"Just like us"

They were both in front of an old home.

Judy received a call from a residence who had reported of having some of their items stolen. She and Nick came right away to the old Victorian home. Nick had his paws in his pockets, with a bored expression on his face as they walked along the cobble stone path up the the porch.

"What a lovely home." Judy sighed, admiring the old architecture. "I can't believe that the owner was a victim of a robbery, it looks like such a nice neighborhood." She said watching kids play in their front lawn, being watched over by their parents. Nick had his finger in his ear, taking out some built up wax, half listening.

"White picket fence, cheery families, seems too good to be true..."

"You think?" She asked, glancing back at him while she walked up the wooden stairs. "This might have been some random robbery..."

She knocked on the door. Nick stood beside her holding sleepy gaze. "I don't trust people who don't have a dark side."he smirked.

"Hush." She whispered harshly, hearing footsteps inside. "And don't be so quick to judge, I think it would be nice to live here."

She held a polite smile as the door open. Inside there was an old black fox, with blue eyes. His whiskers were white from age but he stood a few inches taller than Nick. The sudden height of the old fox made Nick lower his ears and shrunk from his steely gaze.

"You the cops?" grunted the black fox, straightening the cuffs of his white long sleeve shirt. He had on a pair of brown slacks with black suspenders. Making Judy think he must have been a detective in his youth.

"Yes." answered Judy sternly. "Are you Mr. DeClawe?"

"Sure am, short-stack." He replied. Judy continued to hold her polite smile, ignoring the rude comment. Nick snickered slightly from the turmoil roaring inside her.

"And who's this?" Mr. DeClawe asked turning his attention towards Nick and noticed his green Hawaiian shirt. He let out a slight laugh. "Did you lose a bet or got lost in the clearance aisle?"Judy held back a laugh as Nick's eyes narrowed in a glare. The old fox scratched the back of his neck. "Guess I should show you inside and tell you what's what."

He stood aside, letting them both in. He lead them into the living room. Inside Nick noticed that the living room was filled with white doilies in every flat surface. He strolled up to one small table that held a long floral pattern of one, with a glass vase on top. In the living room there was a grand piano, he could tell it was old because the keys were made out of real ivory.

"You a music lover, Mr. DeClawe?" He asked leaning against the wooden frame. The old fox took a seat on his brown couch, placing one leg over the other.

"Nah, ain't got the talent..." He turned towards Judy who took a seat on a wooden chair. Nick raised a brow at the fox's choice of words but he soon put it aside once Judy began asking him questions.

"Let's start at the beginning, what time did you notice that you have been robbed?"

"The punks came in the middle of night, had to chase them off with old reliable here." He said nonchalantly, he leaned over off the side of the couch and took a hold of a handgun. Judy's eyes widen as Nick put out his hands.

"Whoa! Put that away you old cook!" He exclaimed.

"Nick!" Judy said through her teeth, she didn't want to offend the old fox but at the same time, she wasn't even sure if he should be around a firearm in his age.

"Calm down." Mr. DeClawe said. "It's not even loaded, I'm not some fool." He placed the firearm on the table beside him. "I chased two animals out of my house with that but they managed to run off, but not before they bust up the picture frames I had hanging in this room."

Nick eyes wandered around the room and noticed that on the right wall, just above the fireplace, nails empty from their portraits. He counted that ten portraits once hanged there.

"Did they take anything?" She asked. The old fox let out a frustrated sigh.

"Just some money I had in a jar, I was saving it for a rainy day. I had about 200 bucks there."

"Why would someone go to the trouble into smashing your picture frames?" Judy asked.

The questioned seemed to make the black fox turn uneasy. He bit the inside of his cheek, almost not wanting to say. "Mr. DeClawe?...you know we're here to help, you can trust us." She smiled gently, making him relax slightly. He leaned forward, letting out a deflated sigh.

"Alright, guess I should come clean than..." He said with his shoulders slump. "You seem like a nice girl...not sure about that show-off over there though." Nick eyes lowered again. "But I suppose I could tell ya."

The black fox looked down at his paws. "I...I am married, to a beautiful and most wonderful women I had ever meet, when we were young, we faced...problems."

"What type of problems?"

"...animals back then didn't really "supported" the love we had for each other." He said in a very low voice, almost trying to keep out anyone who was trying to hear into their conversation.

"I...I don't understand."

"The thing is, I think the animals who came last night are the same type of animals who don't support our lifestyle..."

Nick rolled his eyes. "Just tell us, instead of beating around the topic-" he said bluntly making Judy cast daggers towards him. Before Mr. DeClawe could respond, a low creak of the stairs behind him caught their attention. Standing on the steps, was an older looking snow-white hare. Her ears were dropped down in concern, while her paws gripped the fine blue fabric of her sun dress. Her ruby-colored eyes seem to gloss over seeing Judy and Nick exchanged surprise glances towards one another.

Mr. DeClawe quickly went to his feet.

"Martha!-I thought I told you stay upstairs." He said sternly but softly. Almost not wanting to upset her more than she already was.

The frail white rabbit almost seem to turn small from the sudden attention from the strangers in the room. She shyly opened her mouth, letting out a timid voice.

"I'm sorry...I-I was worried when it suddenly gotten quiet."

The old fox could only smile reassuringly towards her. "Why don't you sit down, Martha?"

Martha's eyes widen at his question, and looked back fearfully up the stairs, wanting to escape. With her head down, she slowly walked down the stairs and hurriedly went by his side. She sat down close beside him, clutching tightly at the hem of her dress, when he moved his palm towards her.

"This is Martha...she is my wife." He admitted. Nick staggered forward unable to believe it but at the same time he did. He and Judy had been together for a few months now and they kept their relationship a secret. Mostly because they did not want Judy to lose her job for having a romantic interest in her partner but they always thought that they were one of the rarest, few to have an interspecies relationship. Now, they have found another couple who had been together for many years, who are being harassed from their way of life and devotion towards one another.

"As you can see-" continued, placing a gentle paw on his wife's shaking paw.

"We are an...odd couple."

"O-oh." Judy sounded. She cleared her throat, glancing back at Nick who stood there slack-jawed. "Nick!"

He seem to snap out of it but only to shrug and point at them, like a child seeing something new. She resisted the urge to slap a paw over her face. His frantic pointing made Martha press closer to her husband. It made him grew very protective placing a firm arm around her while glaring hatefully at Nick.

Judy stood up and stomped over to him. She slapped him upside the head, making him gave out a shout of surprise.

"Judy?!"

"Oh grow up, Nick!" She growled. "Will it kill you to stop acting like yourself and start acting like a professional!"

"But-they're just like us!" He exclaimed giving out the largest grin.

"E-excuse me?" Martha questioned, her meek voice wavering. Nick was practically springing in each step as he went towards them, holding out his phone.

"This is me and Judy!"

"Nick! Put that away!" She demanded rushing up behind him trying to snatch the phone but Martha was too quick. She grabbed his phone with wide eyes, letting out a sharp gasp. Even her husband seemed surprise of what he saw in the picture. Nick had as a wallpaper was a picture of him and Judy, in his car, curled up close. Judy smiled at the camera while Nick placed a kiss on her forehead.

"A-are you two married as well?" She asked excitedly. Nick and Judy blushed lightly from the question.

"N-not exactly-" Nick replied taking his phone back. "But we had been dating for a while now."

"I can't believe it." muttered, rubbing his face. "We thought that there were no other animals like us."

"Well now there is." Nick replied with a smirk and a wink. Judy went up behind him, placing a paw on her hip.

"Well, Mr. DeClawe, we can actually write this up as a hate-crime..."

"You can?" Martha said, her ears perking.

"Of course, don't think that you two are the only inter-species love out there, there is actually a few in Zootopia, although not common."

"And almost everyone seems to not care." Nick added, following with a shrug. "Which works with us."

"Inter-species love is not illegal, and it is accepted as a lifestyle choice." Judy continued. "The criminals who had harm your home will have hate-crime charges added into breaking and entering." She pulled out a card and handed it to Martha, who was on the brink of tears."if you know what the criminals look like, come down to the zootopia police station and we can have one of our sketch artist draw them out...my number is at the back, feel free to call."

And with that they bid the couple goodbye, leaving them with reassurance and confidence resting on their shoulders.