Chapter 1: Be prepared for anything

Hatti entered the empty courtroom through the double doors, stepping in between rows of wooden pews and stopping at the barrier to take it all in. The Judge's bench, the lawyer's desks, jury box that would never be used while she was working. Inhale, exhale. This was what she'd been training for after all. Though when she'd first started she'd assumed she'd be working somewhere less...groady. The walls were dingy grey, the floors freshly waxed but otherwise in similar disrepair. Some of the pews had been carved into, saying "I+M 4-EVER" and "judge stone is a clodpole!" upon further inspection of one.
Behind her the "dregs of society" had already seated themselves. Smiling crookedly to herself Hatti moved past the barrier and towards the door to the left of the Judge's stand. Through there she found yet another door just across from her, the hallway stretching out in both directions. Hatti approached, raising a pale hand and knocking. Somewhere inside she thought she could hear a steady-if not muffled- thump-thump-thump.

A moment's pause, then, "Come on in!" sounded from inside.

Hatti twisted the doorknob and pushed her way through, finding herself in a cozy office. Bookshelves surrounded two of the three walls, a green couch sitting at an angle nearest Hatti. The room was filled with oddities that couldn't be explained, a black and white picture of a man she didn't recognize, a jar of...sea monkeys(?) on one of the shelves, a comically large gavel... she kind of wanted to hear the story behind the stuffed armadillo.
Behind his desk, playing with a paddle ball of all things, sat Judge Harold T Stone. The man himself looked to be in his late twenties though from what she understood he was in his late thirties instead, his nose slightly upturned and his eyes mischievous beneath the brim of a grey fedora. Neither the Rocky and Bullwinkle tie nor the paddle ball helped to age him at all. The man stopped what he was doing and turned to smile at her, laying his paddle flat upon the desk. "What can I do you for?" he smiled in a genuinely kind manner. Hatti shut the door behind her then cleared her throat, "Judge Stone, I'm Hatti Digger th-"

"That's right, you're the new Baillif!" Harry cut her off, standing up. He made his way around the desk and extended a hand which Hatti accepted, "It's a pleasure sir," she hummed. Hands separated Harry moved to lean against the front of his desk, appraising her with a still kindly stare, "Gee, when I read your file I don't remember reading anything about you having such lovely hair! If you don't mind me saying," he complimented. The Bailiff's eyebrows rose heavenward, "Are you hitting on me sir?" she questioned, voice light with humor. Harry shrugged, hands shoved into his pants' pockets, "Nah."

Hatti covered her mouth with one hand to stop herself from laughing- something she'd deemed entirely inappropriate, "Sir," she exhaled in an attempt to regather her suddenly frayed wits, "I came in here to ask if there's anything I should be looking out for before I-"

Without warning the door behind Hatti opened, nearly slamming into her. She, at the very least, had the presence of mind to quickly move out of the way before it did. "Harry, are we going to start this or what? I've got a date waiting who's all wound up and ready to go if you know what I mean," a male voice cut through Hatti's senses like a hot knife through butter. She turned around to find herself facing a tall gentleman bedecked in a three piece suit complete with pressed handkerchief in his breast pocket. Of course, being 5"4, everyone looked tall to her, yet Hatti could tell that this man must have been somewhere over six foot. The man in question's attention switched from the Judge to her in barely a moment, brown eyes greedily taking in her short stature, curled hair, and unfortunate cleavage which his gaze fixated on for far longer than what was appropriate. Hatti dearly wished she'd changed into her uniform earlier, but it hadn't occurred to her to do so before she'd actually checked out her new place of work. "Him," Harry muttered belatedly. "Woah, hey. Dan Fielding District Attorney," The tall man extended a hand, standing to his full height so that Hatti was stuck looking up his sizeable nose. "Hatti Digger. Baillif," she greeted in return, giving his large hand a jaunty shake. "Baillif," Dan purred, "So we'll be working together a lot," he raised an eyebrow. Unlike the honorable Judge; this man was most definitely hitting on her. "I guess we will," she replied in a falsely smooth tone.

Hatti placed a both hands on her wide hips, lips forming a half smile. Normally she would have disliked the attention but there was something less threatening about this man's intentions that told her nothing truly harmful would come of it. At the very least she would have a gun on her at all times. "I don't know if I'm worth risking your life Mr. Fielding." She hummed ,indicating the danger that would come of chasing her. "I'll be the judge of that," Dan replied, eyes narrowing seductively.
"Well Miss Digger, I imagine you need to get ready for session! Dan I'll be out in just a minute," Harry cut into the two's conversation, his lisping voice so utterly different from Dan's it startled her. Hatti managed a tight smile, "Right, my apologies sir!" she said quickly, not wanting to start things on the wrong foot. "I'll see both of you later," she waved a hand and departed, feeling the gaze of both men on her back as she left.

After dressing properly in her uniform, receiving her weapon and steeling herself for the hours to come, Hatti reentered the courtroom. The seats had been filled and the other two Bailiffs had taken their places. "An addition of security in aid of several threats during Criminal Court part 2" that's what she was. Looking at the two though, Hatti couldn't imagine anyone risking escape or threatening anyone with them around! The first a woman of about Hatti's height stood in front of the jury box, empty of jury and instead filled with the criminal class. She had dark skin, well styled black hair, and an expression that said "try anything and die". The other, a mountain of a man stood near the left door at the Judge's stand. Pale skin, thick features reminding her of some neanderthal pictures Hatti had seen, and a shaved head to finish off the picture. Sucking in a deep breath Hatti made her way further into the room to stand beside the woman.

Court went into session and Hatti realized two things almost immediately. One: All of her co-workers were insane. And two: She had not been properly trained for this at all! While a lot of the cases were typical- , flashers, hookers (of which Harry seemed friendly), and robbers of varying levels of intensity- there were a few...oddities. Which was putting it lightly. A man in a wingsuit, a can of spray paint, and an ultimate plan to paint a mustache on the statue of liberty (Harry had been rather eager to hear the logistics on that one). A woman claiming to own a psychic chicken that had run amok, and worst of all the depressed looking clown immediately following that case that had a deeply rooted fear of farm fowl which required all the Bailiffs (and later everyone else including the Judge) to join together to attempt to catch both the runaway clown and the angry bird.

After that ordeal Harry, wiping his sweaty brow with the sleeve of his robe, called for lunchbreak. Hatti found herself standing in line with a tray, wondering if anything being served was actually edible. Making a mental note to bring her own lunch next time she took the lasagna and a coffee, paid for it, then scanned the tables in search of an empty table. The Cafeteria was a large enough space, with dingy white and green checkered floor, one wall consumed by large windows looking out into the hallway, and a stand run by a blind man should anyone need the "bare necessities of life".

"Hey Hatti, why don't you join our motley crew?" Harry called from his place at one of the longer tables (which in reality was several small tables pushed together). Hatti smiled, "Only if there's room sir," she replied, taking in the group. Roz and Bull, the two Bailiff's, the Defence Attorney and the Company Clerk as well. Hatti sat herself near the end of the table. "Excuse me, I don't think we've been introduced. Christine Sullivan," the blonde at the opposite end of the table extended a hand which Hatti had to stand up to take. Sitting back down Hatti tucked her skirt as best she could beneath her thighs, "A pleasure," she nodded.
"And this here is Mac Robinson," Harry added in the ensuing silence. Mac was a dark skinned mustacheod gentleman, wearing a reddish-brown sweater (unbuttoned) and with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He reached out to shake Hatti's hand as well and the young woman noted his strong grip, squeezing firmly in return. "Great, now that you know everyone, why don't you tell us a little something about yourself?" Harry pressed, resting his chin on an upturned palm. Hatti cast a glance at all the others around the table and found their attention completely fixed on her. Swallowing she managed, "I grew up here- that is- in Manhattan. I'm an only child, and I'm a blonde," she smirked crookedly, taking her coffee and sniffing it for fear it was horribly stale.

The attention was then thankfully taken away from Hatti when the great Dan Fielding came up to the table, his untouched hand grasping a brown paper bag with what she assumed was his lunch in it and the other, circled with white bandage, held a steaming coffee mug. He stepped over the back of one chair and plunked himself onto it, pulling a sad looking sandwich out of the bag then discarding said object at his feet. "Your hand ok Dan?" Harry asked, chewing. The Attorney nodded, removing a layer of cellophane with practiced fingers, "Oh yeah sure, it's just a superficial gaping wound," he made a face that she couldn't interpret, "You know, I want to know why that thing went after me," he bit into his sandwich.
"I believe I read somewhere that chickens can smell fear, and react accordingly," Hatti supplied, earning her a collection of chuckles from the other members of the table. Dan looked darkly at her, though the woman remained unmoved. "It might also have something to do with you swinging your briefcase at it shouting 'kill it, kill it!'" Harry suggested dryly, raising an eyebrow at the taller man, "I thought you grew up on a farm?"

Hatti tried not to choke on her coffee. He'd grown up on a farm? Huh. Living proof that one should not judge by appearance alone. The man looked as though he'd been born in that suit. "I did," Dan continued, oblivious to Hatti's dumbstruck expression, "We raised Pigs, there's a big difference," he attempted to look above it all, long neck stretched out and shoulders squared. It didn't really work.
"Well at least we found it," Christine said, bailing her fellow Attorney out. Hatti wrinkled her nose, "Yes. Attempting to nest atop of Bull's head."
"...Still not the worst toupee I've ever seen."
"I can't believe you didn't notice Big Guy," Harry grinned, looking across the table at the mountainous Bailiff. Bull shrugged, either oblivious to the fact that he was being made fun of or entirely disinterested in the fact, "I would have noticed, but I was distracted trying to track down the escaped clown!"

It went on like that for a good while. Hatti for the most part only watched, eating her somewhat gummy lasagna and sipping at her coffee. The fact that everyone remained so calm about what was essentially a predatory fowl chasing a criminal clown about the courtroom and down the halls- was very telling. Hatti remembered her training, being told to be prepared for anything. Somehow she didn't think they'd had the chicken in mind.
There was something frightfully comfortable about being surrounded by these people that made Hatti stop to add her own bits and bobs to the conversation. By the time the meal was over she felt as though she'd known the group far longer than she had. Harry was the first to stand up, running a hand over his comical tie and uttering something to the tune of "Let's get to adjudicate'n." Followed by both Mac and Christine at relatively the same time. Roz stood up without a word, giving Hatti a small smile that didn't extend to her eyes. Distrustful. Hatti couldn't really blame her. Bull stayed put longer than the others to finish his meal and stare at Hatti. Were he not so friendly she might have been a bit weirded out by it. Perhaps she was anyway.

Finally all that was left was Hatti and Dan, the latter finishing up the newspaper he'd only recently retrieved. He folded the paper neatly and looked around, "It seems I've been abandoned," he smirked, directing it at Hatti if only because she was there. "You and me both," she shrugged, sighing contentedly as she climbed to her feet. Dan stood up, once again dwarfing the Bailiff, "This thing had better end soon, wouldn't want Sasha to grow impatient," he checked his watch, "...Sandy? Ah, whatever I'll know when I get there."

Hatti watched as Dan stalked off on his way to the courtroom, something bubbling up in her stomach (luckily not the lasagna) urging her to chase after him instead of following behind at her usual leisurely pace, "Mr Fielding," she called, garnering his attention, "I understand we were joking back there but… is your hand really alright?" she asked earnestly. Looking surprised Dan sucked in a breath, "Uh, yeah- yeah it is," he waggled his fingers a little as if to prove it. "Good." Hatti said with a decisive nod, "I would not want to mercilessly mock you further if you were really hurt." She winked.
Dan's frown faded, "Hey, it's not like I attacked you first. Even though I have loads of material like oh, I don't know, your hair." The corners of his eyes crinkled pleasantly when he smiled. Hatti couldn't help but admire the soft nature of those eyes.
"Take that back!" she gasped, punching his arm as light as she could manage. The two broke out in twin grins, Dan's coming off as more light and airy than Hatti's. Belatedly Dan gestured to the open glass doors, "Shall we?" Hatti curtsied awkwardly, "After you."
"Ha, joke's on you I was going to go first anyway," Dan stuck out his tongue and took up a near trot towards the door. Hatti watched him go for far longer than necessary before following him.


A few notes:

I apologize for the amount of "Tell" instead of "Show" in this chapter -I promise that there is more show in all entries following. This story will change perspectives several times, I hope to get every "main" character from the series to say a few words. You may not like Hatti too much at first, she's not a jerk but she's kind of...boring right now. Don't worry that changes (I hope, I hope)

I have five chapters pre-written already, I should update once a week and hopefully that will give me time to write more chapters (I am notoriously slow haha).

Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated! I want to get this right, so go ahead and rag on me just don't tell me "This sucks" without telling me why.