Disclaimer: I do not own Zootopia or any of its characters, they all belong to Disney.

It's Just Going to Be One of Those Days

Nick looked at his bunny and smiled. Then he reached over and patted her leg. She giggled and his hand traveled, seeming of its own volition, up her to thigh.

"Stop that!" she said and smacked his hand, but she still giggled.

"You didn't seem to mind too much last night," he said and grinned, remembering.

Then he gave her leg a little squeeze. Judy's ears turned a bright cheery red and she smacked his roving hand again, but this time with a bit more emphasis.

"Nick!" she said sharply and pulled his hand away, shaking it and feigning injury. Judy sighed and rolled her eyes. "Naughty old Fox."

Then he shifted his attention back at the road and a few seconds later the light changed. The car in front of him moved forward about a car length and then slammed on its brakes. Nick did the same and stopped with only a couple of feet to spare, but the car behind him didn't. He felt the bump from behind push him back into his car seat and then a moment later he felt another bump as his car was pushed forward into the one in front, flinging him into his seatbelt. He turned and looked at his bunny.

"Judy, are you OK!?"

"When I get hold of the dumbass who rear ended us I'm going to..."

His eyebrows went up in surprise. He didn't even know Judy knew those particular words and he'd never heard her swear before ever! At least he knew that she was OK. God, he just hoped she'd never get that mad at him!

"Judy," he said, stretching out her name.

"What!" he shouted, fiery purple eyes meeting his green ones. Then her face softened and she sighed. "Sorry Nick."

"It's OK," he said and reached over to pull her close. "I'm just glad you weren't hurt."

She kissed him and a few seconds later they were interrupted by a Skunk pounding on the window. He opened the door and could already smell her musk.

"You hit me!"

"Sorry, but..." he began and looked into her violet eyes, his going wide.

"Nicholas P. Wilde!" she said and hugged him.

"Violet!" he said and returned the hug.

He smiled, remembering some of the good old days. Then he heard a certain Rabbit clear her throat!

"Nick."

"Judy, this is Violet," he said and turned to his bunny. "She's an old friend."

"Really," she said and looked at her. "And somehow I just thought you hugged every female Skunk you meet."

"Who the devil rear ended us?" Violet said and Judy turned to look at the car behind them.

Nick looked into the Skunk's eyes and mouthed the words 'thank you.' Violet winked and looked passed him. Then she frowned.

"Stupid Water Buffalo!"

Nick turned and followed her gaze. Then he burst out laughing.

Roll call was quiet affair that morning. Everyone listened intently, afraid if they tried any of their usual antics someone and then everyone would break up and Bogo would know exactly what they were laughing about. No one wanted to tempt fate and then have to suffer the preverbal consequences.

Violet had called 911 before she'd gotten out of her car and Fangmeyer and Wolford had pulled up five minutes later. The Tigeress first looked at the cars and then called in for two more units to help with traffic control.

"Nick, Chief," she said and then looked at the Skunk.

"That's Violet," he said and she leaned against him. "She's an old friend and hers is the one in front."

They all heard a certain Rabbit's growl and the Skunk wisely eased away from the Fox.

"And that's your car in the middle," Fangmeyer said and the Fox nodded. Then she looked at the third driver. "License, registration, and proof of insurance."

The Tigress made it sound like he was going to need it. They each handed over the requested documents and only afterwards did Nick notice that Judy was showing Wolford something on her phone. He walked over just as his bunny started the video for the second time.

"Nick looks like that dashcam's really paid off," she said as the rear facing camera showed Chief Bogo. "Aren't you glad you got the full package?"

"Yes, I am," he said and watched the video. "It was a good suggestion and you're a clever bunny." She grinned and he moved closer to better see the small screen. "What is Bogo doing?"

"He watching Gazelle on his phone," she said and he saw her ears angled toward the phone.

I didn't know they were that good, he thought, only hearing street noises coming from the video. I need to be a lot more careful.

His phone rested on the steering wheel and the Water Buffalo was swaying to the music. Then someone honked from behind and his car started to roll forward. He only looked back at the phone for a few seconds and then plowed into Nick's car. Judy replayed it again and then they all burst out laughing.

Fangmeyer's ears came up and she looked at the trio. Then she walked over and Judy handed her the phone. She hit play and a few seconds later one eyebrow went up. When it finished she looked over at Bogo and a hint of a smile crossed her face. Then she walked over to the Water Buffalo with Judy's phone still in hand.

Nick had never seen the bullpen empty out quite so fast. He heard a bit of laughter from some of the others as they crossed the parking lot to their cruiser and had to chuckle himself. He got in on the passenger's side, buckled up, and then looked at his bunny. Then they both burst out laughing.

"Did you see the look on Bogo's face when Fangmeyer gave him that ticket for distracted driving?" Judy asked, still holding her sides.

"Oh God yes!" he said and laughed. "Please no more! Oh God! Let's get going."

Judy pulled out of the parking lot as careful as always and got onto the freeway. Just as they exited near the train station they heard a noise, their cruiser began to shake, and started to pull to the right. Judy pulled into the next parking lot and they both heard a whistling. They got out and followed the noise to its source. The front passenger side's tire was going flat.

"Don't say a word," Judy said and glared at her Fox.

Nick threw up his hands.

"Judy, this can happened to anyone," he said and grinned. "It's not like you rear ended someone."

They looked at each other and started to laugh again.

"We'd better call this in," she said between giggles.

Forty-five minutes later a maintenance truck arrived with the new tire. The Wolf jacked up their cruiser, took off the old one, and went to get the new tire. He pulled out the new one and dropped it on the asphalt. It was flat too. He quickly examined it and found nothing obvious.

"It was OK when I left," the Wolf said and tossed back in his truck. "Don't worry! I'll call'em now and have'em have a new one ready by the time I get back. I'll hurry and get back as soon as I can!" An hour later he returned and mounted the new tire. "Looks good! You're ready to go!"

"Thanks," Nick said and shook the Wolf's hand.

They got back on the road and started their patrol only a just bit over two hours late.

The next hour was rather boring. They just cruised around their patrol area and gave out a few tickets for minor infractions. Soon enough it became time for lunch and they decided to check out a new restaurant at the railroad station. Judy pulled up at an intersection just as the light turned yellow and a moment later heard the squeal of tires. They braced themselves, but nothing happened except a cloud of blue smoke drifted by. Nick saw his bunny's face darken.

"Judy, please take a breath," he said and she exhaled.

Then she inhaled, all the while looking in the rear view mirror and watching the teenage Deer hide her phone. She smiled and opened the car door. Nick got out too and watched his determined bunny, marching toward the other car with her ticket book in hand. He had to smile, almost feeling sorry for the other driver.

"License, registration, and proof of insurance."

"I didn't even hit your car!"

"You were on your phone," she said, looking the Deer in the eye, "and you might remember starting at the beginning of this month that it's now considered distracted driving."

"I was not!"

"Ready," she said and smiled. "Since there's only one Deer in your car and I watched a Deer hide a phone you're getting a ticket. By the way all police cruisers have dash cams."

Of course she failed to mention that none of them had the rear facing cameras because the city was too cheap to buy them.

"OK, just write me the damn ticket!" the Deer snarled. "I'm in a hurry!"

Judy looked at her Fox and they both smiled. Then she turned back to the Deer.

"Let me tell you about dangers of distracted driving," Judy began.

They walked around for a while, looking in various shops and arrived at the restaurant in a fairly good mood until they met a certain Deer on the way out. They recognized each other immediately.

"I lost my job because of you!" she yelled. "You dumb bunny!"

"Just ignore her," Nick said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Come on."

He led her to the restaurant and where they were met by the hostess.

"Sorry about that," the Jaguar said, looking at the Deer's retreating figure. "I'm glad they fired her. She was a pain the butt. Come on and let's find you a good table."

The meal had been excellent and the hostess had even gotten the manager to knock off ten percent after telling him about their altercation with the ex-waitress.

"You doing OK," he asked his bunny.

"Yea," she said and smiled.

He looked around, seeing no one, and gave her a hug.

"Stop it," she said and giggled. "Someone will see."

"Someone already has," came a familiar voice and the pair whirled around.

The Deer stood there with a thick two foot long fighting stick in each hand.

"You're under arrest!" Judy said and the Deer laughed.

"Too bad that police officers in Zootopia don't carry weapons," she said and expertly twirled her fighting sticks. "Why don't just come and try to arrest me." She chuckled and advanced on them, still twirling her fighting sticks. "This is going to be fun!"

They just stared at each other for a while and the Deer's smile grew wider.

Judy pulled out her phone and the Deer was on her in a flash. A moment later the phone lay on the ground smashed and Judy was shaking her hand and flexing her fingers.

"That was just a love tap," she said and grinned. "Just wait till I really get started."

In the mean time Nick's finger just hit dial when felt himself being shoved aside by someone larger and taller.

"So what do we have here," the Gazelle said.

"Who the hell are you?!" the Deer said, taking up a fighting stance.

"Maria?!" Judy said surprised.

"Today I'm going to be your martial arts instructor," she said and smiled.

Then she reached up and twisted off her two foot long horns. She twirled them in her hands and then licked the tips. She grinned and the Deer took a step back.

"Maria," Judy said, "what are you doin' here?"

"Just saving that little fluffy white tail of yours," she said and winked. "Oh and that scruffy old Fox of yours too."

"Who's scruffy!"

"Shut up, Nick!" they said simultaneously.

"Now let's just take care of this little problem," she said and raised her horns, the sharp tips glinting in the sunlight.

The Deer's eyes when wide and she took another step back. Then she turned and ran. Maria reared back and threw a lead filled horn. A few seconds later it struck the back of the Deer's hear, sending her sprawling. Maria was already moving and as the Deer tried to rise she used her other horn to knock her out. Then she retrieved her fallen horn and put them both back in place.

"Fluff, you have some interesting friends," Nick said as the doctor examined his bunny's hand.

The Gazelle stared at the Fox with her hands on her hips. Nick looked at her horns and gulped.

"Thank you," the Gazelle said pleasantly and then looked at the doctor. "Doctor, how's Judy?"

"Nothin's broke, but her hand's gonna be swollen and sore for a few days," he said and then wrote out a note. "Give this your supervisor and you'll be excused from work for a week. Then at the end of the week come back and see me. Please see my nurse to setup an appointment on your way out."

"Thanks," Judy said and smiled.

"I'll give you a lift back to Precinct One," Maria said and led them to her waiting limousine.

"I've always wanted to see this place," Maria said as she held open the door for her friends. She stopped just inside and looked around until her eyes came to rest on Ben. "Judy, it's like you described right down to every detail."

She smiled at handsome Cheetah and finally caught his eye. Ben stared for a moment and his mouth dropped open. She sashayed over to the Cheetah who'd come out from behind his desk and smiled.

"You must be Ben," she said, giving him her best coy look. "Judy's told me so much about you."

"You know Gazelle!" he blurted out, looking at the Rabbit astonished.

"We were college roommates," Judy said.

"We've spent some time together lately and spoke about many things," she said and grinned at Ben, "like certain naughty Foxes," she winked at Nick, "being a police officer," she looked a Judy and her swollen hand, "handsome Cheetahs," then she hugged Ben, "and annoying Water Buffalos." She saw Chief Bogo coming their way as she looked over Ben's shoulder.

"Clawhauser!" he bellowed and Ben jumped. "Wilde, Hopps my office now!"

"Chief Bogo," Maria said and grinned. "Isn't there a ticket you ought to be paying?" The Water Buffalo glared at her and then looked at the Rabbit and Fox. "They didn't tell me. It's all over social media now." She released Ben, but still leaned against him. She pulled out her phone and with a few taps brought up the story. Then she held it out toward Bogo for a few seconds and saw his eyes go wide. Then she tapped on the screen again and chuckled. "I wonder what the Mayor will think."

No one said and anything until Ben's phone rang ten seconds later. Out of habit he reached back and snagged it. Then he brought it to his ear, listened for a few seconds, and looked at his superior.

"The Mayor wants to speak to you," Ben said and cringed under the Water Buffalo's glare.

The Gazelle grinned at the Water Buffalo.

"My office!"

Bogo turned and stomped off. Ben spoke for a few seconds more and then hit the transfer button. Maria laughed loudly and they saw Bogo stop and begin to turn. Then he thought better of it and continued on toward his office.

While Judy showed Maria around the station Nick hung out with Ben. Being near the end of shift Ben's relief showed up a bit early.

"Go ahead and take off," the Bear said and gently pushed the Cheetah out of his seat.

"It's too early!" Ben protested.

"Only ten minutes," he said and smiled. "Go on and keep Nick out of trouble."

"Hey!" the Fox said with mock indignation.

The Bear chuckled as the two walked toward the locker room. Nick pushed the door open, got out his street clothes, and began to change. Ben did the same, but Nick noticed that he stood behind his locker's door. He smiled.

"Hey Ben!" he said and noticed Ben jump. "I think Gazelle likes you."

"That's impossible!" he said, unthinkingly stepping around the door in only his underwear. Nick looked at the Cheetah from head to toe and smiled again. Ben blushed and stepped back behind the door. "I'm a Cheetah and she's Gazelle!"

"And I'm a Fox and Judy's a Rabbit," he said and raised an eyebrow. "And Ben you look quite different since you lost the weight."

"Judy was quite persistent."

"Yea, tell me something I don't know," he said and they both laughed.

"You really think Gazelle likes me?!"

"Sounds like Judy told her a lot about work and more specifically a lot about you."

Ben smiled and then finished dressing.

"Nick, I found something," he said just as Nick shut his locker.

"What kind of something?"

"We were cleaning out the basement and I found an old book," he said and pulled it out of his locker.

Nick walked over and took it from him. When he opened it his eyebrows went up and he smiled at the Cheetah.

"Nick, just what's so interesting?" Judy asked, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You've been looking at that book since we got home."

Nick tried to quickly close it.

"Let me see," she said, reaching around him, getting a finger between the pages, and holding it open.

"Judy, it's just stuff from work," he said and tried to close the book again.

Judy pulled herself up and peeked over his shoulder. Then her ears turned red.

"So when did pictures of naked vixens become work related?!"

She let go and then stomped off.

"Judy!" he said and followed her into their bedroom. "Judy."

She lay on the bed with her face in a pillow.

"Just go away and look at your naked vixens!"

"Judy, there not naked," he said in a quiet even voice.

"But I..." she began and sat up to face him.

He handed her the book already opened to the same page. Judy looked closer and the vixens weren't naked, but they weren't wearing very much.

"Judy, look at the heading," he said and pointed to the top of page. It read: Foxtown Beauty Pageant 1969. Then he pointed to one particular vixen. "That's Catherine, my mother. I think she was around eighteen at the time."

She remembered the story he told her on the Skytram and then looked at him.

"Nick, I'm sorry!" she said and touched his arm. "I just jumped to conclusions."

He smiled at his Bunny.

"Catherine going to just love this old scrapbook when I give it to her next Sunday," he said and saw his bunny wince, remembering she'd invited them over after church for Sunday dinner. "There more pictures of her in here too and other animals I remember."

"Oh Nick!" she said and buried her face in his chest.

He smiled and hugged his bunny.

"Judy, I want to tell you something," he said and held her away so he could look into her eyes. "I love you!"

"Oh Nick!" she said and her eyes became watery.

He smiled again and sighed.

"Now don't start that," he said as a tear rolled down her cheek.

He took out a handkerchief and wiped her eyes.

"Violet was an old friend and I like her," he said and smiled, "but she was only a friend. In the past I've had other female friends and once and only once I thought I was in love."

"What was she like?!"

"She was a beautiful vixen and I thought I loved her," he said and shook his head. "Remembering I saw all the signs, but I ignored them. I guess I wasn't thinking with my head, but with my... well I wasn't thinking." Judy fell back and the bed and laughed. "It wasn't that funny!"

Then he pounced on her and began to tickle her mercilessly. Later they lay next to each other breathing hard, their clothes scattered about the room. Then he rolled out of bed in search of his pants.

"Judy, I have something for you."

She sat up and he dropped to one knee. Then he held out an open velvet box.

"Judy, would you marry me?"

She took the box, smiled, and then put the engagement ring on her finger. Then she dragged him back to bed. It's just going to be one of those days, he thought and smiled.