur shop I work at," her sister tried.

Judy snorted, "Yes, sweeping up chopped off hair. That's the dream."

The other rabbit let out an aggravated snort, "Well Mom and Dad hoped that by moving to Zootopia you'd do something with your life."

"And I have."

"Judy, you can't be a con artist forever!"

"Watch me," she replied with a smirk, "Besides, who's gonna stop me?"

"Ah, there you are."

The two sisters looked to their left to see Nick at the wheel of his Joke-Mobile, keeping pace with them. He offered Judy a friendly smile and she almost laughed.

"If it isn't Officer Robin Hood," she greeted.
"Ha…Ha…no," the fox began, "My name is Officer Wilde and I wanted to talk to you about a case."

"What happened Meter Maid did someone steal a traffic cone?" she asked as Mina waved at the fox, "It wasn't me."

Nick's brow furrowed and Judy's sister gave her a look that clearly screamed 'Don't antagonize the fox with the badge.' However Nick had no plans in letting her walk away, instead driving onto the sidewalk right in front of them.

Judy rolled her eyes, leaving Mina by her mother to step forward. "Foxy, you're going to wake the babies. My sister has kids to pick up and I have work to do."

"This is important, ma'am," he replied, slipping out of the vehicle to stand in front of her a white pen with a plastic blueberry on top, held between his fingers, "I'm sure exhorting your sisters kids into helping you get ten dollars worth of pawpsicles can wait."

Judy laughed, "I make two hundred buck a day, Fuzz. Three hundred and sixty five days a year, since I was twelve. And time is money, scurry on."

"Come on, you can at least look at the picture," Nick showed her the picture Mrs. Otterton had given him. The bunny had her arms crossed and looked unimpressed while her sister stood behind her looking a bit anxious. "You sold Mr. Otterton a pawpsicle right? Do you know him?"

"I know everybody," Judy replied, looking him up and down, "I also know that it's illegal for convicts to dress up as cops so why don't you get back to your cell."

Nick's friendly smile fell and the rabbit's sister looked ready to yank her ears off. "JUDY!" she hissed.

"No, no, it's fine," Nick assured. "Rabbit wants to do it the hard way?" He slammed the case file shut, trapping the photo inside. "We'll do it the hard way. Judith Hopps, you are under arrest."

Judy barked out a harsh laugh, "For what? Hurting your fweeings?"

"No, you see there's this thing called felony tax evasion."

There were few things in life as satisfying as the way Judy's smile dropped so fast her mouth almost fell to the ground.

"Two hundred bucks a day, huh?" Nick asked, from under his arm he pulled out the form he found of the rabbit. "Three hundred and sixty five days a year…since you were twelve, right? Let me see that would be two decades, times twenty…which is one million four hundred sixty thousand I think. I mean, I am a sneaky fox but I stole a lot of money over the years and learned to be good at math. Anyway according to your tax forms here you reported…" he paused for dramatic effect. "Zero! Tragically lying on a federal form is a punishable offense. Five years jail time to be precise."

"Well," Judy tried to collect herself. "It's my word against yours and no one's going to believe a fox no matter what he's dressed up as."

Nick held up the pen with the blueberry on top and pressed a button, Judy's voice came crackling out: "Two hundred buck a day, Fuzz. Three hundred and sixty five days a year, since I was twelve."

Nick clicked his tongue, "Actually I'm pretty sure it's your word against yours. But I'm a sweet guy so I'll cut you a deal, you help me find this poor missing otter and I won't send you off to sell pawpsicles at the prison cafeteria."

And then, because he couldn't help himself, Nick placed his paws on his knees so he could be at eye level with the bunny. He smirked: "It's called a hustle sweetheart."

The rabbit's sister broke into laughter, "Oh goodness, I never thought I'd see the day my sister got hustled." She smiled down at Mina, "Your Aunt Judy's a cop now, Mina."

The bunny smiled and then skipped over to give her junior ZPD sticker (that she still wore) to her aunt, placing it over her heart, "Here you go, Aunt Judy!"

"Thank you, sweetie," Judy replied, her tone and expression incredibly displeased.

Still chuckling Judy's sister led her children around the Joke-Mobile and continued down the street, "Have fun being a productive member of society!"

Nick waved at the departing bunnies before turning back to Judy, his lips a thin line and his eyes half lidded, "Start talking."

Judy let out a suffering sigh, "I don't know where he is. I just saw where he went."

"That'll work, let's go," Nick turned on his heel to return to his vehicle.

But when he looked at Judy she was smirking evilly at him, "It's not exactly a place for an 'upstanding citizen' such as yourself."

"I'm sure I'll be able to handle it," Nick replied at the wheel. "Now get in the car."

She shrugged, still smirking, "Don't say I didn't warn you."