Author's Note: The first four chapters are of Nick's first day at the ZPD, and for the sake of accuracy, I have taken a few lines and scenes directly from the movie. I do not own the characters or the lines from those scenes. Zootopia fans will recognize them quickly. Please understand that it is not my intent to plagiarize, I merely wanted this fanfic to take place where the movie left off and some overlap was necessary. Please enjoy.

"First day! Are you excited?" Judy asked outside precinct one. Her paws were clasped before her and she was bouncing on her toes, summoning all her willpower to keep from hopping around like a hyperactive child.

Nick adjusted his tie and aviators and admired his reflection in in the tinted window of a parked car. He had to admit, he looked awfully good in a uniform. His red fur was slicked back neatly and his pants and shirt were fitted and pressed. He even tucked in his shirt and had his tie pulled all the way up to his neck. He looked like a real cop, and not one of those flabby, doughnut guzzling cops, but like a cop who could take down any perpetrator no matter the size. In fact, Nick felt like he could probably could stop a charging rhino if he wanted to. He was in the best shape of his life since coming out of the ZPD academy. He imagined pulling over a convertible full of luscious vixens and stepping out of one of the oversized cruisers and causing a scene. He could get an awful lot of phone numbers with this get up.

"Ni-i-i-ick!" His new partner yanked on his sleeve towards the building. "I asked if you were excited."

"I heard ya, Carrots, and I think you're excited enough for the both of us," he replied as they stepped through the building.

Inside there was already a flurry of activity despite the early hour. Mammals of all sorts were passing through the spacious reception hall as Judy lead Nick on a quick tour of the building. He didn't have the heart to tell her that he had already been here and had completely scoped out the large building. He familiarized himself with the locations of important rooms, bathrooms and acceptable hiding spots and exit strategies. Despite trying to turn over a new leaf, he still couldn't shake the feeling that he didn't belong in this place. It was as if at any moment someone would come out from behind a door and tell him that there was some mistake and he should have never received his badge.

After a short walk, they made their way to the bullpen with a few minutes to spare. Nick glanced at the other officers in the room. He saw lions, proud and virtuous, wolves, loyal and fierce, rhinos, stubborn and brave, and elephants, strong and wise. All animals, both predator and prey, were creatures known for their positive virtues plus the one quick, sneaky fox. Doubt grew heavy in his belly and he was further irritated that there were no smaller chairs, increasing his feeling that he did not belong in a place like this. His mood brightened when Judy hopped up into a giant chair and patted the space next to her eagerly, inviting him to share the space. He wondered if she felt the same way when she first joined the force.

"Ready to make the world a better place?" She shrugged her shoulders in glee and flashed the fox a buck-toothed grin as he climbed up into the tall chair. Her delight was infectious and he could feel a glimmer of hope replace his doubt that had been rising like a specter.

After a loud alerting yell, a series of thumps and hoots erupted from the animals as the door opened and Chief Bogo stepped through the door. He silenced them all with a single shout as he adjusted his papers.

"We have some new recruits with us this morning, including our first fox" he called motioning towards Nick. The fox was pleasantly surprised that the large grazer had acknowledged him, especially after his brief meeting with him many months ago, and the stories that Judy shared. The Chief then turned to his clip board and continued, "Who cares?"

"Ha! You should have your own line of inspirational greeting cards, Sir," Nick's quick wit threw the words out of his mouth before good sense had the chance to stop them. A few chuckles followed his joke and Nick decided that maybe he could fit in with the other officers, even if only through his charm than an actual talent for law enforcement. This wasn't to say that he thought he would be a bad cop. With a little forward advice from his bunny buddy, Nick began training both his mind and body early and could graduate with superb marks, missing valedictorian by a few scare points. His background provided him with a unique perspective into the criminal mind which had already proven useful on the infamous night howler case. By all respects, he had the makings of a potentially great cop, especially partnered with someone like Judy who was being praised as one of the most driven and successful rookie cops the ZPD had ever seen. And yet, he couldn't shake the voice in the back of his mind that kept telling him that he didn't have what it took to be a good cop.

The chief passed out assignments, jokingly giving the smallest cops parking duty before announcing their actual case; patrol duty while looking for a speedster down in Savannah Central. The two animals made their way towards the garage, relieved. Judy lead Nick to their assigned cruiser and he froze in his tracks at the size of the monster vehicle.

"That's not our car, right Carrots?"

"No, it's MY car. While you were off taking tests and running laps, I was here keeping busy and gaining ranks. This beauty has been modified specifically for me," Judy explained with pride as she opened the driver side door and showed Nick the extra high seat and modified pedals while shaking a set of keys.

"I wanna drive it," Nick whispered, his jaw hung open with envy.

"No way! Senior officer sets the rules of the car and this is my baby," she bragged as she leapt into the driver's seat.

"Ah, Carrots! You must let me drive it sometime. Please?"

"Get in the car rookie." She turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life. "Hey, if you're lucky, I might let you work the siren."

Nick rolled his eyes and climbed into the passenger side, tail wagging behind him. The streets looked different from high up in the cab of the monster machine. As they drove out into the sun, the fox threw on his shades and gazed out the window. From the corner of her eye she could see his conman blank face, but from her angle she could also see his eyes behind his shades and she swore she could see a certain sparkle to them.

The morning was peaceful and the two animals wasted their first hour of the day cruising up and down the street laughing and joking. Nick was enjoying the relaxing morning when the inboard computer began flashing the code 11-82 with an address. He looked to his partner who gave him a nod and he typed a few lines on the computer to confirm that they were on the case. A navigation screen popped up leading Judy to the location of the traffic accident that had been reported. When they arrived on the scene they could see the metallic carnage as a green compact car had its nose smashed into the rear wheel hub of a rusted gray pickup. A bull and a coyote were speaking with each other, presumably the drivers of the vehicles, in an irritable manner until they spotted the cruiser pull up. The bull gave a relieved sigh until he saw the animals that came out of the giant vehicle.

"What the fuck is this? I thought I called for the cops to come? Not the fucking safety patrol!"

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to watch your language as you tell us what happened," Judy commanded calmly in her policing tone of voice.

"Ha, no. Not until we get some real cops over here, not a couple of stuffed animals," The bull huffed. Nick looked sideways to his partner as she gave a tired sigh. After all the press coverage of the night howler case, he would have thought people would be giving Judy all the respect in the world. Could people have forgotten about the famous rookie hero already?

"Sir, we are real cops and we can either take an accident report here or at the precinct, your choice," she responded, her foot tapping against the asphalt.

"Uh, I can tell you what happened," the coyote barely spoke above a whisper, his tail was pressed tight against the inside of his thigh and his ears were pinned back. His posture was a classic canine signal of subservience as he glanced nervously between the cops and the raging bull. "I-I was driving along when he turned out of the alley. I couldn't stop in time."

"Yeah, because you were driving like a fucking maniac! How else could you not see me. Don't listen to that trickster," the bull roared, his hooves flailed as he spoke. Nick raised an eyebrow at the turn of phrase used by the bull. It was considered archaic insult to call an animal a trickster, but many mammals, like foxes and coyotes still held the reputation.

"I wasn't going that fast. I was stopped at that sign over there. There's no way I could pick up that much speed," the coyote wrung his paws together as he spoke.

"Alright," The bull was about to start yelling when Judy cut him off, "I've heard enough. Let's get a license and registration from both of you, my partner and I will go start filing the reports and call the tow in." The bull thrust his papers towards the rabbit in a huff while Nick took the coyote's papers. He gave the frightened canine an assuring smile before he turned back to the cruiser with his partner.

"Ok, Rookie, so what do you make of the scene?" Judy asked in the car as she began looking up the drivers' information. It was a common tactic that new recruits were quizzed constantly to make sure that they were competently trained. "Let's see what you've got."

Nick scoffed, "The bull is obviously at fault. You can tell by the positioning of the cars. He cut off the other driver, who couldn't stop in time, just like he said."

"Ok, what else?"

"What else? The bull was trying to use his size to bully his way out of a ticket but it's an open and shut case. What else is there?" Nick gave the rabbit a perplexed look.

"I shouldn't have to tell an ex-'entrepreneur' to work the angles," she pointed up and it took Nick a moment to recognize that she was pointing at a surveillance camera set high on a telephone pole. "That's one of ours. Let's see what it can show us, hmm?" She logged into the city camera system and found the data of the camera that was currently pointed towards them. The cops leaned in close together as Judy moved the video location to the time of the crash. The camera pointed at the nearby intersection and they saw the green compact car soar through the stop sign in full color. It wasn't possible to tell the coyote's exact speed, but they were both sure it was well over the 30-mph limit by at least double.

"Well, look at that, he really had me convinced. You know, Carrots, you would actually make a pretty good hustler," Nick leaned back impressed.

"Ugh, how dare you," Judy laughed, remembering the time she had told him something similar. "Could you imagine us in reversed roles?" Nick did imagine it for a moment, and the thought of himself as a determined, perky, naive rookie, trying to coerce a cynical, sneaky rabbit was just ridiculous.

"OK, so what do we do about Rocky and Bullwinkle out there, now that we know the accident wasn't the bull's fault," Nick asked.

"Just watch," Judy replied with a wink as she printed out a few slips of paper. Nick followed her as she went to the bull first.

"Ok, Sirs. I've got the tow trucks coming. Mr. Holstein, unfortunately the lane was not yours to take so I will be issuing a small citation. Consider it a warning," Judy explained in her cop voice. Nick noticed a small smirk from the coyote. "And as for you Mr. Nizhoni," Judy continued, "Speeding, reckless driving and running through a stop sign all caught on candid camera. Good luck contesting this in court."

The coyote's ears drooped as he took the several citations from the bunny cop. He stared at the papers in shock for a moment before he crinkled them up. His meek face wrinkled in fury and the fur on his back raised up before he glanced back at Judy.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Nizhoni growled viciously. The muscles in his face twitched, and sensing danger, Nick took a single step between the angry canine and his senior partner.

"You know, baring your teeth at an officer is considered resisting an executive officer, which can result in jail time of up to one year and fines of $10,000, so I would watch that temper if I were you, friend," Nick spoke while glaring at the coyote from over his glasses. His ears were laid back and his expression was daring the slightly larger canine to try anything. The coyote glared at him before he turned and punched the air as he walked away. Nick smiled to himself, proud of the way he handled his first confrontation and its results even though his heart was racing. He looked to his partner and she gave him an approving nod. Maybe he could do this whole cop thing.

With the coyote's true nature revealed and the bull's previous outbursts, the duo decided to stick around until the tow trucks showed up about ten minutes later. Judy relaxed in the seat of the giant cruiser with a sigh and looked over to her partner. He got the strange feeling that he had done something wrong but he couldn't place his claw on it.

"Hey, Nick. That was sweet how you stepped in front of that coyote for me, and you handled yourself well, but please don't do it again," she gave him a hurt expression which only caused confusion on his part.

"I don't understand," he admitted.

"I know, that's why I'm bringing it up," she sighed as she searched for the right words. "We are both cops now. We went through the same training, we are in the same position, and aside from a small amount of seniority, you and I are equals. You wouldn't stand between a dangerous perpetrator and Fangmeyer or Delgato or even McHorn. I don't know if it is because we're friends, or because I'm a bunny or even if it's because I'm a female, but I don't want to be treated differently from the other officers. I can take care of myself and, even if I'm in a position where I can't, I don't want you putting yourself in danger for me. Ok?" She looked up at her partner with big sad eyes and Nick suddenly felt like a heel.

"So, you don't want me to have your back?"

She smiled. "No, you watch my back and I'll watch yours. I just don't want you watching my back and front and sides. You'll never be able to watch over yourself that way. I don't want you ever taking a bullet for me."

"Alright Fluff. I get it. A strong, independent doe such as yourself doesn't need some valiant, handsome tod, like me, taking care of you. You're just one of the males," Nick smiled. He wasn't sure if Judy could ever be 'just one of the males' to him but he could certainly fake it while on duty.

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed chapter 1 of Bad Decisions. This story is rate M for strong language (as you saw), violence and sex. This story is not going to be for the faint of heart (I'm looking at you rabid WildeHopps shippers) but I hope you will enjoy it and stick with me none the less. I will be updating every third day.