Option two: Run away.
The Jaguar running the tenth precinct, Chief Garra, called them to his office then he gave the fox and the bunny a sympathetic gaze. –"I understand your plight, officers, believe me I do. But I don't think joining this precinct will help you"-
Garra didn't need any explanation on why two popular and awarded officers working in the best precinct asked to be moved into the worst, as a feline his sense of smell surpassed even a canide's and he could smell the pheromone mark officer Wilde had placed all over Hopps, even when there had been no mating between them to cement it. –"Had it been any other couple your plan would have worked, but both of you are basically famous, moving to this district would give you even more attention than staying were you are. And that attention is not something this place need, neither the interspecies community that has managed to live in peace in the Nocturnal District. The last thing we want is to bring the media focus on your activities here"-
Not willing to give up Judy pleaded –"Sir you speak as if we were celebrities, yes the Night Howler case had a high profile but that was almost two years ago"-
-"It isn't that case that I am talking about, very recently the whole judicial system has been torn down and as soon as mammals know you were the ones who singlehandedly destroyed the corruption in the Zootopia court you will become celebrated heroes. To make this worse for you as heroes you will be expected to have an impeccable conduct, your whole actions will be monitored and if your hum"- The Jaguar had trouble finding the right words –"Special partnership comes up it will be very difficult to manage, the general populace is already against interspecies couples as the Vice President is a huge supporter of the reprogramming program, if you bring this anti-inter media focus in here you could destroy our own interspecies community"- .
Nick hid as always behind his lay back expression and gave the Jaguar an innocent look –"I don't know what you are talking about Chief, Cassandra Mau was the one who brought Lapin and his cronies to Justice"-
Chief Garra rolled his eyes showing the sly fox he wasn't falling for his ruse -"Mau is a very shy and modest mammal, she never liked the idea of taking all the credit so she has been thinking of a way to give you the commendation you both deserve, every officer in Zootopia knows you were really responsible for all this it is a matter of time until it comes out"-
-"Is it that obvious? Our "special partnership" I mean, if the media focuses on us even if we don't mate. Could they see we love each other?"- Judy asked concerned
-"A blind mole could see that Officer Hopps, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone who knows you does. It is not fair, I know. But I am afraid it's the way of the world"- Garra said shrugging.
The doe sighed in despair –"What are we going to do now?"- She asked no one in particular, Nick placed a paw over hers giving her as much comfort as the situation allowed. Neither of them thought Chief Garra would come with an answer, but the large feline surprised them.
-"If I were you I would leave far away from here"-
-"Away from Zootopia?"- Judy said fearful
-"Away from the country, this is confidential but"- He said inching closer to them and spoke in a hushed voice –"The anti-inter laws are about to become more drastic, raids are programmed to strike in the underground inter communities and after that happens they will target specific couples, before we know it even the mammals that belong in the same genus will be banned as well. As I said, the Vice President is a staunch interphobic, so is the President who supported his stance, and they are about to launch a huge media smear campaign against mammals like you. If your relationship becomes public, scratch that, if a rumor of your relationship becomes public the powers that be will use you as an example for the reprogramming initiative. I am doing my best to stall the raids and I'm trying to warn the inters about what is coming, but trust me when I tell you that things are about to get much worse"-
The couple in front of him saluted with a terrified and heartbroken expression and left his office in a hurry, doing their best not to break down in front of the Chief. Garra growled at the fact that it was him instead of Bogo the one who had to give them "the chat" of what was to come. He heard that Bogo's mantra was not caring about his officer's personal life but this was ridiculous, his best team was on the verge of ending up in Bedlam and that buffalo hadn't even bothered to handle the situation ahead. His paws slammed so hard on the intercom in his desk he almost broke it, after a few rings he hear the voice of the Chief of the first district.
-"Chief Bogo speaking"-
-"Hey Mason we need to talk"- Garra managed not to yell, at least not yet.
-"Gabriel?"- The buffalo's voice perked up at the sound of his friend's voice –"What's happening?"-
-"You are a god dammed idiot that's what's happening. I just had to tell Officers Wilde and Hopps they have to leave the country before we have to send them to reprogramming. Don't you see that with the new initiative this can't be just hidden away?"- The jaguar's voice was rising.
He heard the buffalo sigh at the other side of the line.
-"I know about their issue but there is no need to be so drastic, we will keep quiet and hidden behind the blue wall, they'll be fine. Even when the whole investigation about the Zootopia court spills into them, we'll keep them safe."-
Garra suspected Bogo had yet been informed about how pervasive this anti-inter initiative was, the problem with Bogo being so honest is that he would rarely get much information from the underground circles and that meant he would be kept out of important data. Rolling his eyes the jaguar sent him an e-mail with the details of the Vice-President's plan.
-"Check your e-mails Mason, and call me when you're done"- Garra hung up and waited 20 minutes until the intercom rang again.
-"This is not possible! It's a violation of mammal rights! Your source must be wrong"- Bogo's voice rumbled through the speaker.
-"Read it and weep Mason, this is how things are about to get in here. Your officers' better leave before the shit hits the fan, unless you have a better idea"- Garra was rubbing his forehead; a splitting headache was rearing its ugly head.
-"I do not, but I know someone who does. Thanks for the heads up Gabriel, are we still on for poker night?"- The confidence in Bogo's voice was not unnoticed by the jaguar; maybe he wasn't as oblivious as he thought.
-"Sure thing mason, meet ya on Thursday"-
A soon as he hung up the water buffalo grabbed his phone and sent a text message.
{We need to start moving with our plan, its much worse than we thought}
{I suspected so chief, don't worry I have been working on this already. When do we get to talk to them?}
{Can you have all the details ready by tomorrow? That's when they are starting their shift and the sooner we begin the better}
{I have everything under control you can trust me}
{When it comes to these matters I always do}
{And you should, I am the best! XD. Buckle up chief, this is gonna get intense}
{I know}
…
When they arrived to their apartment Judy crawled into their bed and cried her eyes out, Nick tried to snuggle next to her but she pushed him away, the conversation they had with Garra had made her realize how sick their relationship was perceived and how hopeless their situation had become. Why did society hate them? Why was it so important to others who they chose to love? It's not like they were hurting anyone other than themselves.
She didn't realize she had cried herself asleep until she woke up at 2 am, her bleary eyes had trouble seeing in their dark apartment, she looked for her partner and found him sitting in the kitchen table looking pensively at a large stack of papers in front of him. She walked closer to him but before she could utter an apology he simply told her:
-"It's too late to go back isn't it carrots?"- He said without a hint of hope in his voice
-"Nick we've both been through this, if being apart was an option we would have taken it, but the bond we have is too strong, I need you and you need me"- She remembered how anguished and emotional she was when she was separated from Nick those few days she spent in Bunnyburrow as the judicial system crashed and burned. It wasn't just the space distance that separated them; it was the idea that after all this they might have to take a break of whatever type of relationship they were having. Being physically apart for a while wasn't a big issue, but the mere thought of never seeing him again or ending their relationship was enough to send her into a panic attack.
From what she gathered from Finnik from those few days apart Nick had gone into a very aggressive change of personality, apparently their species were very different but shared one thing in common, once they chose a mate they stuck with it forever. So it seems that when they marked each other their fates were sealed, and if mating made such a big difference they would have been able to detach emotionally at some point, but it appears sex is not that important when you bond with someone.
She inched closer to him placing her arms around his shoulders and looked at the papers he had been staring at, they were maps.
The world, well a representation of it, lay in front of them. Judy was overwhelmed with a feeling of hope; she imagined herself and Nick traveling through it, discovering different nations and costumes without caring about hiding who they were. Suddenly Garra's advice was no longer the death of their hopes but an open door to a whole new possibility.
-"This could be such a great adventure!"- She said vibrating with glee.
-"Glad you think that way, actually I think I found a nice place we could settle"- He loved how she could go from despair to joy in a matter of seconds the moment a single option appeared in front of her.
-"Settle? Nope we are gonna be globetrotters Nick, we are gonna travel the whole world!"- She said almost jumping with joy and forcefully grabbing him placing her cheeks next to his as her free paw stretched out in a swiping motion above them, as if she was presenting him the endless dreams and possibilities dancing in her head.
-"Don't get over yourself carrots, it's not like traveling is cheap. I don't know how are we gonna manage to get enough money to leave as it is."- He hated popping her happy bubble but if left unchecked she could make both of them end up in a god forsaken part of the world with no chance of going back.
She was undeterred, but at least conceded a little on her big ideas. –"How about this for a plan, we go where you want first and then when we have enough money we travel somewhere else, some place I choose. Where do you wanna go anyway?"- She remembered he had picked a place but hadn't yet told her where.
He gave her a map of the south continent
-"Amazonia?"- She said exited, it was the nation the Rainforest District had been modeled after.
-"No, too wet and hot, I was thinking going more to the south"-
-"Patagonia?"- She lifted an eyebrow, she heard it was a great place to hide and had beautiful landscapes but it could get very cold and neither of them liked cold temperatures.
His paw tapped the tiny country, barely bigger than Zootopia, which was in the middle of those two –"I think we should go to Pradera, it looks a lot like the Meadowlands but also has great beaches. It has a moderate climate like our Savanna District and most important of all, they have very progressive laws when it comes to interspecies. Not to mention most countries wouldn't just let us live there without years of paperwork, like Animalia for example or New Zooland up north, but these guys consider inters as liable to get refugee visas."-
Judy zoogled pictures of the small and inconspicuous country, green soft hills and meadows filled her screen, along with peaceful beaches. Its main city was like any other metropolis out there, with tall buildings that reminded her of Savanna's downtown. It was lovely, quaint and maybe too peaceful for her taste, but she would be there with her favorite fox and that was all that mattered.
-"When could we go?"- She said as a thousand butterflies frolicked in her belly.
-"If we start our paperwork tomorrow after work, one month, assuming there are no setbacks. That means we don't have much time to get money, the property in there is not expensive but it's still more than we can afford right now."-
-"How far could we go with ten thousand dollars?"- She said with a sly smile.
Nick told her suspiciously –"It might be enough to survive until we find a job and a place to rent"- he looked at his own abandoned place –"Or squat"-
She ran from her side almost bouncing and rummaged to the bottom of his old rusted oven, from there she retrieved a wooden box and in a heartbeat she was by her side handing him the item. Inside of it there were more dollars than he had laid eyes on since his conmammal days.
-"WTF carrots where did this come from?"- How did this bunny always managed to surprise him like that? He considered himself an expert in reading mammals and he thought he had Judy completely figured out by now.
-"I hustled it"- She told him with a mischievous smile wiggling her eyebrows.
-"Har har. Well as a police officer I am forced to interrogate you before sending you to jail"- He joked then rolled his eyes, like she were capable of acting out of the law –"Spill it you criminal mastermind"-
-"Remember when my family had trouble with the farm? Well their crops had been basically cut in half that meant half the produce to sell which meant they had half their usual profit, but then I got in touch with Goliath after I came back from Bunnyburrow. Did you know the hybrids have to pay for their supplies seven times more than anyone else because nobody wants to sell to them since they are out of the law? So I made a deal with them, we sell them our produce at three times the value we sell to the mammals in Bunnyburrow but for them is still less than half of what they usually pay. It covers the costs of shipping, my family's farm gets what usually earns on normal years and I get a little bit of the final cut."-
With a hint of pride he thought he had taught her well, there were many ways to win money by dodging the law instead of breaking it, after all what she did was technically not illegal and nobody would consider pressing charges for selling fruits and vegetables.-"That is one hell of a hustle carrots, but why did you hid that from me?"-
She bowed her head and seemed a little embarrassed, the way her perky ears twitched as she looked at her feet was so adorable he held back the "awww" begging to rise from his lips -"I was gonna give you a surprise for your birthday, I was planning on buying you a car or a down payment for rent so we could go live at a better place, whatever you chose. I was my way to say thank you for all you did for me."-
-"I love you"- He said without thinking, it wasn't a big deal anyway. Sure they had never said that to each other in a serious way but they had demonstrated their feelings through a million other ways by now, still he felt like a corny little pup as soon as the words were uttered.
She jumped at him and placed her twitching nose over his, the warmth that invaded him made him wonder if this sign of affection wasn't turning him into an emotional bunny as well.
-"I love you too"- She said with an adorable smile.
He stopped as without even realizing his muzzle was millimeters from hers, they had been so close to kissing, and he was sure that a simple kiss would had led them to a lot more. He knew that because he wanted to make love to her so badly his skin hurt and an annoying pressure was building in his stomach, why where the hormone suppressants unable to stop his lust over her? He should get the hell out of that room and not come back after he collected himself but he also knew that every time he did that she was faced with their awful situation and felt distressed. But guess what, not this time. He wouldn't let this get in the way of their beautiful moment together so he hustled his way out of it.
With half lidded eyes and a knowing smile he told her –"I have an idea carrots, why don't we go for a night in Las Cuevas? I know we have to work tomorrow but I'm too hyped up to sleep and we should celebrate our upcoming trip to the Deep South."- He was hoping a night out would distract him enough to cool down on his own.
-"That would be great!"- She said hugging him even tighter.
…
They were dancing, or technically stumbling since neither of them knew how to dance properly, in the wonderful main ballroom of The Marble Pit. Not even the delicious drinks had managed to calm down the euphoria both felt at their uncertain but exiting future. Around them many couples danced along to the Jazz music and both noticed several of them were interspecies.
It had been a great night out, the perfect way to remove the sour taste their dismissal of the tenth precinct had left on their palates. It was close to 5 am, soon they would have to head to their apartment and get ready for a full work day and a stressful chat with the Praderian ambassador, assuming he would meet them. To Judy that wasn't the reason her smile was slowly turning into a look of concern.
-"What is it carrots?"- Her dance partner dragged her from her dark thoughts.
-"It's nothing"- She didn't want to spoil the mood.
-"Need I remind you we made a full honesty pact?"- He swayed her to the side and tried to make her spin but she tripped halfway and would had landed on her tail in the marble floor if he hadn't cached her at the last minute.
-"We are terrible at this"- She laughed embarrassed, he chuckled nodding his head but kept his eyes on her reminding the bunny he hadn't forgot his question.-"I was thinking about them Nick"- She said looking at the assorted couples in the ballroom –"I mean we are going away, but what will happen to all these inter couples? If this initiative is as bad as Garra told us shouldn't we do something about it?"-
"No no no carrots, you are not dragging me into one of your crusades this time. There is too much danger and I rather chain you in our apartment until we go to Pradera than running the risk of letting them take you to Bedlamb" Nick thought in a panic, but he also knew he had to dissuade the bunny out of fighting these kind of windmills a la Quixote in the least aggressive way possible, the chain he would leave as a plan B.
-"The best way to fight this might be to speak our mind and offer out support from Pradera, if we are out of the country they won't be able to silence us. Besides if it is as good as a hideout as it seems we might help other inters escape there if things get too ugly in here."-
He waited in baited breath as she considered his idea –"It could work, we could use the hybrids as the middlemammals"- She smiled and he breathed in relief.
They were out of the club and heading their apartment when Judy received a call from Bogo
-"Hopps!"- His baritone voice said in full authority
-"Yes Chief?"- She was worried; her boss wouldn't call at this hour unless it was a really serious issue.
-"Get Wilde and come to the precinct as soon as you can, we have an emergency meeting scheduled at 6:30. There is something very important I need to discuss with both of you"- Then the irascible buffalo hung up.
Judy looked at her fox; he seemed as concerned as her. He had good hearing but it wasn't like you need it to hear her conversation when their boss's usual volume ranged between loud and commercial plane taking off.
-"I think we are in trouble"- they said in unison.