(A/N: And here we go, next chapter. We saw some major development between Nick and Judy last time, and now we're going to start to see how that' going to start to work out for them. I don't want to spoil things, so let's just get to it. BTW, if you watched the video from last chapter, you may have noticed that a few scenes had been left out, particularly the ones that took place while Nick and Judy were singing. Well, that's because I couldn't exactly fit the into the chapter. But don't worry, I'm not leaving anything out, as they'll be brought up in this chapter. You'll see what I mean when you get to that part this chapter.)

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 6: Nothing Weird

"Listen to me, boy," came the harsh, angry voice of his father. "You haven't done nothing for me. You understand you haven't picked up your carrots. You haven't picked up anything for this family. You understand, I should just throw you out there like those homeless. Now get out of my sight."

The young boy could do nothing but hang his head as his father continued to berate him, too afraid to say anything, too ashamed to say anything, feeling completely helpless and utterly worthless. He couldn't remember the last time he felt like his life had any value, and his father seemed to relish in reminding him of that fact on a regular basis.

This time though, the past didn't play out in a dream, but as a memory. Miles could still hear his father's voice running through his head as if the man had just gotten done scolding him, even though that had been so long ago. And Miles had worked so hard to make something of himself, to do some good in this world to prove his father wrong, to show that he mattered, that he had value and worth.

Turning off the shower, he stepped out and walked over to the mirror. The steam had fogged up the glass, and he reached up to wipe it away, seeing his gloomy face staring back at him as he listened to the announcer on the radio.

"Good morning, Zootopia. My name is Nicholas Araiguma, from 101.4, the top radio on the radio waves, and today seems like we'll be having another fantastic day for the weather. Much better than yesterday's cold at night now. We have a high chance of breezy conditions today, which I believe mostly everyone will enjoy."

The weather didn't matter to Miles as he pulled on his suit. Hot, cold, sunny, rainy, snowy, windy, or whatever, he still had to look presentable. You had to look important to appear important after all.

"Now on to the news. One thing that will be interesting, a lot of higher-class people in Zootopia is the 'Feeding Zootopia Fundraiser,' which will be–"

Miles shut off the radio, already knowing the details. It was his fundraiser after all, and the note on the table that read 'Homeless Fundraiser Tomorrow!' sitting next to the radio was there as a reminder that it was soon.

It was an important event, and he needed it to go off without a hitch. So he shook off the unpleasant memory of his father and placed a smile on his face as he examined his appearance in the mirror.

His smile became more genuine as he thought about a certain bunny cop. He'd had Liam send her a bouquet of roses along with a card to wish her a quick recovery. He was happy to be informed that her injury was very minor, and that she was already out of the hospital, having only received a few stitches.

He wondered if she would come to the fundraiser. She had expressed an interest in his program when he had mentioned it to her the last time they had seen each other. He certainly hoped she would come, he really wanted to see her again, and couldn't help but wonder what she was doing right now.

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

Judy was, in fact, hard at work, typing away on her computer down at the station, a cup of coffee placed on the table next to her. She was so focused on her work that she didn't even notice Nick sneaking up behind her with a big smile on his face and his hands behind his back.

"Hey, uh, good morning," he greeted cheerfully, yet also somewhat awkwardly.

Judy stopped typing and turned around in her seat to smile at him. She was positively glowing after what happened last night, and it seemed that Nick was as well as he pulled out the bouquet of flowers he had hidden behind his back and held them out to her.

"These are for you," he told her, seemingly having trouble finding the words he wanted to say, "because, uh… I kind of just wanted to give them to you, because I had a great time last night."

Judy happily accepted the flowers from him, finding his awkwardness to be completely adorable. She attempted to thank him, but it seemed that Nick had suddenly been overcome with an inability to stop talking, though his tone did become more teasing.

"And I just wanted to apologize in advance, because I kind of investigated you pretty deeply, because I wanted to see if you were allergic to sunflowers, which you are not. So, sorry about that, and sorry if you're mad."

Judy's eyebrows rose in surprise. "What?" She shook her head, letting him know that she wasn't mad at him for 'investigating' her. "No, no, no."

Nick smiled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, well, I guess that's good."

"Nick," Judy chuckled.

She couldn't believe that he actually thought that she would be mad over the fact that he had been courteous enough to go out of his way to try and find out if she was allergic to something before gifting it to her simply because he wanted to make her happy. It was really sweet of him. He really didn't need to get her anything though, she had had a wonderful time last night too.

It had actually been one of the best nights if her life. Prior to arriving at Bernie's Pub, they'd left the rooftop to walk through the city, seeing the sights of Zootopia at night first hand. They'd walked hand-in-hand through a section of the city decorated with all kinds of lights, all the different colors providing a rather romantic atmosphere.

He'd treated her to some ice cream, playfully trying to feed her, before they came across a street performer playing a trumpet, and Nick had demonstrated his music skills with the wind instrument when the porcupine had allowed him to try it out. And that had simply been on the way to the pub.

When they had left, he had walked her to her apartment, only this time he had accepted the invitation she had extended for him to come inside. She'd made popcorn for them as they curled up in her bed together to watch an episode of Breaking Baa-d. Afterwards, they had played a game where they acted as different animals; Judy had been rendered into fits of laugher several times from Nick's impressions.

Nick also got around to playing the playlist he had put together that he hadn't gotten a chance to play for her on the roof. Judy had gotten up and danced for him as the music played, and tried to get him to join her. He'd kept refusing though, even going so far as to write out the words I DON'T DANCE and hold the sign up as if it were a shield. In the end though, he'd relented when she wouldn't take no for an answer.

From there, things had simply progressed further, and the night ended with them on her bed once more. And that's when their relationship finally, finally, moved on to the next level, and they became partners in every sense of the word. It had been a truly beautiful experience, and more than worth the wait.

They'd talked after that, finally and freely expressing their hidden feelings for each other, and decided to make their relationship official. They had no concerns of what tomorrow might bring, or what others might think of them. They had finally come together, and it was everything they had ever wanted and had been wanting for such a long time.

But while Judy reminisced about the events of last night as she and Nick stared dreamily into each other's eyes, two of their officers, a rhino and a tiger, took notice of their behavior. Despite the difference in species, there was absolutely no mistaking what was between the fox and the rabbit. Their body language absolutely screamed the fact that they had become lovers, their feelings radiating off each other in a way that was unmistakable.

"Will you look at that," the rhino grumbled to the tiger, looking sickened. "Disgusting."

They weren't the only ones who had noticed though. Lopez and Myrthil had picked up on the change in Judy and Nick's relationship as well, only they chose to remain silent about it, even after hearing their fellow officer's comment. They may not have been entirely all that fond of the rabbit and fox, but they at least respected them.

Being a rabbit, Judy's sensitive ears had picked up on what the rhino had said as well. She glanced at him, frowning slightly. She wasn't surprised by this reaction. Both she and Nick had known that there would be those who would think this way about them. They'd talked about it last night when they had become official, and they'd decided that they didn't care. They loved each other and wanted to be together, that was all that mattered.

But still, that didn't mean that it didn't hurt to hear it.

With his less sensitive ears, it seemed that Nick was spared from hearing the insult as he continued, drawing Judy's attention back to him. "Thank you, for making this… uh, not awkward."

Pushing what the rhino said aside, she gave him a smile. "No, I'm pretty sure this has been plenty awkward."

Nick's smile became more amused and he stood up straighter. "What I meant was…" he took a deep breath, "thank you for not making me feel weird about what we're doing."

Judy almost wanted to sigh; this had been one of the things they had talked about last night too. "Look, Nicky, there's nothing weird about this," she playfully assured him, and then added in a teasing manner, "and there is definitely nothing wrong with you thinking I'm amazing." The humor left her voice as she reached out, taking both of his hands in hers, giving them an affectionate squeeze. "I don't care what they think. I'm lucky to have you."

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

"Lee's donuts, best thing ever," Lopez commented as he munched down on one as he and Myrthil made their way down the street.

But while Lopez seemed content to ignore what they had seen inside, Myrthil couldn't stop thinking about it. While he didn't appreciate the rhino officer's comment about Nick and Judy's new relationship, he couldn't deny that he found it to be utterly bizarre. He wouldn't have thought such a relationship was possible, but, evidentially, it was.

"What do you think about Hopps and Wilde?" he couldn't help asking as he held out the box of donuts in offering.

Lopez frowned, looking thoughtful for a moment. "That's none of my business," he replied before reaching for another donut.

Myrthil considered that for a moment before shrugging. "I guess so."

Now things just felt awkward, and Myrthil wished he had never brought up the subject. Lopez was right, it wasn't any of their business. However they felt about it, their fellow officers weren't doing anything wrong. It may seem weird to them, but Nick and Judy were both consenting adults who could do what they wanted with who they wanted. If they wanted to walk this path, that was up to them.

"How's your girl?" Lopez suddenly asked in a blatant attempt to change the topic. "Angelique, was that her name?"

A sigh escaped him. While he was glad for the topic change, this new one was rather awkward as well. "That didn't work out."

The wolf just rolled his eyes, looking both amused and sympathetic. "Geez, man, you need some commitment."

Myrthil cut his eyes at him. "Commitment I have. Patience is what I don't have."

"That's why it didn't work out? I thought…" He trailed off as his phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out. "Give me one sec. I got a text from…" he raised an eyebrow, "an unknown number. Great, more spam."

"Probably Angelique confessing her hatred towards me," Myrthil joked.

Lopez wasn't amused, but not from the bad joke. He might not recognize the number, but the message was anything but spam.

Mrs. Shell is in risk of being harmed when she wakes up from her coma. Watch her in Hospital.

"It's about Mrs. Shell, the armadillo that got hurt," he told his partner. "It's telling us to watch over her in the hospital."

Myrthil frowned as he glanced at Lopez's phone when the wolf held it up to him. "We're not security guards."

"Whoever this is can be trying to help us," Lopez told him. But then he hesitated before adding, "Or this could be the guy that hurt her."

Realizing that he was right, Myrthil glanced in the direction he knew the hospital to be in. "We should just get over to the hospital to watch her in the meantime."

"Oh man," Lopez grumbled, looking concerned. "Let me call a ZPD. See if they can track this somehow."

It looked like this case was turning out to be more than a simple assault and robbery.

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

Once again, Nick and Judy found themselves in Bogo's office. They'd known it was coming, but that didn't mean they had to like it. This was a reprimanding for what had happened yesterday with the case, and the chief certainly didn't look happy with them.

"You violated my direct orders," he scolded. "And also, you put civilians at risk. Reckless endangerment is not a good thing, believe it or not."

He was clearly upset, but at least he wasn't yelling… yet. That could change very quickly though; this could very well be the calm before the storm. But while Judy sat with her full attention on the buffalo, Nick had his arms crossed, looking annoyed.

Judy quickly attempted to defuse the situation, or at least take the heat off Nick; Bogo did respect her more than him after all. "Sir, it was my idea. Officer Wilde had nothing to do with it. I-I dragged him along."

This, however, did not work, and only seemed to annoy the chief. "You two are partners, Hopps. I will treat you two as such." Then he seemed to remember something. "Also, why did you bring the sloth along?"

"We needed him for questioning," Judy instantly replied, hoping to steer the conversation in a different direction. "He's incredibly slow at answering, and we thought it would be a good idea to take him to the ZPD to question him in a more suitable environment."

"But you didn't need him," Bogo told her, sounding a little calmer. "Lopez and Myrthil already got a statement."

This clearly surprised Nick. "What?"

Bogo's eyes now narrowed in disapproval. "If you two would stop treating everyone like enemies or obstacles to overcome, maybe we'd actually be somewhere."

Judy winced as she felt the truth of Bogo's words. While saying that she and Nick treated people like enemies was a bit much, she reluctantly admitted that they did sometimes treat others as obstacles. They didn't mean to, they just wanted to make sure that their jobs were being done right, and the best way to do that was to do them yourself. This, however, could put them at odd's ends with their fellow officers.

"Chief," said Nick, in a clear attempt to try and save face, "the reason we lost our car is because Lopez and Myrthil took it to mess with us." He quickly backtracked a bit though so as to not get his fellow officers in trouble. "Probably to have a few laughs."

But Bogo just shook his head. "I saw them, Wilde. They only came with one car."

Nick's eyes widened. "But that…" he muttered in confusion. "Oh…" He glanced at his partner. "Judy, it must have been those two punks that attacked us."

She had come to the same conclusion and returned her attention to the chief. "We did get attacked by two mysterious animals."

"An otter and what looked to be an arctic fox," Nick added.

Bogo considered them curiously. "Do you know why?"

Judy shook her head. "Not yet."

An annoyed look crossed the chief's face. "I have a feeling that if you two hadn't barged into this case like you did, then maybe they would have gone instead after Lopez and Myrthil."

Now it was Nick who became annoyed, and he didn't bother to try and hide it. "Or maybe they saw that we were actually trying and not slacking off and getting coffee like those two."

Bogo sighed in frustration and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's like all your responses have to be sarcastic." He'd said this more to himself than to him, but then pulled himself together and sat back, extending a metaphorical olive branch. "All right, now, you have my blessing to help solve this case. Let's figure it out."

Judy couldn't hold back the smile that crept up her face. "Yes, chief!"

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

The phone rang in Judy's hands as she looked out the window of her apartment as the rain came down. She'd been lost in her thoughts with everything that had happened over the past few days, and it was starting to get to her; the rain wasn't helping her mood either.

While they hadn't been in too much trouble with Bogo, and he had been willing to hear them out and give them permission to be on the case, it was proving to be more and more complicated than she thought it would be. She'd had her suspicions, but now she was convinced that there was definitely more to this case than a robbery.

Deciding that she could use a distraction, she'd sent a text to her parents, asking if they could talk. She'd received a response a few minutes later saying that they could, and she immediately dialed their number.

"Hello?" she said into the phone when she heard them pick up.

"Judy, how are you, darlin'?" came her mother's cheerful voice.

"There's my little bunny," was her father's follow up greeting. "How's life out in the city? You saving lives? Putting the bad guys behind bars? Hopefully not putting yourself in danger."

The last part had been meant as a joke, but there was also a layer of seriousness to it that her mother was quick to go along with. "Yes, never too much danger. We don't want you getting hurt."

"I…" Judy stammered, wondering if she should mention the incident on the train, but immediately thought better of it. Her parents worried about her enough, no sense in adding more fuel to the fire. Besides, there was something more important that she wanted to talk to them about; the very reason she'd called. "I-I wanted to give you the news."

It had come out cheerfully enough, but she could also hear the nervousness in her own voice, and she wondered if her parents had picked up on it. They didn't seem to, as their responses were enthusiastic enough.

"The news?" they chorused. "What news?"

Their simultaneous responses made her smile in amusement, lightening the mood. She was still nervous, not sure how they would react to what she had to say, or if they would even understand; she knew that there would be many who didn't.

"I'm…" she began uneasily, wondering how exactly she should break this to them, "in a, uh… r-relationship at the moment."

"Really?" came her father's surprised response. "That's great!"

"What's the rabbit's name?" her mother asked curiously.

Judy almost groaned. Why did she have to say 'rabbit'? She supposed it only made sense, as why would her mother think that she would be with anyone other than another rabbit? But still, it just made the situation all the more awkward, and she wondered how exactly she should break the news to them.

After several long moments of silence, she finally found her voice again. "Ok, so… you remember that fox I told you about?"

There was a few more moments of silence where she supposed her parents were trying to remember before her mother asked, "Nick?"

They probably assumed she was going to tell them that Nick had introduced her to whoever she was dating or something, and she took a few seconds to work up her nerve before finally saying, "It's Nick." Then, just to clarify, she added, "Nick is who I'm with at the moment."

She expected this to take some time to register to them, but her mother's response was almost immediate. "I'm sorry, honey. I… I don't understand." Then the few seconds of silence she initially expected came before, "He's a fox…"

The way she said, Judy could hear the disbelief in her voice, as if she had told her something that went against everything her mother believed in. "Yes, Nick is a fox."

It was her father who spoke next. "I still don't understand. Why are you dating a fox?"

He didn't sound angry or upset, just completely bewildered. Judy took that as a good sign at least. She also supposed that confusion was to be expected. What she was telling them practically went against nature itself. She wondered if this was akin to what animals who came out of the closet to their parents felt like.

"There are plenty of rabbits out there in Zootopia," her father continued. "This doesn't make any sense."

Yes, he was right, this didn't make any sense. And yet it had happened. It was happening. And Judy didn't have an explanation for it. How did one explain how they fell for someone? Was it even really possible to explain one's feelings? Weren't feelings just supposed to be something you felt, no explanation needed?

But then her father took the conversation to a more awkward topic. "How are you two going to…?" He trailed off from there, much to Judy's relief, but then steered it right back, only in a slightly different direction, though he now sounded slightly embarrassed himself. "It's not biologically possible."

As if he needed to remind her of that. Sex was one thing, but she knew good and well that it would be impossible for her and Nick to have children, since, as her father unnecessarily needed to point out, it was biologically impossible. It had been one of the things she and Nick had discussed when they had gotten together. But it wasn't like having children was off the table. If they wanted to, they could always adopt; interspecies adoptions weren't completely unheard of, and she was already the godmother of Mr. Big's granddaughter.

But that was getting way ahead of things, they had only just gotten together last night after all.

"Guys," she said, trying to bring the conversation back to a less awkward subject, "it just…" She sighed, not really knowing what to say to make them understand. "It just happened, you know… I've always liked him, it's just… you know."

She really didn't have the words for it, and could only manage another sigh. But while her parents didn't understand, at least they weren't being opposed to the news. Well, not yet anyway.

"Judy," came her mother's sympathetic voice as she seemed to pick up how hard this was for her, "it's not that we're against you. It's… I-It's that we just don't understand."

"Yeah, sweetheart, we're on your side," her father chimed in. "Make us understand."

"We'll have to talk about this later, dear, when you come home, or we go to you for Mother's Day."

Judy was silent for a few moments before muttering a quiet, "Yeah."

The conversation had ended shortly after that, leaving Judy feeling uncertain and dissatisfied. That hadn't exactly gone the way she hoped. But then again, she wasn't sure what she had been hoping for. She'd just wanted to tell them about her and Nick. She knew that they wouldn't understand, she had been ready for that, she'd just hoped that they wouldn't be opposed to it.

They didn't seem to be, but just as she expected, they didn't understand. She supposed it would have been too much to ask for them to just be happy for her. They had been at first, when she told them that she was seeing someone, but once she had revealed who it was, their tones had changed. Again, it wasn't opposition, to which she was grateful for, but it was clear that they would have preferred for her to have chosen another rabbit.

This thought stayed with her, even when she and Nick went back on the case. They opted for Chinese food as they read over Lopez and Myrthil's report, reading up on the statement they had taken from Flash. It proved to be a welcome distraction though from the awkward phone call with her parents. How ironic, in using the phone call to distract her from the case, she was now using the case to distract her from the phone call.

"Hmm, so ok," she said with a mouthful of noodles, taking a moment to swallow and clearing her throat. "Flash told us… Flash told us that he heard a commotion and began running towards it. Right?"

Nick nodded. "As fast as sloths can run anyway." He waved a file at her. "I wrote it down."

"Yup," she replied, looking over the file she held. "He also said that when he got there, Mrs. Shell was exiting her apartment, and she was unconscious. Flash looks up, he sees a meerkat exiting the apartment through an already broken window, and… That's all he knows."

Nick took a look at another file. "He then goes to the front desk and tells the owner of the Dunes Country Club to call Mr. Shell."

"Right, and Mr. Shell then rushes over, and the rest is history."

"Well…" Nick muttered, looking over the file again, "we can't really identify the suspect because we lost the fur when we fell into the water." He glanced back at her. "So we're kind of in a rut, and two creepy-looking animals try to put us out of commission. And that's the part I don't understand."

Judy considered this and suddenly thought of something. "D-Did you check security cameras? Traffic cameras?"

He nodded. "Yes, I did. What do you know, found nothing."

Sighing, Judy sat back, folding her hands in front of her in thought. "Someone tries to kill us right after we investigate the assault on Mrs. Shell. Maybe they're hitmen? Henchmen? Maybe they're trying to hide some sort of truth we're uncovering?" She shook her head. "What truth could there be behind some meerkat breaking and entering and attacking an innocent animal?"

She finished her thought just as her phone started ringing and she glanced down at it. "Wait, I'm, it's my–" She answered the phone and instantly recognized the voice on the other end, glancing at Nick uneasily. "Miles, hey."

"Oh, boy," Nick muttered, and rested his cheek on his fist as he turned back to the report.

He wondered what his love rival, no, his former love rival, wanted. Just checking in on the case regarding Mrs. Shell? Looking to try and woo Judy some more? Whatever it was, he just hoped he would just say what it is he had to say so they could get back to the case. But as the seconds ticked by, Judy remained silent as she kept to phone to her ear, and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Wow, he's talking to you a lot, isn't he?" he remarked.

She put a finger to her lips to silently shush him. "Yeah, yeah. Ok, Miles." She hung up the phone and gave Nick an apologetic look. "He wants us for tonight."

(A/N: And there we go, the first chapter featuring nick and Judy as an official couple. And, unfortunately, it doesn't look like things are going entirely that well for them, as they're already facing judgement, ranging from not understanding from Judy's parents to disapproval from fellow officers. At least Lopez and Myrthil are showing that there are also those willing to mind their own business and leave them to their own devices. And speaking of Lopez and Myrthil, what was up with that mysterious call warning them of the danger Mrs. Shell is in? Just what exactly is going on with this case? At least Bogo seems to have finally granted Nick and Judy full approval to investigate. Hopefully our favorite cop duo will be able to handle things. Stay tuned for more.)