A/N: Thank you for all the comments/follows/reviews/kudos. I took a pause and reviewed a few things which resulted in me deleting the chapter 3 lunch scene. I removed it four weeks ago. So, if you read chapter 3 when I posted it, please ignore the scene and forgive me for being a rookie, otherwise, enjoy…
Disclaimer: Zootopia and all related characters are owned by Disney.
...
Judy sat alone in the large chair in front of the bullpen. Nick was on parking duty, so he was exempt from attending the morning briefing. Bogo had just finished passing out the day's assignments. Judy covered her mouth and stifled a yawn, she needed coffee. She'd overslept, well actually over tossed-and-turned-in-bed-all-night, and couldn't stop at Snarlbucks on the way in this morning. Now she'd be stuck with the pitch-black tar brewing in the break room.
Garrison came over to Judy's chair while everyone else was filing out. Garrison lowered her head to Judy's level and took a deep sniff of her fur. Nodding slightly, she gave her approval. "You look like you need some coffee, grab some and I'll meet you in the garage."
...
Judy, nursing a larger than normal cup of coffee, was waiting for Garrison by the cruiser when she saw Nick by his parking cart. She walked over as he was putting on the meter maid vest. "Hey"
"Hey," Nick said with a smile.
Judy stood for a moment wanting to say something more when she heard Garrison shout over. "Hopps, the smell."
Judy got an annoyed look on her face and huffed. As she was about to yell something back at Garrison, Nick raised his paw to stop her.
"Don't worry, I've heard worse." Nick nodded toward the Jaguar, "You should get going, keeping her waiting will just piss her off more."
Nick watched as Garrison's cruiser left the garage and he followed soon afterward in the parking cart.
...
Nick tapped the small keys with a flourish and then tore the printed parking ticket off of the hand-held computer. Placing it on the windshield of a medium sized convertible, he checked the time on his phone and walked back to the joke-mobile. After calling Clawhauser to let him know he was taking lunch, Nick pulled out of his parking spot and drove to the ZMU's main campus. Metro was a mix of green open spaces, walking paths and water features surrounded by taller buildings that housed classrooms, labs, dorms, and offices for the administrators and professors. Nick parked his cart in front of one of the older classroom buildings. He recalled that his appointment was with an Associate Professor. Chuckling to himself, he noted that even in academia the best offices went to the more senior mammals.
While talking with Finn at the Foxburg Pub a couple of days ago, it became glaringly obvious that Nick needed more information on rabbit social etiquette and courting. Judy wasn't a fox and he needed to know how it worked with rabbits.
Nick had spent a couple of hours searching the internet for information on rabbit courting practices. Unfortunately, the search results that came back led him to either porn sites that he was now having trouble unseeing, or to a series of popups for 'Lewd Lagomorph Ladies' and 'Randy Rabbits' which crashed his browser. When he finally found a few legitimate relationship sites, they all assumed the reader was a rabbit and skipped over the basic practices that he really needed to know more about.
Giving up on figuring it out himself, Nick decided it was time for an expert. His research had given him two names in the city that were experts on lagomorph customs. One was a psychologist specializing in relationship research; the other was an assistant professor of history with a focus on the lagomorph pre-Commonwealth law, social customs, and language. Nick needed a hook, he couldn't just walk into someone's office and ask how to woo a rabbit. Foxes hunted rabbits, they didn't court them, and as much as talking to the love doctor would be more on target, he decided his time spent studying the Zootopia legal code looking for loopholes and opportunities would give him an in with a history professor who specialized in law.
Nick took off the meter maid vest and hat and locked them in the storage compartment under the seat. He checked his head fur in the mirror and smoothed down his uniform. He needed to look like a cop on a mission to get what he needed.
Walking down the second-floor hallway, Nick checked the office nameplates until he found the right one, Associate Professor Pachter. The door was partially open. Knocking lightly with a single knuckle, Nick called out, "Hello, Professor Pachter?"
"Come in, I'm almost done."
As Nick stepped into the small office, he saw a doe in a red blouse and blue jeans typing on a keyboard. There hadn't been a picture of Prof. Pachter included in the Zoogle search results, but it made sense that an expert on lagomorph law and customs would also be a member of that species.
Glancing around Nick saw that the Professor's U-shaped desk and the wall shelves were stacked with papers, exam booklets, and old law books. On the side of the desk, next to the Professor's monitor, Nick spied a picture of the doe in a wedding dress hugging a tall buck in a tuxedo. Seeing the happy couple in the picture, Nick couldn't help but think about him and Judy. A heartbeat later, Nick buried the happy thought and chastised himself, 'Keep your eyes on the prize, Wilde, being together is today's goal, being legally mated is tomorrow's problem.'
Prof. Pachter turned her chair around and stood up as Nick reached out to shake her paw. "Professor Pachter, I'm Officer Wilde, ZPD, it's nice to meet you."
As Prof. Pachter set her glasses down, she motioned toward a chair in front of Nick, "It's nice to meet you too Officer Wilde, please have a seat. You mentioned on the phone that you are researching lagomorph law, what can I help you with?"
"Well, I was researching the law in the Tri-Burrows, specifically Bunnyburrow, and I was getting confused. I found the current legal code, but there were a few references to another codex called the Old Law and there wasn't much online about that."
The Professor smiled at Nick and asked, "Are you planning on changing careers and practicing law in the Burrows?"
Smiling back at the doe he replied, "No ma'am, I'm enjoying being a cop too much, besides I'm not sure I could take all the lawyer jokes." They both laughed as Nick continued, "In my last career, I found it very useful to have a thorough understanding of the law. You never know when someone might ask to see your permit to sell food or a receipt of declared commerce and fines or penalties aren't good for business."
"Well, let's see, you asked about the Old Law and Bunnyburrow. Bunnyburrow is the oldest, by far, of the three major burrows. Hundreds of years before the formation of the Commonwealth the law of Bunnyburrow was recorded in the original Lapine tongue, in a codex. This codex was the law until Bunnyburrow joined the Commonwealth. From that point on the codex was referred to as the Old Law and a new codex written in Common was created and called the New Law. The Old Law wasn't repealed, it was just modified, clarified or, in the case of some sections, superseded by the New Law or the current Bunnyburrow legal code."
Nick rubbed his chin, "You said that the Old Law is in the original Lapine, I guess that would explain why it's not posted anywhere. Does a translation into Common exist somewhere?"
Prof. Pachter hesitated before answering the question, "Yes, a workable translation of the Old Law codex was created when Bunnyburrow joined the Commonwealth. Back then, the translation wasn't widely published since the New Law referred to the Old Law in its original form and the translation was mainly used by the Commonwealth bureaucracy. Nowadays, the translation is still used for reference, but only rarely since the Old Law is so outdated it's considered useless and everyone ignores it. The end result is that neither document is easy to find because no one really uses either of them anymore."
Nick smiled a bit broader, "You said workable?"
Prof. Pachter smiled and nodded enthusiastically back at Nick, "Yes, let me explain.
"The translation has been the center of my work since grad school. It has a number of flaws that are very interesting and I've written a treatise on the mammals that performed the translation and explanations, based on the Bunnyburrow society at the time, as to why they made the decisions and assumptions they did. Part of the completed research, which should be approved for publication soon, includes my rework of the Old Law translation. It's been fascinating to look at the Old Law and the rabbits of that time as they adjusted to being new members of the Commonwealth."
Nick nodded his head. "You said that you had to rework the translation of the Old Law, is that something I could get a copy of? You wouldn't believe how many hours I've spent looking at the Zootopia legal code and I think being able to spend some time with the Bunnyburrow code, old and new, would help me with my upcoming task."
Prof. Pachter thought about it for a moment, her work was basically done, except for being published, so she wasn't too worried about someone copying her research, but better safe than sorry. "I can send you a copy, but you have to promise that you won't give it to anyone else until after all my research is published." Nick nodded and she continued, "I have a layered document with the text of the original codex in Lapine, the old translation and a layer with my changes and notes discussing those changes. I can email it to you if that works."
Nick stood up and handed the Professor a card with his email address and contact information. "That would be terrific, here's my email address."
Nick paused, time to ask for what he really needed, "Professor I have one more favor to ask. Do you have any information on rabbit social customs and, uh, courting practices, something someone who isn't a rabbit could understand and reference so they wouldn't offend rabbits in social situations?" Nick dipped his head briefly and folded his ears down as they started to turn a little red from embarrassment. In a slightly quieter voice he continued, "Just in case, you know, a situation happens."
The doe smirked a bit seeing the fox officer looking, just for a moment, like a teenager out of his element. Prof. Pachter rubbed her chin and thought about the request and the mammal in front of her. With a slight nod, she decided. "Okay, I'll make you a deal Officer Wilde, I've been looking for a new area of study. And as you've noticed, some of the information about rabbit culture is hard to find and I'm sure you'll agree that the same information about fox culture is pretty hard to find too. So, I propose a trade, I'll share what you've asked for on rabbits if you share the same with me on foxes."
"Hmm, I don't know. Will there be anything in your files on why a bunny can call another bunny cute and not get in trouble?"
"Nope, that's a bunny secret and if I told you, I'd have to kill you, and we wouldn't want the janitors to have to clean up that kind of a mess, now would we?" Smiling at Nick, Prof. Pachter added, "Don't worry, what I have should be enough to keep you out of trouble."
Nick laughed, "Alright then, you've got a deal. Thanks."
Prof. Pachter shook paws with Nick and walked with him to the hallway, "I'll email you the files this afternoon."
Nick walked back down to his traffic cart and put his vest and bowler hat back on. He was happy with himself and was looking forward to seeing what the Professor sent him. He called Clawhauser to let him know he was back on duty and then drove toward the next closest meter-rich area of opportunity.
...
Judy and Garrison were assigned to patrol a business district that ran between Foxburg and Happytown. Foxburg was an old bedroom community of predominately small predators. Most of the houses were around 80 to 100 years old, so they were smaller homes on smaller lots. The families living there took pride in their homes but didn't have a lot of money, so while not rundown, the neighborhood looked worn out. Over the years, a few blue-collar prey had moved into Foxburg, not enough to start gentrification of the area, but enough that it had a hint of diversity to it.
Happytown, on the other hand, was one of the poorest areas in Zootopia. Some sections were only run down while others were blighted. The ZPD patrolled 'around' Happytown more often than 'in' Happytown. One of these days, the ZPD would have the resources to clean up Happytown, for now, the best they could do was keep the blight from spreading.
Garrison drove the squad car in a zig-zag pattern through the business district that sat between the two communities while Judy was on the lookout for any issues. Garrison talked down the whole area and its residents, she only saw the problems and the troublemakers. Judy looked out the cruiser's window, shaking her head as Garrison continued her rant. Judy didn't see problems as much as she saw hope. The mammals she saw out the window cared about their community, looked after each other, and were raising their kits with the expectation that they'd have it better than their parents.
Judy could tell Garrison was getting frustrated, the Jaguar had picked this patrol area in the hopes of picking up a perp or two, but so far all they'd come across was an elderly couple that needed help with a flat tire and a guy illegally parked in a loading zone. Judy tried her best to keep up a dialog that included some of the positives about the area Nick had told her about, but the more she said, the quieter Garrison became. After a while, Judy went silent too, and then a little bit after that, Garrison decided to call them out for a break.
...
Judy exited the diner behind Garrison and they both headed down the sidewalk toward their parked cruiser. As they walked, Judy listened to Garrison relay a story about the last perp she'd chased down in Savanna Central. Judy was about to ask a question when she was distracted by a car horn behind her. Turning to look, Judy didn't see the young silver fox kits come bounding out of the alley she was crossing in front of. One of the bluish-gray furred kits skidded into a turn right in front of Judy, his grocery sack swinging wide as he tried to keep away from his younger brother. Unfortunately, the second fox kit wasn't quite as steady on his feet and slid into Judy taking out her legs and knocking her flat on her tail.
Looking up from the sidewalk, her legs still tangled up with the small fox, Judy saw Garrison leaning over Judy holding the older kit by the scruff of his neck. "Hopps, are you okay? Did these little delinquents hurt you?"
Judy extricated herself from the squirming fox limbs and shook her head, "No, I'm fine, it was just an accident."
Garrison reached down and picked up the younger kit and, now holding them both out in front of her, she gave them a full display of her large teeth and growled at them. "Who are you two running from? Who did you steal those groceries from?"
Both the kits started crying, they were probably ten and eleven years old and now they were terrified out of their minds.
Still on the ground, Judy yelled at Garrison, "Officer Garrison! They're kits, what are you doing?!"
Ignoring Judy, Garrison glared at the kits, "Stop your crying and tell me who you're running from and where you got those bags."
Still crying the older kit wailed out, "Please don't hurt us, my name is Tyler Greytail and that's my brother Aidan. Our mom sent us to the store."
Aidan was choking words out between his tears, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to run into the bunny lady, please don't put us in jail." Aidan's crying increased as he realized that he may never see his mom and dad again. "Please, I want to go home, I'm so sorry. I want my mom."
Judy jumped straight up, grabbed both of Garrison's wrists and put herself in between the kits and the Jaguar's muzzle. "Put these kits down, NOW!"
Judy jumped down just as Garrison set the kits on the sidewalk. Judy quickly put her arms around the two crying boys and tried to calm them by pulling them into a tight hug. "It's okay, I've got you, everything is going to be alright. I won't let anyone hurt you."
Both of the kits hugged Judy tight and cried into her chest. Judy soothed them and continued to hold them close until they stopped crying.
Garrison stood with her paws on her hips, fuming, as she watched Hopps console the two foxes. After a full minute of waiting for the spectacle to end, she couldn't take it anymore and growled out, "Where do you foxes live?"
Both boys simultaneously dug themselves deeper into Judy's chest and pointed toward a set of houses a few hundred yards away, across an abandoned lot and an overgrown dirt road.
"We are going to your house to talk with your mother. If you try and run, I will handcuff you and take you downtown. Understand?"
Judy quickly stood and held the kits behind her, "Officer Garrison, that's enough. Nobody's running anywhere and no one is going to be handcuffed."
Turning back to the fox kits Judy pulled them close again, "Tyler, Aidan, everything is going to be fine. I want you to go pick up your grocery bags and then come back here and hold my paws. I'll take you both home and then we'll talk to your mom, okay?"
Judy glared at Garrison as the two kits retrieved their bags and then rushed back to her side. Garrison continued to growl quietly as each of the boys took one of Judy's paws and then guided the bunny toward their house.
As they walked, Judy stewed. Garrison was overreacting and Senior Officer or not, she needed to be reigned in. After a few minutes of walking the group approached a small row house in the middle of the block. Garrison walked around the group and knocked on the door. A few moments later, Judy heard the sounds of an adult mammal approaching the door.
The door opened and Judy saw a vixen in sweatpants and a loose top start to greet the jaguar officer when suddenly, both boys let go of Judy's paws, dropped their bags and rushed into their mother's arms. The kits started crying again and then they yelled out. "Mom we're sorry, please don't let her take us to jail."
The vixen got down on her knees and pulled the boys to her in a hug. She looked up at Garrison and asked, "What happened, what did they do?"
"Ma'am, they were running from someone with these bags of merchandise and then ran into my partner knocking her to the ground. Their negligence could have seriously injured her and I believe that this kind of unsupervised behavior warrants the attention of Protective Services."
The vixen looked back and forth between the two officers with a look of horror on her face. "You're not going to take my boys away from me, are you? I asked them to go to the market for me because I was babysitting my neighbor's two kits. Please don't take my boys away."
As the vixen started to cry, her boys started crying again too. "Please let us stay, we said we're sorry, we didn't mean to hurt anyone."
Judy had had enough. This had gotten completely out of hand. Speaking in a voice loud enough to be heard over the crying, Judy stepped forward. "Officer Garrison, if I may, Mrs. Greytail I believe that this situation can be resolved without the involvement of the ZPS. I can see your boys are very sorry and accidents do happen. If you talk with your kits about being more careful, I think everything will be alright. Don't you think so, Officer Garrison?"
Garrison was livid, what was this rabbit doing undermining her authority? "Well Officer Hopps, I don't entirely agree with your assessment and I still believe some oversight is needed in this situation."
Judy could see Garrison was pissed, but she wasn't going to back down either. "In that case, how about if I stop out and visit with the family in the next week or so. Would that provide enough of a review without having to get the ZPS involved?"
Judy quietly waited as Garrison stared at her. After a few tense moments, Judy broke the standoff with an offhand comment, "You do realize the amount of paperwork you'll be filling out if you want to turn these kits over to the ZPS, don't you? Then there are the hearings, and the follow-up assessments and then even more paperwork. Sounds like a lot of work to me."
Garrison growled, "Fine, it's on you then. But, understand me, Hopps, if these delinquents cause any more trouble I'll call the ZPS regardless of the paperwork." With a final glare, Garrison stepped back and walked out to the sidewalk to wait for Judy.
Judy picked up the grocery sacks and walked over to Mrs. Greytail who was still on her knees. Setting the sacks down, Judy crouched down and said softly, "I promise, everything is going to be fine, give me your phone number and I will call you so we can set up a time for a visit, alright?"
Holding her kits close with one arm, she pulled out her phone and exchanged numbers with Judy. As the vixen looked at Judy she bent forward and tilted her head, exposing her neck so Judy could see the gray fur covering her throat, "I'm sorry about my boys, please, please don't let her take them away."
Judy reached out and placed her paw on Mrs. Greytail's arm and whispered, "I meant what I said, it's going to be fine. Nobody is going to take your kits away from you, I promise."
The vixen glanced at Officer Garrison in the distance and then back at Judy, her eyes were filled with tears of fear and worry, "Please" was all she mouthed.
Judy nodded and gently squeezed her arm. Judy straightened up and turned around to see a seriously pissed-off jaguar pacing back and forth on the sidewalk.
...
Judy closed the door to her locker, well, locker was a strong term for what she'd just tossed her unused workout clothes back into. A week after Nick had left for the ZPA, Judy had gotten frustrated with her locker setup. The locker was too big and too high up and she was too small. Hitting a swap meet, Judy had found an old medium-mammal sized cabinet and a small kit's bench. She'd removed the cabinet's shelves and then nailed it to the wall of a relatively private alcove she'd found in the locker room. The alcove was formed by a wall to one side and some covered ductwork on the other side. The resultant setup made for a quiet place to think when she needed one, like now.
Judy had really wanted to do a workout or go for a run, something to take her mind off of a certain fox she couldn't stop thinking about. Unfortunately, Garrison had refocused Judy and not in a good way. After leaving the Greytail's house, the rest of her shift with Garrison hadn't gone well. The Jaguar hadn't said a thing to Judy on the walk back to the cruiser and had continued the silence well into the rest of the patrol.
Judy stood and walked to where Garrison was changing, it was time to have a talk with her senior partner. "Hey Garrison."
"Yeah, Hopps."
"Do you know how many siblings I have?"
Garrison glanced over toward Judy wondering what her sibling count had to do with anything. "I heard you have a big family, so five or six I suppose. Why?"
"I have 168 brothers and 179 sisters."
Garrison's eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open. "Hopps, you're not serious. That's not a family, that's a ZIP code."
Judy gave the Jaguar a severe look. "I can take on anyone in my family, foot race, wrestling and even the occasional sibling fight." She paused taking a deep breath. "Those were little kits back there, you scared the entire family half to death and it had nothing to do with me getting knocked over. I've taken worse spills during pillow fights with my sisters. You were out of line and I won't stand by and allow anything like that to happen again."
"Hopps, they're foxes. They're sly and shifty just like your partner. Once you've worked the streets as long as I have, you'll understand what I'm talking about. Right now, I'm the senior on this team, so you need to watch and learn, especially when it comes to those animals."
Judy looked at Garrison in frustration, what the heck was her problem? "Garrison, those kits were just being kits and Nick is an outstanding—"
Judy was cut off by Garrison as she stood up from her bench, "Hopps, this isn't a debate, it's the way things are, so get used to it." With that said, Garrison picked up her pack and walked out of the locker room.
Balling up her fists, Judy stared furiously at the now closed door. After a few seconds of trying to burn holes in the thick wood with her glare, she turned around and headed back to her locker to get her workout clothes. She'd changed her mind, a workout was exactly what she needed, a workout that involved a punching bag, and if she was lucky, a large, black spotted, sparring partner.