(A/N: Alrighty, here's the next chapter. Lengthier than last time, and more along the line of how long future chapters will be. I must say, I'm really enjoying writing this, and I really owe Mauricio Velazco/Browntable for coming up with this. It's really his baby, I'm just novelizing it, so once again, credit and props to him and everyone else who worked on his fan-film. I'm just glad I can bring more attention to it for those who are reading this and haven't seen his film. Last time Judy was forced to take down a criminal solo. Let's see how things go between her and Nick since he wasn't there for her.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is just a novelization of a fan-film. All credit for the story and its original characters belongs to Mauricio Velazco/Browntable.

Chapter 3: New Case

It was 7:04 in the morning, and Clawhauser was hard at work. Hard at work meaning he was telling the movers where to place the new helicopter that had been delivered to Savannah Central where the ZPD was located. While it wasn't meant to actually be used, it was decided that the police aircraft would look good in front of the department. Bogo was so proud to have it, and Clawhauser had been put in charge of its placement.

"Ye-eah," he told the movers, "right there. Move a little more. Whoo, this is looking great!"

This was how Judy found the receptionist as she brought in the recently apprehended Wolfgang. "Clawhauser, what's going on?"

The cheetah was all smiles as he glanced at her, his excitement evident. "It's nothing. Just this beautiful new machine that we've finally been able to buy. It even has a camera, and parachutes." He laughed giddily. "It's amazing!"

Judy admired the helicopter while keeping a firm grip on the stoat. "It's nice," she replied, then gave her friend a playful smirk. "So when can I ride it?"

Clawhauser's mouth fell open in surprise, as if the very idea of anyone flying the helicopter were outlandish. "What?! Whoa, no, no, no, no, no. This is strictly, per Chief Bogo's instructions, just for show."

"For show? Come on," she teased. "When have orders ever stopped us?"

Turning to her, he crossed his arms. "Just every single time that we receive them."

Judy just waved this off. "Don't worry, I'm just pulling your strings."

Her attention was then diverted by a cry of, "Oh, Carrots!"

Turning away from Clawhauser, she saw Nick making his way over to her with a box in one hand. He still hadn't answered any of the texts she had sent when she had gone to catch Wolfgang and couldn't help the edge of annoyance that slipped into her voice. "Good morning, partner."

Nick was all smiles, choosing to either ignore her annoyance or simply not noticing it as he twiddled two fingers at her in greeting as if they were rabbit ears. "How's the cutest little bunny in the world this morning?"

Placing her hands on her hips, Judy gave him a fake laugh in reply. "Don't call me cute." She held out her hands, placing them on his chest to stop him as he moved towards her, presumably for a hug. "Where were you? We're supposed to be fighting crime together?"

Nick seemed taken aback, but then finally seemed to realize that he was in trouble, and he suddenly turned into a stuttering, awkward mess. "I-I got here before you did, an-and waited for you to arrive, you know." He held up the box, upon which were the words Lee's Donuts. "S-Since you rabbits are so slow, I decided to go out and buy a dozen donuts." Popping open the box, he took out one covered in red icing and offered it to her. "Raspberry Blast?"

Judy felt her irritation slip away. She just couldn't stay angry at him, especially when he was acting so adorable, and couldn't hold back the small chuckle that escaped her. "Pfft. Come on, I have to process this guy." She pushed the offered donut away. "And no, I don't want a donut."

Or so she said. And yet later she found herself munching on the very donut she had rejected earlier as she and Nick were given the task of delivering the check with the money they had raised from Gazelle's concert.

"Thank you for those donuts by the way. Surprisingly good."

"Right?" Nick replied, sounding amused. "Lee's Donuts! I'm telling you, best place to get them."

"Mmm," Judy muttered in agreement as she took another bite. "I love how the cop stereotype that we all love donuts is actually true."

"I've never felt so happy to be stereotyped," came Nick's snarky reply, causing Judy to laugh. But then he paused. "Wait, wait. Actually, Parson and Ferrer both hate donuts."

"Oh, that's right."

Nick snickered and nodded towards their destination. "All right, the counter's there. Let's go donate this check."

She followed after him as she finished the donut. Yet as they reached their destination, they were suddenly approached by another rabbit with brown fur dressed in a suit. Judy didn't recognize him, yet he smiled warmly at them as he raised his hand in a wave.

"Officer Hopps, Officer Wilde!" the rabbit cheerfully greeted them as he approached. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you two in person."

Judy blinked. Now that he was closer, she felt like she had seen him somewhere before, but couldn't put her finger on it. He seemed to know who they were though, which she supposed wasn't really strange since both she and Nick were considered hero cops. Yet she still returned his friendly greeting with one of her own.

"Oh, well thank you." She gave him a puzzled look. "And you… are?"

Apparently, she wasn't the only one who recognized him, only Nick seemed to know exactly who he was. "Miles Walker, CEO of Walker Resorts. Pleasure to meet you."

The rabbit, Miles, pointed at Nick in acknowledgement. "Ah, don't forget, future mayor of Zootopia."

"Future mayor?" Judy repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"He's running," Nick told her simply. "Right now, there are plenty of animals that want to run, but he is leading the polls."

So that was why he looked familiar. She probably saw pictures of him in the paper or on the news but had forgotten. Truthfully, she didn't pay too much attention to that stuff, her job was to cleanup crime in the city, not worry so much about who ran it; politics wasn't really her forte. Truthfully though, she probably should pay more attention to such things. She did at least know that there were more animals running for mayor after what had happened with Lionheart.

Despite his attempts to help the predators that had been going savage, the soon-to-be former mayor had been keeping the situation from the public and unlawfully imprisoning them, and many animals were still not happy about it, feeling as if he couldn't be trusted to continue running the city after he had been released from prison since his morality had been called into question.

Miles just smiled pleasantly. "Well, my promise for a safer, less poverty-stricken Zootopia is gaining attention–"

"Well, now you just sound like an advertisement," Nick interrupted jokingly.

Looking taken aback, Miles just flashed Nick an uncertain grin, as if he wasn't sure what to make of the comment, then returned his attention to Judy, offering her his hand in greeting, which she took and gave a shake. "As I was saying, it is a pleasure to meet you two. You two look better in real life than on the telly." Then, before Judy knew what was happening, he raised her hand to his mouth and placed a kiss to the back of it. "Especially you, my dear."

"Oh!" Judy exclaimed, suddenly feeling flustered as Nick looked on with wide eyes. "Well… thank you. It's nice to meet another rabbit. There aren't many we know of here."

Which just made it all the stranger that she hadn't realized who he was. She really should pay more attention to politics. Being a cop meant being aware of what went on in the city, so she should definitely keep track of who could potentially be running it.

"Yes," Miles agreed as he released her hand. "Most of them stay in Bunnyburrow growing carrots. I'm glad you decided to come to Zootopia. The city definitely looks better with you here."

So he was from Bunnyburrow too? That was good to hear. She didn't know anyone else who was from her hometown. However, before she could comment about it, Nick once again spoke up.

"Yeah, wow, so touching," he remarked dismissively. "Hopps, we have to take this check to the counter over there. Let's skedaddle."

It was his usual kind of comment, only there was no joking tone in his voice this time. Instead, he sounded rather irritated. Judy wondered why. From the sound of it, he wanted to leave, but she felt that that would be rude. Besides, it wasn't too often that she got to speak to another rabbit, let alone one from her hometown.

"Just give me a second here, ok?" she asked.

Nick looked put out by her dismissal, but recovered quickly and scoffed. "Yeah, sure."

With that, he walked off to deliver the check. Judy raised an eyebrow at him, wonder what had suddenly fowled his mood. She would have to ask him later, but for now, she returned her attention back to Miles. "So, Mr. Walker."

He held up a hand. "Please, call me Miles."

She gave him a smile. "Miles. What exactly is a CEO of a corporation doing here?" she asked curiously.

He nodded in the direction Nick had headed off in. "I'm donating money, as well as time. I volunteer here. Zootopia should be a city where everyone lives happy, not just a select few."

Judy's eyebrows rose, impressed, and her smiled widened. It was good to hear that he shared her sentiments and wanted to make Zootopia a better place just like she did; there were other ways of doing that besides cleaning up the streets after all. She made a mental note to look more into his campaign.

"Anyway, Officer Hopps–" Miles began.

"Call me Judy," she told him pleasantly.

He smiled at her appreciatively and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Judy. You know, finally meeting you has given me a deep understanding of what I want to do with my life, and who I want to spend my life with. Thank you."

Her eyes widened slightly as his comment caught her off guard. It was certainly flattering of him. She guessed she must have really left an impression on him. But then again, she apparently had made an impression on everyone after having taken down Bellwether. Still, it was always nice to be appreciated.

Nick, however, was less appreciative of Miles' words as he watched the display, and glanced at the pig behind the counter as he handed her the check. "Hey, is there a garbage can around here, because I might just throw up in it."

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Clawhauser must really like the new helicopter they got, because as Judy walked by the next morning, she saw the cheetah once again standing outside and giving it a good polishing, and she couldn't help but smile.

"Good morning, Clawhauser," she greeted. "Aren't you supposed to be inside."

He turned to her with a smile of his own and gestured to the helicopter as he held up the rag that he was polishing it with. "It's my break right now. The chief wanted the helicopter in perfect shape, sooo…"

"Oh, right," she replied, and held out the box of Lee's Donuts she had purchased; Nick was right, they really were the best. "Here, buddy. Hope this makes your break even better."

The donut-loving cheetah's face absolutely lit up. "Oh, thanks!"

She couldn't help but chuckle as he eagerly took the box from her. "Just save one for Bogo."

"Don't worry, I will," he replied, giving her a wave as she headed inside. Somehow though, Judy doubted he would.

She made her way to the break room where Nick was already present, rummaging through the fridge. He pulled out a paper bag and looked at the note on it that read, DEAD DOVE. DO NOT EAT! Raising an eyebrow, Nick opened the bag and peaked inside, then glanced at some of his fellow officers in the room.

"Well, I don't know what I expected," he muttered to himself.

"Good morning, Nick," Judy greeted as she entered the room.

Setting down the bag, nodded at her in greeting, offering her a friendly smile, but not saying anything. Judy made her way over to him and set her bag down. She frowned slightly, seeing that the fox seemed to be a little down, something she had noticed since they went to donate the check to the charity, and she wondered what was wrong.

"Hey, you've been acting weird since yesterday…" she commented. She hesitated a moment before bringing up the instance his glooming mood seemed to have started. "When we met Miles."

Nick frowned slightly and looked away, trying to look nonchalant, and failing miserably. "Oh, it's… it's nothing, Carrots. Don't worry, it's just…" He glanced at her as she began pulling her sweater over her head. "I get this vibe from him, you know. Just…" He averted his eyes when she successfully pulled off the sweater and glanced at him curiously. "I get this feeling he might be using the homeless just to… gain their vote in the election."

Even he was aware of just how lame that sounded. It was so easy for someone to dismiss a political candidate or someone they didn't want to win as using their charity as a means to an end. Politicians did it all the time to their opponents, and he always considered it really pathetic… unless it was true. The problem was, Nick wasn't sure if it was true this time or if he was just being biased. But his gut was telling him that something was wrong, and growing up on the streets, he had learned to trust his gut, not to mention his skills at reading people.

Yet at the same time, he could fully admit that he was jealous. Seeing Miles kiss Judy's hand like that, it had set his fur on end. It could have been perfectly innocent, just Miles being a gentleman, but Nick wasn't stupid, he had caught the interest the rabbit had shown in Judy; not that he could blame him, Judy was amazing. Still, it made Nick pretty much automatically dislike the male rabbit, and right now, he couldn't decide if he didn't care for Miles because of Judy or because he really did feel something off about him.

Be that as it may, Judy did seem to be considering what he said and appeared to be thoughtful before replying, "Well, he's been helping in the shelter for a long time. Way before he wanted to run."

Nick thought about this, not sure how to feel about it. Judy hadn't known who Miles was yesterday, but now she had looked up his background? Was she taking genuine interest in her fellow rabbit, or was she merely curious about the new mayor candidate? Either way, he didn't like it.

She did have a point though. Despite Nick's gut telling him that Miles was just trying to secure the homeless vote, the guy had been doing a lot for them long before he tried running for office, that much was true. Was he really letting his jealousy affect his judgment that much? He thought he was better than that.

Judy gave him a reassuring look. "I don't think you have anything to worry about."

Even though he knew he was just being stubborn, Nick refused to concede his point. "I just don't like seeing animals taken advantage of, Judy."

As if that wasn't the pot calling the kettle black. He knew good and well that this made him sound like a total hypocrite in light of the way he had made a living before meeting her. What right did a former con-artist have to complain about someone taking advantage of others? But then again, that's also why he didn't like it. Doing so hadn't felt good, and seeing others do it just reminded him of his own past misdeeds. He wanted to make up for the things he had done, and it just rubbed him the wrong way when anyone else did it.

But that wasn't the only reason. He also knew what it felt like to be taken advantage of. As a fox, he was often stereotyped as being untrustworthy. For a long time, he'd tried to make up for it by trying to show that he was trustworthy, and animals had taken advocate of his good nature. After going through that for so long, he came to believe that that was just how things were, and that it was what he had to do too in order to get by, and so had begun taking advantage of others himself, not seeing any other way.

"I mean," he continued, feeling the need to be honest with himself, and with her, "when I was younger, everyone took advantage of me."

She cocked her head to the side curiously. "What do you mean?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "When I didn't have a job, no one helped me. And when I did have a job, I didn't get paid." He shrugged. "Everyone got away with it, because they could all blame me for the exact same thing, that I was a fox. Who would believe me if I said I didn't get paid? No one. Not even the ZPD. No one trusts a fox."

He glanced at Judy to see that her ears had drooped as she hung onto his every word. She seemed to be deeply considering his words, and he found himself thinking back to when they first met, where he had hustled her into paying for a jumbo pop so he could run his latest popsicle scam.

But then she gave him an affectionate smile and told him clearly and without a hint of doubt, "I do."

Nick's eyes widened and he felt his heart skip a beat. He didn't know why, but her words touched him. He already knew that she trusted him, just as he trusted her, with his very life in fact, but still, to hear her say it so plainly, it really hit home, and he just came to appreciate her all the more.

Suddenly feeling a little shy, he quickly reverted to his humor while also being a little more honest with her. "And, I also didn't totally like the way Miles was ogling you."

Her ears rose again as an amused smile spread across her face, and she pointed at herself with feigned confusion. "Ogling me?"

Smirking, he nodded. "Oh yeah, just long, hard ogles. Just ogling everyw–"

"Excuse me," a voice interrupted, and an otter poked his head into the room, "you know where the vending machines are?"

Nick blinked as his attention was diverted, and he used the opportunity to escape from the conversation he had found himself in. "Oh, right, this way. I'll show you, sir. I'll be right back, Judy."

She nodded at him as he led the otter away and considered what he had said. Though she had played it off as a joke, she wasn't ignorant enough not to have noticed that Miles had indeed taken an interest in her. She wouldn't go so far as to say he was "ogling" her, but she had caught his attention. But yet again, she was the hero of the city, twice over if she wanted to fully acknowledge all that she had done, first with finding the animals that had gone savage and then again by uncovering Bellwether's plan.

Just then, she was distracted from her thoughts by Clawhauser's voice over the radio. "Officer Hopps, we're gonna need you at the questioning room. Copy. Over."

Immediately entering work mode, she snatched up the radio and quickly replied, "Officer Clawhauser, this is Officer Judy Hopps. I'm on my way. Over."

She set down the radio and grabbed her bag, but just as she was doing so, she was distracted once again, this time by her cell phone going off. Snatching it up, she glanced at the screen, seeing a picture of her parents, Bonnie and Stu, appearing on the screen with the name Mom & Dad underneath it.

"Oh," she said cheerfully, having not spoken to them for a while, and quickly answered. She really should make more time to talk to them; they really did worry about her. "Mom, Dad, hey."

"How are you?" her mother replied.

"How's my hero cop?" her father teased.

Judy rolled her eyes, but smiled all the same. "I'm doing great, guys." She glanced down at her radio. "You kinda called at a bad time though. I have to–"

"We're sorry, honey," her mother replied. "We didn't mean to interrupt."

"Yeah, we just wanted to know if you remembered us, y'know. You haven't called in a while."

Judy rubbed her head uneasily at her father's guilt trip. "Right, I know. It's just that I've been chasing down this drug dealer for a while now." She couldn't help the excitement that crept up in her voice as she thought back to how she had apprehended Wolfgang. "I finally caught him. Now I actually have to go do some paperwork, so…"

"That's great!" her parents chorused.

She smiled, grateful for the praise. "Thanks, guys! I worked really hard to catch him, not to brag."

"Oh, no, we meant it's great to see you doing paperwork," her father clarified. "Staying safe is good."

"Yes, you can never be too safe," her mother added.

Judy slapped her forehead. Of course that's what they were talking about. They'd had a similar reaction when she had first joined the ZPD and found out that she had been assigned parking duty. They really did worry way too much. All the same, she couldn't help but to crack a smile at their antics. She may roll her eyes at them, but at the same time, she really did appreciate their concern, and she couldn't hold back the smile that made its way across her face.

"Tell that to my Aunt Neida," her father continued in response to her mother's remark. "After eating those contaminated cranberries–"

Fortunately, her mother cut him off before he got lost in another one of his stories. "And also, to bigger news, we wanted to let you know that to celebrate Mother's Day coming up, we've just ordered a room at the hotel right by your apartment."

Judy's eyebrows rose with interest. "What?"

"Yeah, isn't that great?" her father said. "We're gonna be right there with you for a few days."

"Really?" Judy exclaimed, hoping they wouldn't notice the slight bit of concern that had slipped into her voice. "That's so soon too!"

"Isn't it?"

"We're going over there in a few days," her mother told her. "Yup, you're right. So don't die of anticipation."

"Don't die at all actually."

"Yes, please don't."

She was happy to hear that they would be coming for a visit, but at the same time she could also feel the stress coming on already. She loved her parents dearly and would love to have them around, but she knew how much they worried. It was bad enough when they were all the way back in Bunnyburrow, but to actually have them fussing over her here… That was going to be a hassle.

But still, it would be good to see them after all this time. She hadn't been home since Gideon Grey had helped her discover what Night Howlers really were and what they could be used for. She felt a little guilty about that, but worked kept her busy.

"Ok, Mom, Dad, I have to go," she told them, not wanting to have Bogo come down on her for dillydallying.

"Ok, honey," her mother replied.

"Stay safe," her father added.

With a smile and a shake of her head, Judy hung up. It didn't matter how much their child grew or what they did, parents would always be parents.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

"My wife is in the hospital in a coma," the frustrated armadillo called Mr. Shell growled at Nick and Judy, his frustration and worry more than evident. "And I'm telling you, you need to find out who did this."

Judy tapped the carrot pen against her chin as she took notes; the very carrot pen she had first used to blackmail Nick into helping her with the case for the missing Emmett Otterton case, and then again later to record Bellwether when she ended up confessing her plan to cause the predators of the city to go savage. Having reported to the questioning room after she spoke to her parents, she had been joined by Nick to take the report of the rather frantic armadillo before them, whose wife had apparently been attacked, resulting in her hospitalization.

"So where was your wife attacked again?" she asked as she jotted down notes for this latest case.

Mr. Shell ran a hand over his face in open distress. "She was attacked at her home; I just wasn't there."

Just and Nick shared a look, and they both knew that they were thinking the same thing.

"You live where, again?" Nick asked.

The armadillo glanced at him. "We live in Sahara Square."

"Lovely," Nick commented.

"At the Dune Country Club apartments," Mr. Shell continued.

The two cops shared another look, and Nick gave Judy a nod, to which she returned her attention to Mr. Shell. "We'll find out what happened, don't worry. You don't happen to have any ideas, do you? Who attacked her?"

Mr. Shell hung his head in dismay. "No." He rested his head in his hands, looking exhausted from worry. "She's the kindest armadillo you'd ever get the chance to meet. All I know is that it's a Sunday, so my wife isn't working, and I am." He lifted is head again, his eyes narrowing, now in anger. "So, I'm working, yes, and I get a call. It's from the Country Club saying that my wife has been attacked, and my friend and I called the police, as the owner hadn't even called them, and we take her to the hospital." He slammed his palms down on the table. "And now I'm here, and I want to know what happened!"

Judy couldn't blame him for his anger. She would be pretty furious as well if anything happened to someone she cared about, especially if no one had even contacted the police about the situation. She quickly skimmed her notes to make sure she got everything. Just like her previous cases, she was going to put everything she had into solving this one too.

She opened her mouth to speak, but Nick beat her to the question she had been about to ask. "Where does she work?"

Mr. Shell took a deep breath, regaining his composure, and sat back down. "The homeless shelter. The…" he took a moment to recall the name, "the 'Feeding Zootopia Foundation' shelter. She takes the train every day to get to city center, downtown."

Nick's brow furrowed in thought. "Interesting."

"Well, we'll take the case, Mr. Shell," Judy quickly assured him, placing a hand on the back of his comfortingly. "Don't worry, I promise we'll find out what happened to your wife."

The gratitude in the armadillo's eyes was apparent. "Thank you so much."

Before anything else could be said, Chief Bogo suddenly entered the room. "Hopps, Wilde," he grumbled, sounding both tired and annoyed. "Office."

Nick and Judy shared a look, both of them thinking the same thing. Whatever it was he wanted to speak to them about, it wasn't going to be good.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

From the way Bogo slammed the door, they knew they were in for it. Neither said anything as the chief paced over to his desk and sat down before giving them both an annoyed look. Judy did her best to keep her face neutral as the buffalo towered over them both and crossed his arms in disapproval.

"All right, you two," he grumbled. "Thank you, yet again, for promising to resolve a case that has already been resolved."

His tone was pleasant enough, but his tone indicated that he was feeling rather exasperated. Nick picked up on his mood right away and held up his hands defenselessly.

"You see, about that, I didn't promise anything," he told the chief in a cheerfully nonchalant manner, before thrusting a thumb at Judy. "All her."

Judy practically rolled her eyes. Way to throw her under the bus. "Chief, we were just answering the call."

Looking frustrated, Bogo pinched the bridge of his nose. "I told Clawhauser not to…" he stammered, but quickly regained his composure and sighed. "Look, there is no case here This is a random break-in. There was a scuffle, a kind armadillo had been hospitalized, objects were robbed, that's it. Officers Lopez and Myrthil already investigated it and found nothing."

Judy considered this. When he put it that way, it did indeed sound like a rather open and shut case, but something wasn't sitting right with her. And while it probably wasn't the best idea to argue with the chief, she couldn't help but follow her conscience.

"Chief," she said carefully, "with all due respect, our job is to help. We're here to help. We're going to help. We're going to solve this case, sir."

Bogo's eyes narrowed, an indication that he didn't appreciate her backtalk. "Hopps, there is no case to solve. Plus, I need you two in City Center. We just can't have too many officers running around all in one place. It'll be a mess, and there will be a panic."

Yes, she understood that, and he did make a good point. Still, she had already made a promise, and she intended to keep it. So even though it could get her in trouble, she stood up and placed her hands on the desk. While the two of them had had a rough start, she knew that the chief really respected her, so she pushed the matter further.

"Chief, an animal has been hospitalized," she told him seriously. "I'm going to find out who did it."

Bogo made a grumbling sound and pinched the bridge of his nose again. "You know, Hopps, sometimes I wonder who's really in command here. Please, don't make a mess of things."

Nick just smirked. "When have we ever?"

A growl escaped the chief, and he almost looked resigned. He said nothing more on the subject though and instead just ushered them out of his office, slamming the door in their faces. Nick and Judy stared at the door as his shadow lingered in the fogged glass window before moving away, presumably back to his desk.

Nick glanced at Judy. Technically, Bogo hadn't refused Judy's insistence on them handling the case, but even if he had, he knew her too well by now to know that she wasn't just going to let this go.

"We're going to investigate on our own, aren't we?" he asked.

It was really more of a statement than a question, and based on the smile she gave him, he already knew what her response was going to be.

(A/N: And we've got some new characters and some old. And it looks like Nick isn't so fond of one of the new ones. Another rabbit around. Is that jealousy I smell? Does he have a reason to be? Judy looks like she may be interested, or is she just being friendly with another resident of her hometown. And what of this new case? It looks like they might be sticking their noses in where it doesn't belong. Hopefully that won't cause any unnecessary problems. Now, I know I said I would post the link for the next video, but this chapter didn't fully cover it. I'll definitely be posting it next time though.)