Disclaimer: I don't own anything and I'm not making any money out of this. Please don't sue I'm broke ;)

….

Under the Fur:

She sighed in defeat even before she crossed the threshold of the door leading to her minuscule apartment; once inside she tossed the keys in the nearby table and threw herself at the lumpy creaky mattress she had uncomfortably slept in for almost two years.

Judy had had bad dates before, in fact none of her dates had actually been good, but they had never been as bad at this. Her torn burgundy cocktail dress she bought for that particular occasion barely clung to her figure anymore; her feet were bleeding from running the ten miles that separated her apartment from the dark alley her date had taken her to.

She lay on her stomach placing her nuzzle on the pillow, hoping it would muffle her scream of rage and hurt. She should have known better, she should have known it was too good to be true.

At first glance Julien Lapin, the district attorney of Zootopia, seemed like a perfect fit for Judy. Like her, he was a bunny that succeeded in a field dominated mainly by large imposing mammals and he was also known for his determination and his impeccable work record. The young rabbit was attractive as well, with flawlessly white long fur that brought up his red eyes. He was one of the most popular bachelors in Zootopia.

So when he asked her out after working together along with Nick in a murder case, the young wide eyed doe blushed and nodded happily. He had in her eyes been a hero, bravely prosecuting even the most powerful fearsome criminals and never losing a single case. Judy saw him as an inspirational figure leading the battle against crime in order to make the world better, that is, until she actually got to know him.

He had taken her to a fancy restaurant in the middle of Downtown Savanna and at first acted like the gentlemammal everyone expected him to be, but little by little her instincts told Judy there was something wrong with him. He said the right things in the right way, like how much he admired her courage and work ethics and such, but after spending two years studying people's reactions and analyzing their behavior (something her former conmammal friend and partner had taught her to do) she could tell he was not being honest "Never trust a mammal that smiles with his mouth but not his eyes" Nick had told her several times. At first it was his smooth talking what had attracted her, it reminded Judy of her partner. But while the fox used his sly smile to hide himself from a world that had done nothing but beat him down Julien's smirk seemed to hide an inner malice behind his adorable features.

So when the date ended and he casually invited her to his apartment for "coffee" she truthfully told him she had to work the next day.

-"Is something wrong?"- Julien said suspicious

-"No of course not, I had a wonderful time with you but I really need to get up early tomorrow"- Judy said with a very convincing smile, hiding the fact that something in the rabbits red eyes was beginning to make her cringe.

-"Very well then"- He gave her his most charming smile while opening the door to his brand new sports car–"Let me take you to your place"-

The police trained part of her brain told her it was better not to get inside a closed space with a rabbit she didn't quite trust, but the more social and insecure part of her brain told her he would be offended if she refused, and technically speaking he hadn't said or done anything to warrant such a rude response from her. So she nodded and got into the car with him.

Twenty minutes later she regretted that decision.

The rabbit drove her to an elegant yet deserted part of Savanna Central near the main square; Judy's suspicions weren't arisen in time because technically it was on the way to her condo. Then without warning he killed the engine and threw himself at her. Knowing she would resist he threw a strong fast blow to the side of her head hoping to knock her out.

It did not have the desired effect though, she was dazed for a few seconds but recovered fast and braced herself for the incoming attack.

Judy could still hear his awful words as he ripped open her dress and tried to paw his way into her underwear.

-"Who the hell do you think you are? Blowing me off like that?"- His voice went from the soft velvet of a smooth talker to a deep growling of seething rage –"You carrot farmer country hoes are all the same! You act as if you were special and we males are supposed to bend over heels at your whim!"- She could still hear the sound of ripping fabric as he spoke –"But let me tell you sweetheart… females like you are a dime a dozen. So do what you were made to do and maybe I'll go easy on ya."-

An hour later Judy was far away from him, safe from his red eyes and his invasive paws but Julien's voice was etched in her skull and refused to go away.

The words, his leer, they all stung inside Judy's head as she cried in her bed, she didn't know how long she stayed that way until loud banging in the wall behind her brought her out of her awful memory.

-"Quit with the whining bunny we´re trying to sleep in here!"- The loud annoying voice of her neighbor, Bucky, resonated through the paper thin walls of her modest condo.

His roommate Pronk, answered

-"Leave her alone. Can't you see she had another awful date?"-

-"Yeah but she usually doesn't end up crying like this, she just talks to her friends or family"- Bucky retorted even louder.

Meanwhile Judy kept crying, bad enough was that someone had tried to violate her, now her asshole neighbors were violating her privacy.

-"Hey bunny"- Pronk now spoke in an almost gentle (for him anyway) tone –"You okay?"-

-"Did your date cross the line there? Did he hurt you?"- Bucky said in a more menacing voice.

Judy was even more terrified of her loud neighbors telling everyone what had happened. It was embarrassing enough to get herself in the situation where Lapin had tried to take advantage of her, much worse would be for her neighbors to shout it out loud for the whole condo to hear. With supreme effort she composed herself to speak without breaking her voice.

-"No, he didn't do anything. He was just a huge jerk"- She said without actually lying. She had been trained by the best in Zootopia when it came to every form of combat, after the initial shock of Julien's attack fade out she managed to punch him several times on his head. To her horror that seemed to enrage the white furred rabbit even further but as he tried to scratch his way below her clothes Judy's hind paws placed themselves next to his stomach and then she threw a kick so hard it would make a mule proud. With her attacker stomped in the now broken windshield she took the opportunity to get the hell away from there as fast as her legs could take her.

The ZPD officer was in fact quite relieved for the fact that he didn't manage to actually rape her for it could have given her a lot more trouble than a bruised ego and a broken heart. Copulation among bunnies usually ends up in pregnancy since they are extremely fertile. Even with contraceptives and hormone suppressants the chance for a female bunny to get pregnant after mating is in the 60 percent.

That is why respectable bunnies, male or female, are told to be virgin until marriage. It was not a puritan custom born out of old outdated rules, it was a necessary measure since once bunnies started mating kits would follow pretty soon after. So long courtships were the norm among her people, something her fox partner called "cute" while laughing at her prudish ways.

That train of thought brought her again towards her partner. What would Nick think of this? He had no qualms in laughing and teasing her when all Judy's dates crashed and burned. -"You know what they say carrots, to find the prince charming you gotta kiss a lot of frogs. Though at this point you might have more luck with those amphibians that with your fellow bucks."- He usually said with his usual lopsided smirk and knowing eyes.

And while the logical part of her brain told her "Nick wouldn't laugh at you, not this time, he wouldn't be that cruel" The little bunny raised in the countryside still carried claw marks on her cheek and feared the snarky wit of the fox's silver tongue. For the time being she resigned to keep quiet about the whole thing until she could figure out what to do.

-"Tomorrow will be another day"- Judy sighed with the last sliver of hope she managed to retain.

Her reveries were interrupted by a loud tapping on her door; she shook in panic at the thought that behind that door Julien could be awaiting ready to continue his assault. Forcing once more the fear into the deepest recesses of her mind, Judy said with all the bravado a little bunny could feign.

-"Who is it?"- Judy said as she took a fighting stance, she was not going without a fight.

-"I got a present for you meter maid, it's an old cure for when your relationships go bust"- Bucky said loudly.

Groaning at the voice of her neighbor se tiredly opened the door and found the greater kudu holding a large bottle of cheap vodka.

-"Remember meter maid, when life gives you lemons just add vodka and ice"- Bucky said with a friendly smile. Judy thought that the four horses of the apocalypse would roam the earth before she could see her crazy neighbor do something kind for her, but then again, this night sure taught her that nothing and no one is as they seem.

With a shy smile she thanked him and glanced at the almost full bottle.

-"Lemons, vodka and ice it is then"- The bunny muttered with a cynical smirk

…..

To Judy's surprise, the awful screeching she heard was not the wailing of a monstrous creature but merely her alarm clock. Her heavy eyelids dragged themselves through her bloodshot eyes as she saw the half empty bottle of vodka in her table.

Her body begged her to stay in bed, to call in sick and sleep the awful hangover away. But her mind had made a plan last night, fuelled and empowered by the alcohol. She became a cop because she wanted to make the world a better place and because she had faith in the law, so the only logical thing to do was to act according to it. She would file a complaint against Julien and trust the legal system to bring justice to her cause, after all she had to take care not only of her dignity but of the other females Lapin could hurt if she stayed quiet.

So she dragged herself to the communal shower and put the temperature as cold as she could take it. The bunny still felt like a discarded piece of trash but at least she was now lucid. She did her best to look presentable and might have pulled it off if it wasn't for the awful swelling and reddening of her eyes, between the crying and the hangover her violet irises were now surrounded with tiny red blood vessels.

She grabbed the aviator sunglasses Nick had given her on her last birthday, they were supposed to be useful for patrolling in Sahara square but she found them perfect for hiding her torn eyes. With a sad sigh she placed them over her swollen face, wondering how long this could fool her coworkers.

Judy got early to the precinct, even more than usual since she chose to skip breakfast. The vodka had turned the bunny's stomach into an acid pit of doom and she feared that anything she put in there could cause a horrible toxic reaction. Tough this time instead of heading to the bullpen she went to the special victims unit to file her complaint and be done with it.

The SVU was separated from the rest of the precinct since they had a very different dynamic than the rest of the police, the officers were required to be professional but also very empathetic, and they had to be experienced as well with a minimum requirement of at least ten years in the force. Small mammals were in fact encouraged to join leaving the fearsome large predators to do work on the streets. Judy had in fact been considered a perfect fit for the unit, as her gentle non threatening presence could help a lot of victims open up about their problems.

She had considered joining them once she had the ten years of experience under her belt but Nick had advised her not to, even when he made clear he would support her decision if she chose to join anyway. "You wear your heart on your sleeve carrots, and more often than not the cases get to you. The SVU is for kind officers but they also need to put an emotional distance between them and their cases. You are too kind and sweet for that, the horrors you would face on a daily basis in that place would break your spirit within the first year". She remember it was one of the rare instances when her partner had dropped his sly fox grin and talked to her without hiding who he was, without a glint of sarcasm or snark. Sadness had crept into her soul again as she wondered if he had spoke out of personal experience, but before she could prove further he had made jokes and dodged the subject placing the mask of nonchalance on himself once more.

A female beaver receptionist greeted her with a gentle smile

-"May I help you officer?"- The small prey said helpful

-"I am here to file a complaint for attempt at sexual abuse"- she said as professionally as she could.

-"Very well officer, is the victim part of any of your cases? May I ask her name?"- The beaver said typing on her computer

-"Judy Hopps ma'am I am the victim"-

The beaver looked at the officer in front of her and noticed the bunny had removed her glasses and looked at her with the most damaged heartbreaking expression she had ever seen. Feigning calmness and keeping her composure she called the chief of the unit.

Ten minutes later she was called into the office of Chief Cassandra Mau, the cat was in charge of the SVU. Judy shook her hand and when the beautiful feline pointed at the chair in front of her desk the bunny took it, she was relieved it was smaller than the ones in chief Bogo's office.

It was refreshing to stare at a small pretty mammal instead at Bogo's towering figure, Chief Mau was a slender creature with rich chocolate colored fur and green eyes. She might be a predator but she was also adorable.

-"Very well officer Hopps, I regret to be informed that you came here to file a claim. Would you mind if I take your statement?"- The cat's eyes were kind and friendly, her voice sweet.

Judy steeled herself as the forced last night's event out of the back of her mind, she told the Chief all she remembered with as much detail as she could, even the part when she got drunk afterwards knowing it might make a denture in her claim but thinking honesty was the only way to make things right.

When Judy was done Chief Mau didn't bother to hide her defeat.

-"Officer Hopps…"-

-"Please call me Judy"-

-"Judy, what you just did is very brave and I give you my word we will do everything in our power to bring mister Lapin to justice"-

"I sense a but coming" The doe thought concerned.

-"But he is a celebrated district attorney and the son of an influential senator here in Zootopia. When this goes to trial, with all the influences he can pull and the gigantic resources both in money as in lawyers I must warn you that the stakes will not pile up on your favor. Both of you are well known by the press and the media circus this trial could cause would be, for lack of better words, carnage. Even if you do win the maximum penalty for attempted rape without severe injury is five years, most defendants don't even go to jail for more than one."-

Judy felt the world crumbling at her feet, she was poor and he was rich and that was enough reason for him to get away with anything he wanted. Her ears dropped and her eyes begun to water again.

-"So that's it? I shut up or he gets to push me around at the court?"-

Mau's paw rested on top of the bunny's

-"No Judy, there is another way. You are not the only one to file a claim against him, and sadly you are in fact the luckiest of them all since all the other bunnies could not fight him off. I in fact suspect there might be more victims who never came forward"-

-"He did the same to others?"- Judy said outraged, anger now replacing her grief.

Then the feline closed the blinds on her office and spoke in a lower voice. Her head hung low in shame and she spoke staring at the linoleum floor seemingly lost in her own thoughts

-"Officer Hopps, if I told you something in strict confidentiality would you promise not to tell anyone?"-

Judy nodded

-"Three years ago a bunny was murdered in a very gruesome way, her name was Natalia Skipter and she was working for the Lapin family. The few traces and evidence did not lead to a single suspect and the case went cold."- The cat's green eyes now turned into angry slits –"I suspect there was heavy tampering at the scene… something someone with big contacts in the law could achieve"-

-"You think Julien did it"- Judy deadpanned

-"We could never find any evidence against him and very soon my superiors ordered me to give more priority to other more "urgent" cases and as a fool, I complied. Now as you may know in the cases of sexual assault the file of the complaint and eventual prosecution depends mostly on the victim, so is her choice to file the complaint but also to drop it if she wants to. All the other bunnies that spoke up against him dropped the complaint in less than 24 hours after filing it and since it was their right to do so our hands were tied."- The cat lifted her gaze towards Judy and spoke in a grumbled scowl –"As of today, Julien Lapin's record is one hundred percent clean, not even a parking ticket"-

-"We can't let him get away with this"- The determined bunny stood up facing the cat.

Chief Mau gave her a lopsided smile –"Here is my plan, I'll personally handle your case and use it as an excuse to open Natalia's as well. He might get a slap on the wrist for attempt of sexual assault but not for murder, and we will keep quiet until I gather all the evidence necessary to convict him without leaving a doubt of his guilt. That way no amount of lawyers and connections will save him. Only when I have irrefutable evidence that he is guilty we'll take the case to the court. In the meantime, I'll need your help with the other victims see if you can convince them to come forward once more, he might had bullied them when they were alone and frail but if they are united he won't be able to sweep this under the rug anymore"-

The small bunny raised her chin and nodded solemnly, a wave of determination enveloped her and she told her in a confident tone

-"You can trust me Chief, we will bring him to justice"-

-"I'm glad you feel that way Judy. But there is something I need you to understand, right now our only weapon is the element of surprise and I'm afraid that in this precinct the walls have eyes and ears. You cannot tell anyone about this, not even your partner"-

The bunny shrugged defeated, she had her doubts about telling Nick anyway. Maybe it was best to keep her partner out of this, she knew it was irrational but deep down she felt ashamed at what had happened and feared he might be disappointed at her.

….

Chief Bogo sipped his coffee while looking at the balcony on the fourth floor where his office was, as always he went to work at least an hour early than any other officer. His precinct wasn't the most efficient and successful in all Zootopia because of sheer luck, he ran a tight ship and it was his duty to make sure all things worked like clockwork.

His morning routine was somewhat shaken when he saw Chief Mau crossing the main hall, she seemed to be heading towards the storage unit where cold cases were kept, her posture was rigid and her tail lashed wildly. He wondered why would she go there herself instead of sending an assistant to do it, he was later struck with an educated guess. There was perhaps only one case that would drag Mau from her office, a sour twist formed in his muzzle, Lapin had struck again.

He couldn't help envying her iron integrity, he had heard about Lapin's alleged wrongdoings but he respected his superiors too much to defy them when they told him everything was a lie. He chose to believe those small does that accused the DA where merely trying to get money out of a wealthy and respected family name as his. Mau bowed her head to the pressures of political machinations as well but she was brave and strong enough to recognize that it was wrong to look away and as time passed, she never chose to put her weakness behind her. Bogo knew that one way or another, she would right her wrong. Which was a much more dignified course of action than the one he took, pretending it never happened.

Deep down he knew the DA was guilty; you can only ignore the claims of violated does for so long before it becomes clear that the Lapin family might have more skeletons in its closet than Zootopia's cemetery. The water buffalo had been so wrapped up in his self loathing he didn't notice how long had been observing the graceful way in which the cat walked, her chocolate fur shone with the fluorescent light and no matter how conservative her blue uniform was her sensuality made it look like those heavy blue rags were worth a million dollars.

With a low growl he turned on his heels and locked himself in his office, disgusted at his perverted brain for entertaining such notions for a cat. Lusting for someone of a different species was wrong in every way imaginable. Interspecies relationships were illegal, punishable with at least one year in a mental rehabilitation facility since it was also considered a mental illness. This was especially true in relationships between predators and preys or in species that were very different from each other. Some mammals can get away with it if they are similar enough, like a zebra and a horse, but even they faced a ton of prejudice on a daily basis.

Bogo knew many mammals hid their interspecies fetish on underground (and very illegal) circuits, but it wasn't that he wanted to mate with cats in general, he merely felt affection for Mau and no one else. Banging his hoof over his desk he muttered to himself –"You are NOT a preddo, now get over yourself and get to work"-

…..

Nick Wilde was typing on his phone while sitting in the bullpen; he was surprised Judy wasn't beside him. Usually the perky little bunny came to the precinct much earlier than he did, unless they got together for breakfast at the Snarlbucks crossing the street.

{Hey carrots where are you?} He had typed fifteen minutes ago, and there was no response.

{You okay?} He sent another text, now he was getting worried.

-"Jeez look at Hopps over there"- Delgato said behind him.

Nick turned his head to the main door where Judy had just entered, instead of her usual bouncy gait she was walking like her legs were made of lead and it took so much effort for her to sit in the oversized chair he actually had to help her up.

-"Hey Nick"- She told him with the fakest smile he had ever seen on her, a rare feat since she was usually the eternal optimistic of the duo. She was wearing aviator sunglasses in a lame effort to conceal the fact that her face looked like someone had dragged her through hell and back.

-"Are you all right carrots? What the hell happened to you?"-

-"Ugh I just got a pretty bad hangover, I stayed up late last night drinking with my neighbors"-

-"What? But you don't even like those guys"- Nick couldn't believe his ears. Judy was not interested in drinking and only did it in a few social occasions, mostly out of peer pressure and of all mammals in Zootopia her loud neighbors were the least likely for her to hang out with.

-"Nah, once you get to know them they're alright."- She made a dismissing wave with her hand before putting her front paws at the edge of her desk and laying her forehead on top of them. She was clearly fighting a new wave of nausea. Nick smelled her breath, she wasn't drunk anymore but he detected a bitter, almost poisonous hint coming from her pores.

-"Now if I may ask officer alky what the hell did you drink? Was it gasoline?"- He said outraged, usually he was the irresponsible one and he would never come to work with more alcohol than blood on his veins.

-"Vodka"- She said not lifting her head from the desk.

The fox' eyes widened, he had seen her get tipsy with a single glass of beer even a small gulp of vodka would probably knock her out. Bunnies are not only small but their metabolism doesn't mingle well with alcohol.

-"And how much did you drink?"- He was becoming more concerned about her health with every passing minute.

She lifted her head and looked at the ceiling, her front paws moved her fingers as if she were counting –"Abouuut… 300 milliliters? Mayyybe half a bottle"-

-"What?!"- Nick said incredously, even Delgato and Fangmayer lifted their eyebrows when they heard her.

-"Wow you are not such a lightweight with you booze after all Hopps"- Fangmayer told her with respect, he even gave her a fist bump which she gladly accepted.

The fox did not think it was funny, something was horribly wrong with Judy and he knew it couldn't be just the remnants of the vodka in her system. Her eyes were not only red they were swollen; the dark veneer of her sunglasses could not shield that from his acute sight. Her smile might have fooled the other officers but to him the effort she put in maintaining it was cringe worthy. His observational skills were put into overdrive looking for extra clues, a shiver went down his spine when he noticed tiny almost imperceptible scars and swelling on her front paws consistent with defensive wounds along with more swelling and a blue tinge near her right ear, clear sign of a large bruise at the side of her face barely hidden by her gray fur.

"Carrots what the hell have you gotten yourself into?"