Nick and Judy decides to patch up a plothole or two

They met at Nimrud Café. Once the most popular of the many three-and-almost-a-half star meeting spots Zootopia had to offer, it was frequently vandalized by goons hired by nefarious two-star establishments who believed there was a place for everyone in Zootopia, though some may find it a lot less costly sticking to the outskirts.

Judy found Nick sitting by a small table outside, where the cracked plaster piled up next to a vicious-looking elephant's footprint in the pavement. Diligent as ever, she inspected the crater and began to take notes when a familiar voice called to her.

"Up here, carrots," Nick said coolly while adjusting his sunglasses, the small rabbit perking her head up.

"Nick! I'm sorry, I forgot- I saw-" she stammered in surprise, feeling like a complete scatter-brain. Nick looked at her wordlessly, beaming his famous smile which, much like gamma rays, was said to be capable of annoying people through a thin strip of pure lead. Judy was getting accustomed to it though, and responded with an overdone grin of her own, sadly not quite recapturing the fox's mastery in smugness.

"Not bad. You're getting better," Nick continued, wondering why she was trying to copy an expression guaranteed to piss people off in the first place. She hopped up next to him and grabbed his arm.

"So are you! Just look at those…" she chimed happily before giving his lower arm a hasty squeeze, causing Nick to wince, "… Uh, I mean, you've been training really hard!"

"Yeah…" Nick grumbled as he caressed the aching twig that was his arm, "… But that's not all I've been up to. Guess."

"Guess what?" Judy asked as she sat down to the opposite of Nick, looking up at the slightly taller mammal.

"You know what? Let's make it interesting," Nick said while leaning back and staring up at the sky, "Order whatever you want, it's on me if you can guess how much money I made this week."

Judy's ears went straight for a moment as her smile quickly vanished, remember the answer she had prepared in case someone down at the office got nosy.

"Zero?" she stated. Nick was quiet for a few moments. Behind his sunglasses, she could've sworn she saw his eyes go wide.

"Exactly," he answered after clearing his throat, "Though I participated in a bit of construction, helping out with logistics and such, and they were so generous that they imparted me with a very… Legal... Gift..."

"Two hundred?" Judy continued asking. Nimrud Café was a fairly shabby place, but her budget could use a break, and besides, she never treated herself to anything nice.

"Thhhreeee," the smug Fox said in a manner which looked like he was tasting sunlight with every syllable, "And all the timber I could carry."

"Which was?" Judy asked with a chiding tone. Nick's expression went neutral in an instant.

"Got it right on your first guess," Nick admitted dismally, "My arms, y'know, they're a little-"

"Welcome to Nimrud Palace may I take your order please," a sheep wearing a pink outfit with frills suddenly asked in a monotonous manner. Nick almost fell off his chair, but quickly straightened himself up with a cool disposition.

"Just a small cop," he said hastily before quickly correcting himself, "Cup. Coffee. One small cup of cop coffee."

He stared nervously into the sheep's demonic sideways irises as Judy stifled a laugh, which ended abruptly as the soulless creature faced her next.

"M-M-Milkshake?" she stuttered, before feeling a rush of defiant bravery kick in, "Vanilla. And sprinkles."

"What kind of sprinkles ma'am," the sheep continued to drone on.

"Mmm… Surprise me," Judy replied confidently as she looked at Nick with a smug expression. Nick looked back, swallowing hard.

"Carrots," he said in a serious manner, "There's a reason I asked you to come here."

"I know, I saw it!" Judy answered almost immediately as she pointed down at the broken pavement, "This is great, we finally have the lead we need to-"

"Not that," Nick interrupted her, "It's about… Being a cop."

"Oh? Are you finally getting into it?" Judy chirped with a cheerful smile, "It's really hard in the beginning-"

"Yeah, no kidding!" Nick suddenly burst out, breaking his reclining posture and leaning towards the little bunny, "I've pulled muscles I didn't even know I had! My eyesight's waning from the desert winds, my tail has frostbite – How is this anything but torture!?"

"T… Torture!?" Judy gasped with a horrified face, "No, you just… You just have to keep trying!"

"According to that instructor, all I do is keep dying…" Nick mumbled with a huff as he crossed his arms, "I can't even imagine how on earth you made it through that hellhole. And for what? A crappy salary to get yelled at and risk your life all day… That was your dream?"

Judy found herself at a loss for words. Memories of her rigorous training flashed through her mind, the climbing and running. But deeper down, other memories began to crop up – Freezing half to death in icy water, long sleepless nights of pain from strained bodyparts and nibbling on Instant Carrots for sustenance.

"Nick… Have you ever been to Bunny Burrows?" Judy asked quietly. The fox looked at her for a moment before turning his head to the side.

"Sure. Once or twice," he muttered, "A hustle or two."

"Did you meet any of my siblings?" Judy continued with her inquisition. Nick looked at her, her face looking serious.

"Uh…" he mumbled, her earnest expression making it impossible to come up with anything witty to say, "No idea. Probably? I didn't really ask."

"Precisely," she stated with a nod, "In Bunny Burrows, there are millions of bunnies, rabbits, hares, and I'm… I'm just another number among them."

This time, Judy was the one who broke eye contact, staring at a mouse-shaped hole in the café's wall. This was a very unusual sight for Nick.

"So?" he said in a casual manner, "Plenty of foxes in the world too."

"You don't understand! I never had my own room, my own stuff, my own anything!" Judy continued as she raised her voice, "I even had to share my own parents with my 249 siblings!"

She looked at him with eyes open wide, noticing she was already out of breath. Realizing how silly she must look, she inhaled deeply and tried to regain composure.

"I was… Nothing. A carbon copy of my surroundings, a tiny strand of hair on someone's…" she trailed off before a faint blush appeared on her cheeks, "… B-But that was then! My life started when they made us do a play at school, about the history about predators and prey!"

"Why…" Nick started, but stopped himself. He had been about to ask why she got so flustered all of a sudden, but figured this wasn't the time for it.

"That's when I realized… I'm not just a bunny. Bunnies were food! Things were different nowadays, and I could be whatever the hell I wanted to be!" Judy let her voice grow louder again as she nearly stood up on her chair, "And I wanted to be a cop, damn it!"

"… OK…?" Nick said in a low, almost whimpering manner, "… Why…?"

"Oh, I read about this moose in the paper," Judy explained as she sat down, re-invigorated from her temporary depression, "A photo and story, he had just saved a child from a burning building, and looked really… Cool. I wanted to be like that. Make the world a better place."

Nick blinked a few times. He removed his glasses and made sure they were functioning correctly.

"That's it? That's… It!?" he shouted, feeling the aching from his 50 daily pushups flare up, "You could've picked any job on earth and you picked the hardest one because… You read some article!?"

"What's wrong with that!?" Judy shouted back, "If I didn't become a police officer, then we never would've met and the whole city would be overrun by feral predators!"

"So quit now! Why can't you get a job where you won't get gunned down by some madman in two years!?" Nick kept going, standing up from the chair and slamming his open paw against the table.

"Because if I'm not a police officer, then I'm just any regular bunny, and if I was just any regular bunny then you wouldn't be with me anymore!" Judy yelled as she closed her eyes in desperation.

Silence fell as the one other patron looked at them for a moment, before increasing the volume on his MP3 player.

"No, no, I didn't… Mean it like that," Judy waved her hands in front of her as she spoke with a hoarse voice, "I need a partner, and you're the only one I can trust."

"To leave if you don't tie him down?" Nick growled with disappointment as he sat down and let his eyes stray to the side.

"No, Nick… I…" Judy continued, but was interrupted by the sheep who took their order. Soon there table had a cup of coffee, a milkshake and a large tray of carrots.

"I'm not paying for those," Nick muttered under his breath.

Four months later, Nick finished his training. He and Judy became official partners. They kept up appearances for the most part and never spoke of this incident again, but the distrust between them festered. Neither had any objections when Judy transferred to a different city, Nick finding his comfort with a humble carrot farmer from Bunny Burrows.