Joseph Dredd was having a rough day. The cits were on the upswing of a violent curve and the Judges had been on thirty-six hour shifts for weeks. The pandemonium had been winding down lately, and Dredd and Anderson had been sent to answer a petty crimes call in one of the less crime-ridden sectors. Some teenage punks had decided to hold up a pawn shop for the cash in the safe and the robbery ended up with one criminal dead and the others fleeing the scene. The pawn shop owner was being interviewed by Anderson for any possible leads while Dredd looked for any residual evidence the crime scene techs might have missed.
Goddamn cits can't keep their noses clean.
He kept glancing back between searches at Anderson, studying her. Her refusal to wear a helmet, claiming it dampened the strength and range of her psychic abilities, both frustrated and pleased him. A fact that she quite often held over his head. Rising back up again from his position near a broken display case he found her to be looking in his direction, a smirk gracing her features and his trademark scowl on his when he found himself to be caught.
There'll be no living with her now.
Anderson gave a sudden snort that she successfully managed to turn into a coughing fit without disrupting the flow of answers coming from the pawn shop owner, a pleasant and portly man by the name of Fred.
You promised to stop reading my mind Cassandra.
And you promised to keep your walls up Joseph.
Dredd scowled and slammed his walls back into place, more annoyed at Cassandra for laughing than for the momentary lapse in awareness. There were occasions, however small, that he was tempted to march straight into the Hall of Justice and into the Chief Judges office and admit through gritted teeth that he, the infamous Judge Dredd, made a mistake in Peach Trees when he recommended a go for the mutant rookie. But then he looks at her, and all that she had accomplished in her first few years as a seasoned Judge, and the thought evaporates. As much as it pains him to admit he's grown attached to the blonde psychic, finds her useful in many aspects of his life, and she knows it.
Without her influence in his life Dredd is sure that he would have lost what humanity he still had long ago. The life of a Street Judge is harsh and unforgiving, and many judges often in turn put a hold on their empathy, seeing it as something that could get them killed in the line of duty. Having to watch your back day in and day out exhausted the mental and sometimes physical strength they all had in store.
After finishing her line of questioning with the shop owner Cassandra walked over to Dredd to report her findings.
"Shop owner says he recognized two of the perps as belonging to one of the multiple gangs that run through this sector, says they'd been scoping out his shop the past few days. The perp he shot was one of the two regulars, the rest were unknown, probably new recruits being initiated into the gang."
Dredd nods in acknowledgement at her findings and sends the information to Control.
"What's your call Anderson?" Dredd asks, falling back to his first question from when they first met.
"Grid search the area, question any and all witnesses, track down the perps and dispense justice."
Nodding in agreement the two Judges set out to find their suspects and send them for a long vacation in the Iso Cubes.
Hours later when they were back at the apartment Dredd was sitting down on the couch grimacing in agony at what lay before him; paperwork, the bane of his existence. Letting out a breath of frustration he sat back against the couch and closed his eyes, contemplating a career change to where there would never be a single piece of paperwork again.
Hearing a disturbance in the kitchen Dredd slowly opens his eyes and sees Cassandra walking out of the kitchen behind him with a glass of something steaming in a large mug. She sets it down on the coffee table before him, carefully shuffling over the copious amounts of paperwork he is so studiously avoiding. Dredd picks it up and takes a whiff of the heady contents, chocolate and something else added in. He raises one eyebrow at Cassandra as he takes a big gulp of the extremely rare and highly expensive product. Draining half of the mug he sets it back down on the table and makes room for Cassandra on the couch beside him.
"How did you get that?" Dredd asks curiously.
Cassandra smiles at him and takes a sip of the mug herself.
"I've been meaning to use it for a few weeks now but with the rotating shifts there was never enough time to sit down and have a cup. It was my mother's recipe, she used to add a spoonful of honey when we could afford to buy the chocolate, said nobody could feel down when they had a taste of home. After seeing you struggling to get through such difficult paperwork," and here Cassandra flashes him a smirk, "That I thought you could use some cheering up."
Dredd stares her down until she breaks out into full blown laughter and slides down her seat to the floor gasping for air.
The blond psychic grins up at him as his impenetrable gaze searches for an answer to a question only Dredd seems to know. Looking back into her eyes Dredd finds what he is searching for and lunges. He pins Cassandra down on the floor, hands holding her wrists and his considerable strength keeping her there. A battle of wills commences, the two of them fighting for dominance.
Both are using their training to try and get the upper hand Dredd has the obvious advantage, having had more years of experience to use against her. But Cassandra wasn't without her tricks either. Sending her presence out to get a feel for the situation she finds the wall Dredd usually keeps up at all times against any probing by her or any other psychic. Sensing his mind was momentarily distracted by her she sends a feeler out and pokes the wall. Dredd shakes his head at the intrusion but by the time he realizes what's happening Cassandra takes advantage and flips him underneath her to come out on top.
"Have enough yet Joseph?" Cassandra asks as she grins down at her prisoner.
Glaring up at her from his pinned position on the floor Dredd sends all the irritation he has towards paperwork at her and feels a flare of triumph as the psychic receives it and sends her own pattern back at him.
Releasing her grip on his arms Cassandra helps Dredd off the floor and picks up the papers they had knocked loose in their struggle. While she is doing so Dredd leaves the room and comes back a moment later with a small black box wrapped in what looks like a piece of string. He hands it to her and waits expectantly for her to open it. With curiosity she does.
Inside the box placed inside of a cloth bag is a tactical boot knife, the blade five inches long and made of stainless black steel. It sheens with a bright gleam upon closer inspection, adding to the impressive eight inches that make up the whole of the knife.
"Where did you get this Joseph? And why?" Cassandra asks with partial disbelief.
"You needed a new boot knife, saw one for sale at the pawn shop, and here we are." Dredd grunts out with a raised eyebrow, as if all this information should be obvious to her what with her abilities being in almost constant use.
Laughing to herself at his particular brand of affection Cassandra pulls it out of the box and marvels at the craftsmanship. This will come in handy indeed. Perps won't see it coming with this beauty in her boot.
Tucking it safely away in her issued boots she reaches up to pull Dredd's face down to her level, whispering a thank you as she does and giving him a kiss on the cheek. Letting him go he isn't blushing like some people would do, that isn't in the programming of Judge Dredd, but she does see glint of pride in his eyes and what she swears is a smile forming but he will later deny as nothing more than her imagination.
They sit back down on the couch together staring at the pile of paperwork he has to finish before they can turn in for the night. Justice loves her protocol and Dredd would hate to disappoint. Silently picking up a stack Dredd centers his focus on completing the mission, Anderson at his side, something he thought he'd never get used to.
I am the Law.
Of course you are.