"I want you all to understand something." The snow leopard paused, observing the mammals that filled the room. "Although Hopps and Wilde have broken no Zootopian laws and violated no ZPD regulations, for obvious reasons their relationship is...unpopular."

"These letters are just some of what we've managed to collect," he continued, gesturing to a pile sitting on a nearby table – some written in tidy cursive, some composed of angry scrawls. "...and together they paint a very clear picture. There is a mob coming. A collection of Zootopia's most hateful, ignorant and frightened mammals coming to stomp out what they can't understand and won't accept."

A rumbling anger stirred just below the surface and the ZPD SWAT Sergeant levelled a hard gaze on the room. "If a conflict exists between your personal beliefs and your sworn oath as ZPD officers, set it aside. Because when that mob comes – and it will come – I intend to be standing in its way."

~o~o~o~

"So...do any of my Junior Detectives have any questions?" Judy smiled as they came to her favorite part of any school outreach presentation.

A lamb timidly raised her hoof. "Is being a police officer scary?"

"Sometimes." Judy admitted, gesturing to Nick. "But I always have my partner there to watch my back, and that makes it less scary."

A wolf pup lifted his arm and began vigorously waving for attention. "Do you get to drive real fast whenever you want?"

Nick smiled. "It kinda depends on who's driving."

"Have you ever shot at anyone?" A young zebra shouted.

Judy swallowed heavily, the sight of a cougar bleeding onto the pavement flashing through her mind. "I...uh..."

"She shot at me once." Nick piped up, saving her from having to answer. "She was having a pretty rough day, though, and I was being annoying."

The children laughed, and she gave her partner a look that was equal parts gratitude and irritation.

A tiger cub in the front row thrust his paw up. "My dad says you guys are perverts. Is that another word for cop?"

The teacher blanched, the children looked up at her expectantly, and Judy felt her stomach twist. Hearing the low growl emanating from Nick's chest, she reached out to gently lay a paw on his arm. As the faint rumbling sound faded away, she took a calming breath and kept her smile in place. "No, that isn't another word for cop."

"Oh. What does it mean, then?"

"It just means that we disagree with your father about some things."

"Like what?" the cub persisted.

"Oh, just grown-up stuff."

The little tiger's brow furrowed. "So, which one of you is right?"

I am! She wanted to scream, He's wrong and hateful and I just want to kick your dad right in his stupid bigoted face!

"Well, we think we're right and your dad thinks he's right." Nick took over, his polite tone at odds with the tension that practically radiated from his body. "That's why we disagree."

"Alright, my little ones!" Their teacher jumped in. "That's all for today! Everyone say goodbye to Detectives Hopps and Wilde!"

"Goodbye, Detective Hopps! Goodbye, Detective Wilde!" They chorused, just as the bell rang.

Judy said goodbye to each one of them as they filed out. Once the classroom was empty, she wasn't surprised when the teacher came rushing over. "Oh my gods! I am so, so sorry!"

"It's alright," Judy muttered. "These things happen."

"Well, they shouldn't!" The distressed serval cried, shaking her head fervently. "You can bet that I'll be speaking to that student's paren-"

"Really, it's okay." Judy assured her. "He had no way of knowing it was... I mean, he didn't say it to be hurtful."

"Even so, I think his parents ought to be told what their cub is saying in class."

"It won't matter. It won't change their minds and you'll just get the little guy in trouble over something he doesn't understand." Nick shrugged. "But you've got the kid for eight hours a day. Focus on teaching him better."

Though she seemed hesitant to let it go, the teacher eventually nodded. "Alright. If you're sure..."

"We're sure," He nodded. "We've got to be on our way, though. Thank you for having us."

"Honestly, the pleasure was all mine."

Collecting up the odds and ends that they used in the presentation, Nick and Judy made their way out to their unmarked cruiser in silence. It wasn't until they were inside the car and the doors were closed that Judy turned to look at her partner.

"You okay?" She asked hesitantly as he fiddled with the keys. When he didn't respond, she tried again. "Nick?"

He let out a breath and turned to give her a flat look. "Seriously, Carrots?"

"Seriously."

"Of course I'm not okay. Why would I be okay with what just happened?" He rubbed his eyes tiredly. "There's always one. Every damn time."

"Not every time," Judy countered.

"Carrots..."

"But I hear what you're saying." She continued. "Look, we've still got one more school presentation before we're done for the day. I know you're not a big fan of them..."

Her partner snorted derisively, eyes firmly fixed on the road as he navigated their cruiser through midday traffic.

"...so how about we swing by the precinct building and drop you off? You can work on some of our overdue paperwork while I handle the last school on my own."

He glanced over. "You sure you'll be alright?"

"Are you kidding? Kids love me." She grinned, though the urge to take back her offer was tempting. She enjoyed doing the presentations together, but she knew her partner well enough to see that he was in no mood to be interacting with the public. "Seriously, it's no problem. I'll come right back when I'm done and help you finish up before we head home. Sound good?"

Nodding wearily, Nick briefly took his eyes off the road to give her a grateful smile. "Yeah. Sounds great."

~o~o~o~

A couple of hours later, the last presentation was over and Judy was done for the day. Emerging from the classroom with a spring in her step, she couldn't wait to tell Nick about how well it had gone. Not only had there not been any awkward or embarrassing moments, but one of the students had even presented her with a card from his parents. They were another interspecies couple, and they'd wanted to thank Nick and herself for being such positive role models.

Humming happily as she re-read the card, Judy almost failed to notice a little bunny that came running toward her from a nearby classroom.

Judy smiled, kneeling down to the smaller bunny's level. "Well, hello there. What's your name?

"I'm Patricia," the little one announced.

"Nice to meet you, Patricia. I'm Judy."

"Hi Judy. What's that?" Patricia asked, pointing to the badge Judy had clipped to her belt.

"That's my badge. Would you like to see?" When the little bunny nodded enthusiastically, Judy unclipped the small silver shield and placed it in the bunny's tiny paw.

"Is it like a police badge?"

Judy nodded, smiling. "It is a police badge."

"You're a police officer?"

"I'm a detective." Judy said proudly, pointing to the word engraved on the badge. "See?"

"Oh." She paused to consider that. "That's really neat."

"Thanks." Judy grinned.

"How did you become a police detective?"

"I worked really hard at school, got into the Zootopia Police Academy, did my very best and now here I am."

"How come?"

"I wanted to make the world a better place to live."

"That's really neat!" The little bunny said again, bouncing on her toes. "Could I be a police detective, too?"

"Of course." Judy reached down to gently ruffle the fur between Patricia's ears. "You can be anything you want to be."

She was clipping the badge back to her belt when Patricia's teacher, a middle-aged koala, noticed the two of them talking. Frowning, she rushed over and sharply told the little bunny to go rejoin her class. Giving Judy one last wave, Patricia went to join the other kits as her teacher stood and glared at the older rabbit.

"Something I can help with, ma'am?" Judy smiled, evenly meeting the teacher's stare.

"No." The koala responded brusquely and turned to walk back to the class. Just as she reached the door, Patricia began pointing and bouncing happily. "Isn't she cool? I wanna be a police bunny just like her!"

The koala spun around and shot Judy a scathing glare. "Look what you did!" She turned to the bunny and snapped. "Bunnies shouldn't be police officers! It's not normal!"

Giving Judy one last disgusted look, she took Patricia by the paw and stormed back into her classroom, slamming the door behind her.

"Charming." Judy muttered darkly, glancing down at the card in her paw as she tried to recapture her good mood. Deciding that showing it to Nick would be more than enough of a pick-me-up, she tucked it in with the other presentation materials, threw the bag over her shoulder, and headed out to the cruiser.

The mid-afternoon sun was warm on her shoulders as she crossed the school's parking lot, digging in her pocket for her keys. Distracted by her search, she'd only half-noticed the sound of a passing car when a bottle went sailing past her head, shattering against the cruiser door and throwing shards of broken glass into her face. A combination of quick reflexes and sheer luck kept any of the glass from getting into her eyes, but she still felt the sting when a particularly sharp piece cut into her cheek. Pieces were still falling to the ground as a shouting voice reached her ears.

"Nice catch, fang-fucker!"

Spinning in place, Judy smoothly drew her tranquilizer pistol with one paw and brought it level in the direction the bottle had come from. She immediately spotted the nondescript pickup truck speeding away, its license plate number obscured by black tape. Squinting, she could just make out the silhouette of the driver's horns, but not clearly enough to determine a particular species. For a half-second she considered jumping into the cruiser to pursue them, but they were already at the opposite end of the school's parking lot. By the time she actually got behind the wheel, they'd be long gone.

Pressing her free paw firmly against her wounded cheek, Judy re-holstered her sidearm with a frustrated sigh. As she began to make her way back to the school, the sound of glass crunching under each step made her especially thankful that her department-issued paw-wraps were puncture-resistant. She was nearly there when the school's principal, a gray-maned horse, came rushing out to meet her.

"Detective Hopps?! I saw what happened! Are you alrig-" The larger mammal's eyes widened when he caught sight of Judy's injury. "Oh shit! I...I mean..."

Confused by the horse's extreme reaction, she gingerly pulled her paw away from her face; the blood that practically covered it brought on a slight wave of nausea. She was suddenly aware of a throbbing pain just below her eye, and blanched when she realized she could feel more blood running down her cheek. "I...uh..."

"Alright, you need to sit down." The principal insisted, regaining his composure. Gently lifting her paw back to her cheek, he guided her to a nearby bench. "Keep firm pressure on it. I'm going to go call an ambulance."

"Yeah." Judy murmured, staring at the shards of glass that littered the ground next to the cruiser. "That's probably a good idea."

~o~o~o~

"Carrots!" Judy heard Nick long before she saw him, easily picking up the frantic sounds the fox made as he rushed from room to room. "Judy?! Where are you?!"

"I'm in here, Nick." She answered, as loudly as she could manage without disturbing the doctor sitting next to her. Nick came scrambling around the corner a moment later, wide-eyed and frantic.

"Oh no no no..." He rushed forward, reaching for her injured cheek. He stopped short when the doctor, a surprisingly young impala, gave him a sharp glare. Slowly lowering his paw, he gave his girlfriend a plaintive look. "I'm so sorry, Judy. Gods, this is all my fault!"

"Nick, stop. I'm okay and this isn't your fault. Honestly, it loo..." Though she managed not to flinch when the doctor lightly tightened another stitch in her cheek, she couldn't prevent herself from letting out a pained hiss. From his seat beside her, Nick whined softly. Although she could have gotten by with a pair of butterfly closures and a bandage, the doctor had convinced her that a pair of stitches would be more pragmatic. "It looks worse than it is."

"But I..."

"...had no way of knowing what could happen." She finished for him. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"Almost finished, Ms. Hopps." The impala muttered, carefully brushing her fur away from the wound. As he carefully tied off the final stitch, Judy lamented the fact that the injury would almost certainly leave a scar behind. Almost nobody noticed the thin trio of lines Gideon had left behind when they were kids; twenty years had all but faded them from existence. Now she'd have a brand-new mark for mammals to awkwardly avoid looking at.

At least she'd talked the doctor out of shaving the surrounding fur away. An injury was one thing, and at least when she was at work other animals wouldn't think as much of it. A bald patch that took up a quarter of her face, on the other paw, was a level of annoyance she didn't feel like dealing with.

"And you're done." The doctor announced, gently applying a gauze bandage over the wound. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Easy for you to say." Judy muttered, gingerly pressing her paw to her cheek. "Your face is still in one piece."

"Hm." The doctor glanced in Nick's direction. "Ms. Hopps, may I speak to you privately before you go? Just for a moment."

"Of course." She turned to Nick and reached out to squeeze his paw. "I'll be right out."

Nick hesitated, looking between her and the doctor, apparently reluctant to leave her side again.

"It's fine, Nick." She insisted. "I'll just be a minute."

"Yeah. Yeah, okay. I'll go bring the car around."

"Okay." Nodding, she released his paw and watched him make his way down the hall, weaving between the legs of larger mammals. Turning back, she gave the doctor as pleasant a smile as she could manage. "What can I do for you?"

"Ms. Hopps, I hope you realize how lucky you are." He gestured to the bandage on her cheek. "A little higher and you could have lost your eye."

She gave him a half-hearted laugh. "Well, you know what they say about rabbit's feet."

"Hmm." He paused uncertainly. "Has anything like this happened before?"

"No." She shrugged. "I mean, nothing this bad at least."

"I see. Ms. Hopps, I think you should know that there are services that can offer support to mammals involved in...er..." He cleared his throat, awkwardly tapping his hoof on her chart. "Difficult relationships."

"Difficult..." Judy's eyes narrowed. "What are you trying to say, exactly?"

"Ms. Hopps, it's not unheard of for smaller prey mammals to find themselves involved with more...aggressive partners." The doctor hesitated, his eyes flickering briefly in the direction Nick had gone. "And sometimes these relationships can become unhealthy, particularly when the dominant mammal has a natural predisposition toward violen-"

"Stop. Right. There."

"Ms. Hopps, I'm onl-"

"First of all, it's Detective Hopps." She growled, pulling her badge from her pocket and practically shoving it in the startled mammal's face. "Second, how dare you imply that Nick had anything to do with this? He wasn't even there!"

"I don't understand." The doctor looked genuinely confused. "He said it was his fault."

"He has a guilt complex! He'd try to protect me from the whole world, if I let him." She stood up on the gurney, bringing her eyes even with the taller mammal's as she gestured angrily to her freshly bandaged cheek. "This, on the other paw, is what happens when some speciest asshole throws a glass bottle at someone from a moving car!"

"I...I didn't realize..."

Glaring, she snatched her chart away from him, quickly skimmed its contents, then turned it back around and tapped the page. "See? Right there. Patient is a ZPD detective - injury sustained while on duty. Didn't you read this?"

"I..."

"You know what? Forget it." Grabbing her jacket, she hopped down to the floor. She looked up to give the doctor a final glare. "And for your information, the bottle was thrown by a prey mammal."

Without waiting for him to respond, she turned on her heel and stormed away.

~o~o~o~

Rush hour was just beginning when they left the hospital. Trapped in downtown traffic, Judy tried not to let the packed cars and honking horns worsen her already bad mood. She hadn't told Nick about the doctor's assumption. There wasn't any point. It would only upset him further, and he was already feeling bad enough. They drove in silence, and after a few blocks she lay her head back and allowed herself to doze.

All told, it took them nearly an hour to get back to the precinct building. Along with the time she's spent waiting at the hospital, they were close enough to the end of their shift that they figured they might as well leave early. After all, one of the perks of being a detective was not being tied to a patrol officer's rigid schedule.

While Nick went to sign the cruiser back into the motor pool, Judy headed to the locker room to get her ZPD windbreaker. She didn't really feel like taking the train home with her fox boyfriend while wearing a blood-stained blazer. The thought of it got her thinking about the doctor again, and despite her best efforts she was still fuming when she passed through the main lobby.

Her stride faltered briefly when the front desk came into view; she'd so far managed to avoid engaging with her fellow officers, but she knew that she'd never make it past this one. With a resigned sigh, she reminded herself that his occasionally intense behavior came from a loving place and resumed her walk. Passing the precinct's front desk, she gave Ben Clawhauser a polite smile and a small nod, hoping she could make it to the doors before...

"Have a good night, Ju...oh my gods!"

Effortlessly leaping over the desk, Clawhauser hit the ground and crossed the distance between them in a blur of motion. There was a time she might've considered trying to outrun him, but those days were long gone. For the first time, Judy cursed the vast improvement in Ben's physical fitness. She immediately felt bad for the thought, particularly considering how much work she'd personally put in helping him get back into shape.

When she'd first come to Precinct One, she'd been more than a little alarmed by the grossly overweight cheetah. Later, after she'd learned about the horrifying on-duty injury that had gotten him into that state, she'd actually pitied him. The poor cat was so overweight that just climbing a flight of stairs would leave him gasping for air. Then, two-and-a-half years ago, he'd suddenly decided it was time to bring himself back from the brink. He'd never told her exactly what got him started, and she hadn't pried. His efforts had even redoubled about a year later when he met his now-girlfriend, Melissa.

Then, just four months ago, he'd finally passed the annual Patrol Officer Requalification Test. Naturally, he'd also managed to completely destroy the Precinct One short-distance sprint record; a record that she herself had held for years. That was why he was crouched in front of her before she could even think of escaping, his eyes wide with concern.

"What happened?! Are you okay?! Did you hit your head?!" He waved a paw in front of her face. "How many claws am I holding up?!"

"Ben. Ben!" Taking hold of his paw, she gently guided it out of her face. "I'm alright, Ben. Calm down."

"What happened?" He repeated, lowering his voice.

Judy paused, briefly considering her words. "Someone threw a bottle at me. They missed, but it shattered right in front of me so..." She trailed off, gesturing to the bandage. "It looks worse than it is, I promise."

"What? Were they drunk or something?" He glanced down at his watch, then out the atrium windows. "Talk about an early start. The sun isn't even down yet."

"Ben, I don't..." She took a breath and clamped down on a brief flare of irritation. She silently reminded herself that Ben was just worried about her. "Can we talk about this another time?"

"Oh, Judy. I'm sorry, of course we can."

"Thank you." She said, relieved. "So, how's desk duty been treating you?"

Recognizing the deliberate subject change, Ben went back behind the desk and dropped into his seat, rolling his eyes dramatically. "Ugh! I'm bored out of my mind!"

"It can't be that bad."

"It's horrible! I finally get back on the patrol roster, and now I'm stuck in the slow lane again! I honestly don't know how I did this for so many years without completely losing my marbles."

"And there's really no one else for you to partner up with?"

"Nobody who can keep up. Can you believe that?" The cheetah huffed. "Seriously, the sooner Foster comes back from vacation, the happier I'll be."

"He'll be back before you know it." Judy assured him. Glancing toward the main doors, she saw Nick waiting for her. "I ought to get going."

"Okay, Judy. But if there's anything you need..."

"I just want to head home and get some sleep." She said. "But thank you, Ben. I'll see you tomorrow."

~o~o~o~

"Oh gods, didja see that dumbass rabbit's face?" Sitting at a table near the back, an ibex cackled loudly enough to be heard from across the bar. "I'm surprised she didn't shit herself!"

The camel sitting across from him shrugged. "She probably did. I mean, you know how bunnies are."

"Gods damn right," the ibex laughed again, finishing off his beer and pounding the bottle of the table. "Feels like I got my balls back!"

"Didn't know you'd lost them."

"Fuck off, Floyd. You know what I mean." Waving a hoof, he tried to get the waitress's attention. "The only thing that coulda made it better would be if you'd tagged her right in the fuckin' head."

"Did my best." The camel, Floyd, shrugged again. "Small target."

"Whatever, dude. I am so pumped right now! We should wait a few weeks and take another shot at her! She'll never expect it to happen twice!"

"Chucking another bottle out a moving car?" Surprised, they both turned to the mammal standing next to their table. Neither had noticed his approach. "Well, aren't you two a couple of badasses."

"The fuck did you say?!" Fueled by a heady mix of alcohol and indignance, the ibex burst up from his seat and got right in the newcomer's face; the other mammal didn't seem especially intimidated.

Rolling his eyes, Floyd reached out to put a hoof on the ibex's shoulder. "Take it easy, Karl."

"Dude, you heard what he sai-"

"Yeah, I heard," Floyd nodded, guiding Karl back into his chair before looking up at the stranger. "Problem, friend?"

"No, no problem. I just think it sounded like a punk move."

Despite his relaxed posture, the look in Floyd's eyes hardened. "I think you'd best move along, then."

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm happy you did it. I just think you could've done better."

"Yer fulla shit," Karl snorted. "Piss off."

"Fine, if that's what you want. I'm looking for serious mammals, anyway." The stranger shrugged. "And if the two of you would rather sit here and jerk each other off about throwing trash at some bunny, you're obviously not serious mammals."

Floyd and Karl glanced at one another as he turned to walk away. Karl raised his eyebrows; Floyd shrugged. "Hey! Hold on a sec."

The stranger didn't seem surprised to be called back. "Yes?"

"What're you lookin' for serious mammals for?"

"I think it might be a little out of your league." Reaching over, he gently tapped Karl's empty beer bottle. The ibex bristled at the thinly veiled insult.

"You ain't got nothing we can't handle, asshole."

"Then I'll put it this way. Some friends and I are looking to get this city back on track." Reaching into one pocket, he withdrew a slip of paper and placed it face-down on the table. "We're having ourselves a little get together tomorrow night. Come on by and we'll see just how serious you really are."

~o~o~o~

END PART 1