Chapter 6: The sound of the other shoe…

"This is Fabienne Growley for ZNN, This morning's reaction after the shocking death of District Attorney Raymond Hopper. Mr. Hopper was the target of a terrorist threat after the terrorist now known as simply 'Teacher' according to inside sources at the ZPD, this mammal also claiming responsibility for the Equality Monument bombing just three days ago. Chief Bogo late last night made this statement:"

–

"Firstly, I want to assure the citizens of Zootopia that we have everything under control, that through a combined effort of different law enforcement agencies we are narrowing the gap between us and this terrorist. We have our leads but obviously for security reasons I cannot discuss the particulars at this time. I ask that people be vigilant and report all suspicious activity they may find to the proper authorities. But and I want this very clear, vigilantism will NOT be tolerated, we already have our work cut out for us solving this case, we do not need random violence by Zootopians against other Zootopians. I urge you to stay calm and collected. The fine mammals of the ZPD are doing their jobs to catch this criminal before he or she has a chance to do further damage. Thank you and Good night."

–

"Insiders at the ZPD have managed to reveal that the lead investigator on the case is none other than ZPD's Judy Hopps, who solved the 'Savage Case' last year and had a hand in handling the 'Plague Incident' earlier this year. Protest groups for both the 'Predator Action Committee' also known as PAC and the 'League for the Assurance of Mammal Benevolence' have both issued statements in regards to the death of District Attorney Raymond Hopper. However both groups also plan protests to start sometime today, their locations have not been revealed at this time. More on this story as it develops."

Zootopia…Downtown …Precinct One…The Next Morning.

Chief Bogo was sitting down in the conference room with Nick, Judy, Vivian Carter, Kaiden and Kit. The buffalo was pacing angrily at the head of the table.

"I told the media that we have some leads, please tell me we have something?"

Vivian sat forward and opened a file, and tried to present a positive light on the data she had gathered.

"Well, we've cross referenced the demolition explosives list with purchasers in the last 30 days, and cross checked those purchasers against our profile data of the terrorist and…"

"And what Agent Carter?" scowled Bogo.

"Unfortunately nothing stood out." she replied.

Bogo craned his head towards the two Bureau 13 agents.

"You?"

"Ok well, we checked against our database of pro-pred slash anti-prey groups, and even dug into our files on the Illuminati, however all that told us was who ISN'T responsible, none of those groups have the capability nor position to be able to do what this individual has done." Replied Kaiden.

"However, we can say for certain, that this seems to be the work of an individual not a group." Added Kit.

"So a single mammal, identity unknown, and we are still no closer to finding out WHO this mammal is then we did before. Not exactly filling me with confidence." Snapped Bogo.

Judy raised her paw, and Bogo turned to acknowledge her.

"This isn't high school Hopps, you don't need to raise your paw. If you got something to say, just say it."

"I have someone who is helping me with the videos of the terrorist; they are working on trying to identify the person in the video as we speak."

"Who is this informant?" asked Bogo.

"Uh, you'll forgive me if I don't say, this person is a friend of mine and I don't want to do anything that might put them in danger."

"What exactly is this 'friend' doing?"

"Well they have expertise in video enhancement uh, so I'm hoping they will be able to make it so that the image on the video can be used to figure out who it is."

"Good idea, did this 'informant' have any ETA on when they would have results."

"Uh…No they didn't, but they have been working round the clock since late last night. I'm hoping they will have something soon."

Bogo huffed and snorted.

"Damn, well it's not much. Hopps you let me know the second your friend has anything. You got me?"

"Yes, sir." Replied Judy

"I don't need to remind any of you that, the mayor and the city are all looking at us for guidance."

"And if that wasn't bad enough, I don't know if you heard the news coming in this morning, but PAC and LAMB are going to protest today, because of the district attorney, just what we need."

"You're not seriously going to take people off the investigation to run security, are you?" asked Nick.

"We have to, Wilde."

"I don't like this, I mean if I was this guy, a protest would be a nice 'juicy' target." Added Nick.

"I agree with Wilde, we have to cancel this, some kind of edict or something." Added Vivian.

"Oh yeah, that will look really good on the news Agent Carter, 'Chief Bogo bans protest citing 'security concerns'" he replied while making quote signs with his hooves.

"But it will be the truth." Vivian fired back.

"It doesn't matter, it will get spun in either case. I could tell them a meteor was dropping on their heads and to get out of the way, they would see it as the 'government' getting involved in their 'freedom of speech'." Explained Bogo

"But we can't just leave them open to attack?" replied Vivian

"Of course not, that's why I have to assign a protection detail." The buffalo admitted in frustration.

"It's a Catch-22, Vivian. The Chief here can't prevent them from protesting without being accused of 'oppression' but he also can't just ignore the situation. Because, if they DO get attacked, then he gets blamed for letting it happen." added Kaiden.

"Exactly." Pointed Bogo.

"Damn." Replied Vivian now understanding the chief's precarious position.

"Oh it gets worse, because I have to assign a protection detail to BOTH groups, lest I get accused of favoritism or callousness." Added Bogo.

"Yep. This definitely complicates things." commented Kaiden.

"Any volunteers?" asked Bogo.

Judy was the first to raise her paw, with Nick reluctantly afterward. The others joined in after various seconds passed.

"Hopps, Wilde. I could use you. Kaiden, Kit, since technically you're not here, keep investigating. Carter, you provide back up."

"You sure about that Bogo?" asked Kaiden.

"Yes, I can't have the investigation grinding to a halt for protest duty. And remember, all of Zootopia is watching this."

"Yes, sir" Judy replied

Kaiden turned to Nick and Judy

"If you need help…" the fox offered.

"I know, I know, I'll call you." Judy finished.

Later…Downtown Zootopia…Water Hole Park.

Nick and Judy were patrolling around the protest groups looking for anything suspicious, Bogo had called in an extra shift of officers to work the protest so as not to hinder the investigation completely, but still he regarded it as a major inconvenience.

Both PAC and LAMB were incensed at different parts of yesterday's events, LAMB was obviously on about the fact that a city official, and a prey no less was shot in cold blood by a predator. Though they neglected to mention said predator was in fact arrested for the crime. PAC on the other hand was focused on the fact that such a thing was prompted by the terrorist and wouldn't have happened had the ZPD captured him.

It was a hairball waiting to happen, the ZPD officers did their best to keep the groups separate, to prevent someone from doing something stupid, sometimes the occasional bottle or rock would be thrown, which would prompt the ZPD response of arresting said mammal.

The furor was at least staying on a simmer, and hopefully other than a few harsh words exchanged by each group would result in nothing major happening. At least that's what Judy hoped as Nick and she rounded the groups for the third time that morning.

She did note that she didn't see Gillian Bellwether or Paxton Mobley at the protest, she huffed 'they're perfectly willing to send their people to these events but not show up themselves.' She thought. 'cowards.'

There was a small scuffle a short distance away as a camera mammal stumbled out of the crowd and fell to ground. Nick and Judy rushed up to him.

"Max!" she called out.

The pangolin dusted himself off and turned to address the rabbit

"Oh, hello miss Judy." He replied with his lisp.

Judy helped Max back up on his feet, he picked up and dusted off his camera.

"Are you ok?" asked Judy.

"Yes, I just got a little too close to some of the PAC members, it's my own fault."

"That doesn't give them the right to touch you." Replied Nick

"True, but I mean I can't blame them for getting in their personal space. I mean I am the 'enemy' I guess."

"No, you're not. And you shouldn't think about it in those terms." Replied Nick

"Can I follow you for a while?" inquired Max.

"Sure, we'll watch out for you." Replied Judy.

Max followed Nick and Judy, getting establishing shots, and filming the protests, but keeping his distance so as not to have a repeat encounter.

The three walked some distance away giving Max a chance to take some pictures of the total event, the mass of predator and prey groups and the low furor of the crowd made for an excellent shot.

Judy also took stock in the size of the crowd, looking towards the entrances and exits, feeling worried that Nick was right, that 'teacher' would use this as a perfect moment to strike. She felt worry for these mammals, she knew they had a right to protest, but to choose to do it right now. It's one of those kinds of perfect storms of stupidity that she feared.

Her foot tapped nervously and with speed, she felt Nick's paw on her shoulder, she turned and looked up at him, he looked down and gave her a comforting smile.

"It's ok, maybe I'm just being paranoid." He offered in comfort.

Judy realized that not only was her foot tapping, but her heart was pounding in her chest and she was panting fast.

"Damn it not again." She muttered as she clutched her chest.

She walked around behind a building to finish having her anxiety attack, Nick followed behind her. She clutched her shoulders and tried to slow her breathing but it was hard. Nick just held her.

"Damn it, damn it damn it." She muttered, mentally kicking herself

"Judy, stop, it's ok." He said trying to comfort her.

Judy placed her head against Nick's chest and just concentrated on calming her breathing.

"I don't know why this keeps happening?" she lamented.

"I didn't used to have this problem; I've never had problems with anxiety."

"Do you know when it started?" asked Nick.

"It started a few weeks after we got back from taking down the council." She replied

"Right around the time I started having the dreams." Nick concluded.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Is it guilt? Do you still feel guilty about what happened to me?" Nick asked

"Nick…I will always feel guilty about that." Judy replied

"Well don't. I don't blame you for what happened. I never did." The fox absolved.

"I know Nick, I blame myself. I will always blame myself."

"But that not what this is. It's this feeling, like something is missing."

"…Like, you forgot something…important?" Nick finished as if thinking the same thing.

"Yeah."

"I feel the same way."

Just talking about it seemed to calm Judy down, she took a couple of deep breaths and let it out with an airy breath slowly.

"I think after this is done, we need to look into what happened to us." Judy spoke softly.

"Agreed." Nick whispered.

The two shared a nuzzle and a small kiss. The small click of a camera behind them, they both turned to the sound. It was Max smiling taking a picture of them.

"It was a very….sweet moment, I couldn't help myself." The pangolin shrugged.

The three chuckled and continued on their patrol. As they swung by a sandwich shop, Nick stopped in front.

"Hey either of you two hungry?"

"I could use something." Said Max.

"I'm not hungry, but I'm thirsty, I could use some water." Replied Judy.

"Sure, thing carrots, ice cold water coming up for my favorite bun." He replied with a smile.

The two went into the shop, while Judy stood outside.

While Nick and Max were inside, Judy stood near the door to the sandwich shop waiting for them to come back.

There were several protesters going back and forth on the street and sidewalk. Judy was lost in thought when two members of PAC a wolf and a badger happened upon her, at first not noticing who they were running into. It wasn't until they got closer they recognized her.

"Well if it isn't Officer Hopps of the ZPD." stated the wolf.

She was so lost in her thoughts that as she turned into the wolf's stare, she twitched from surprise when she came back to her senses.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't notice you there."

"Oh well my apologies, we should have announced ourselves." He replied with false deference.

"We wouldn't want you to be offended by our presence, do we Roger?" asked the wolf to his compatriot.

"No we do not." Replied the Badger.

"After all, we don't want the young officer here to interpret our actions as anything but 'civilized'."

Judy quirked an eyebrow, and felt very uneasy as to their tone.

"yeah, don't want to come across as 'savage' or anything." Replied the badger.

"Alright, that's enough. I know where you going with this." Judy replied.

"Look I made a mistake back then, and I realized it was wrong."

"Well, la de da, the great Judy Hopps learned from her mistake, I guess that magically makes up for everything preds suffer since then." Replied the wolf with heavy sarcasm

"I used to wonder what changed your mind." The wolf continued

Judy looked at them still with a quirked eyebrow.

"What do you mean you used to wonder?"

"Well I used to ask myself what changed your mind, now I know."

"I saw how you are with that fox partner of yours. And all of a sudden it made sense."

"You and that fox are into some pred-prey stuff." The wolf concluded in a condescending tone.

Judy saw that the wolf was putting two and two together, and then and there decided to be the better mammal and walk away, she wanted to pummel the wolf but in front of these protesters it would be a scandal, she could see it now. "Rabbit Officer Judy Hopps assaults two predators of PAC." She couldn't do that to Bogo, to the city, to herself. As much as she felt like she was giving in, she had to keep her cool.

"You think what you want; I have other duties to attend to." She said cooly as she turned and walked away, feeling proud of herself.

The wolf stormed passed her and spun around.

"I'm not done talking to you, grazer!"

"Yeah, you are." She replied.

"I'm calling you a hypocrite. You go on the news and call preds savage, and then you go off and bed down with one."

Judy hissed in disgust at the description.

"So what was it, curiosity? Some kind of kink or something?"

The wolf leaned down and sneered at Judy.

"Or maybe you like being some fox's 'chew toy'!" he screamed.

Judy could hear the badger laughing at her, as she felt hurt, offended and angry. She was so deep in her anger she didn't see an orange blur fly into the wolf, knocking him to the ground. The badger storming after them. Judy's focus came back to the outside world just in time to see the badger's head twist and the loud crack of a police baton against his muzzle, she saw Nick on top of the wolf slugging him several times in the face.

"God…damn…you…son…of…a…bitch…" each word punctuated by a punch from Nick who muttered his words through gritted teeth.

Nick's fur bristled, his eyes angry and piercing at the wolf, and Judy could have sworn she heard a growl from him. She finally rushed forward to grab Nick's arm.

"No Nick, Stop!" she screamed.

The wolf spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Fuck You, Fluff Lover!" he scowled, twisting his leg and kneeing Nick in the kidney.

Nick winced in pain and let go just enough for the wolf to get leverage to flip Nick onto his back and try to punch him. Nick grunted as the wolf's paw made contact snapping his head against the ground. Judy immediately went for her dart gun to take the shot.

The badger knocked Judy's arm away as the dart shot out and skipped across the ground. She felt as the badger tried to squeeze her in a bear hug. She gasped for breath, but focused on getting her baton off her belt. She coiled her legs beneath hear and pushed as hard as she could against the badger's stomach, pushing herself out of his grip. The badger surprised, looked for the rabbit, felt his knees buckle and sharp pain as he fell to the ground, having been batoned to the back of the knees.

Judy ran as hard as she could and jumped into the wolf, she hit him as hard as she could causing him to stumble to the ground. Standing over him, she instinctively swiped at the wolf's face with her claws and slashed him, even though her claws were dull, the sheer speed and force of the slash was enough to break the skin with a tearing action more than a slicing one. This fact alone is what caught the wolf off guard and he clutched his face.

She rushed over to Nick, and bent down to him.

"Nick! Nick are you ok?" she asked.

"I'm ok."

"Damn it, Nick, why did you do that?" she asked, in both anger and sadness at the same time.

"Because I'm not letting anyone talk to you like that." He replied with a small loving smile.

She smirked as she pet his cheek.

The entire fight was over in seconds, and Judy and Nick's situational awareness finally started to include the rest of the world, she saw officers rushing towards them, and the crowd around them many paws and limbs with smartphones pointed at them, and dozens of electric eyes recording.

They looked back at each other, both realizing the same thing, but Nick finally commented.

"We're….in deep shit….aren't we." He panted.

Later…Precinct One

Bogo was pacing around in his office trying to decide what to do, Judy and Nick stood before him, and the bruise on Nick's eye was starting to swell along with the accompanying pain. The buffalo was incensed, shaking his head and wringing his hooves.

"Now you've done it Wilde, Just what I need. A brawl between my officers and members of a protest group, do you have any idea how that is going to look?"

"Those predators were threatening Judy, sir."

"Really? You're absolutely sure about that? Because according to the video, they didn't verbally threaten or touch her, in fact from the video they look as if they made a point not to."

"Who are you going to believe sir, me or one video?"

Bogo scoffed.

"It's not one video Wilde. It's several dozen, filmed from pretty much every angle." The buffalo replied.

Bogo turned his computer monitor to show Furtube videos posted of the event, a huge list of the same events from all the smartphones in the crowd.

"Didn't I tell you that all of Zootopia would be watching this event?"

"Yes, sir but, you can't expect me to just stand there while some preds accosted Judy."

The buffalo narrowed his eyes and closed in on Nick.

"Did it ever occur to you, either of you, that this little scuffle is exactly the kind of thing they wanted?"

"Sir?" Judy asked puzzled.

"I had Paxton Mobley on the phone, accusing that the ZPD has moved from a Neutral to a Pro-Prey stance, because and as he puts it "Two ZPD officers assaulted two members of his organization.""

"That's a lie!" defended Nick.

"No, it's his interpretation, and unfortunately according to the video, he might actually have a case."

"How'd you figure chief?" Nick fired back.

"Because you threw the first punch." The buffalo replied.

Bogo picked a random video off the furtube list and played it, then played another, then a third. Each one from different angles, every single one starting with Nick coming out of the shop and punching the wolf.

"This was EXACTLY the worst thing that could have happened right now. And I wouldn't have put it past PAC to have picked this fight just so they could use it for political points."

"Oh my god, chief. I didn't…..I didn't think––" Realized Nick.

"No you didn't think, at all." The Chief concluded.

There was a silence for a moment as the chief collected his thoughts. The chief had something on his mind and was unsure of how to broach the subject. Never usually being one for mincing words but in this case, it seemed as though his personal feelings were in conflict with his duty. He finally mulled over what he wanted to say, and figured being straightforward was the way to go.

"Look…I know that you are two are…in a relationship." The buffalo admitted.

Judy and Nick just stood silent.

"I had no problem with it, so long as it didn't interfere with your jobs. I know that there are fraternization rules but I also know that you can't regulate the mammal heart. So I figured as long as my officers don't let it get in the way, I'm fine with it."

"Today….it got in the way."

"I have to suspend you."

Nick was shocked, Judy dropped her jaw.

"Chief…" Judy addressed.

"Don't even start….. Just be glad I was able to make the case with the mayor and not have to fire him."

"The problem is personal feelings aside, I have to act. I have to show the people of this city that I'm impartial."

"Even if it means throwing your own under the bus!" commented Nick.

"Nick, stop it." Judy said.

"Well what am I supposed to think Judy? What was I supposed to do, just let him sit there and get away with it?" Nick asked

"Yes. We're supposed to be better than that." She replied.

"Well maybe I'm not, maybe I'm just a dumb fox who isn't so good, who's going to stand there and let some scum bag piece of shit, rag on someone I care about, trying to make her feel bad for what she feels. Trying to make it sound cheap and tawdry." Nick explained

"Nick–"

"No Judy, I'm not going to let anyone touch what we have."

Nick turned to Bogo with a scowl.

"And you look me in the eyes and tell me you wouldn't have done the exact same thing? Honestly?"

Bogo heaved a sigh.

"I supposed not." He admitted plainly.

"Fine, you want me to admit that I agree with you. I AGREE with you. But ZPD Officers can't just assault people because they call you names, as much as they might deserve it." Bogo replied.

He heaved another sigh.

"Fine, you're suspended in so far as official policy, but I'm not going to take your badge and gun. But do me a favor and make yourself scarce for a while, at least until things blow over. That's the limit of what I can do."

"Thanks chief, I'm sorry for this." Nick dropping his head in shame.

Nick turned and left out of Bogo's office and Judy followed. As the door of Bogo's office swung shut leaving him alone, he shook his head and pounded his hoof against the desk with a rattling sound.

"Damn."

Bogo had skirted the line between his duty and his feelings, bent the rules in favor of his two officers, and was even seriously considering breaking the rules. He saw such things a serious breach in his personal ethics, and though he felt horrible, but he also felt horrible if he actually had to come down on Wilde for doing what he felt he was right for. It was a catch-22, and he had to deal with it.

Meanwhile…

As Nick was getting to his car, Judy chased after him and stopped him.

"Nick! Please stop." As she grabbed the keys from his paw.

"What?" he said as his voice was breaking.

He turned around to face Judy, trying to maintain his composure, and having a tough time at it, the corners of his eyes already welling up with tears.

"Nick, listen to me." She held him, holding a paw on his chest.

"What we have Nick, nobody can touch."

Nick sniffled.

"I know." His voice still ragged.

"We faced death together, we died together, and we came back together. There isn't anything that will tear us apart."

"I know, it's just I was just…so angry. I couldn't let him talk to you that way."

"You were defending my honor." She replied proudly with a smile.

"I guess I was, wasn't I" he smiled through his tears.

"And of course, that's pure Nicholas Wilde, brave, loyal, helpful, and trustworthy." Still smiling at him proudly.

Nick couldn't help but smile back at those words.

"Even though it got us in trouble….Thank you." She said, leaning up to give him a kiss.