Well, here's another part, hopefully it won't disappoint you. It consists, again, of mostly Anderson and Dredd interacting and I am anxious to get you feedback on it. Did I do well? Did I not? Whatever the answer, feel free to leave a comment and I will do my best to improve myself.
Thank you and have fun.
Relaxed
„We need to get one of them alive for interrogation." Dredd said and pressed the button for 87.
„Yeah, no shit. Any plan?" Anderson sighed and closed her eyes, leaning against the elevator wall.
„No, you?"
Absent-mindedly, she shook her head and examined her battered form. At some point during the chase most of her gunshot wounds opened and she could feel crusty blood sticking to her body. She prodded her shoulder-blade and hissed as she felt the wound there rip again and spil the viscous fluid on her back.
„You okay?" Dredd asked, as the door opened and they stepped out to a dirty spray-painted corridor.
„Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. A few cuts started leaking, nothing major." she shrugged and followed him to his flat.
Its layout seemed fairly similar to Anderson's old apartment, but that could be said about majority of flats in the City, creativity was apparently not a strong side of the architects. The furnishing itself gave away very little about its inhabitant. It was simple and clean, the living room furnitured with a TV on one wall, couch in a far away corner and the only piece of furniture that wasn't neat and orderly, a coffee table, which apparently also doubled as a work desk, dinner table and dresser.
He pulled off his helmet and placed it on the table, shoving away an issue od last-week's papers and a take-out packaging. „Bathroom to the left. You go first."
She nodded and went the shown direction. After opening the door she almost immediately had to suppress an almost childish squee of joy, as she saw a middle-sized beaten-up bathtub. Wide grin split her face as she stalked back to the living room.
„You have a tub!" she exclaimed happily.
A look of utter confusion passed Dredd's face, before being replaced by the standard-issue scowl. „Yes, Anderson, I am very well aware of that."
„Hot water restriction?" she followed with a question.
„No. What kind of shit hole have you lived in to ask that? And more importantly, where the fuck are you going with this?"
She shot him a lopsided smile. „Oh, some ridiculously shitty places. I mean, before I got into the Academy you can probably imagine and after I got shot at home the first time, I moved to the 7 and that was one... okay, I digress. What I was getting at... you really should take the shower first, because when I get in the tub, you will not be seeing me for hours."
Dredd shrugged neutrally and brushed past her. „Make yourself comfortable."
She moved to the couch, slumped on the armrest and let her shield stand on the floor, resting her hands on it. She let her head sink on her folded arms and eased her aching muscles with an audible sigh of relief. Her energy and enthusiasm seeped away and she was left feeling drained of all power and just enjoyed the rare, precious moment of relaxation. After a while she heard a door click open, shut and then some more rustling. She picked up the soft patting of bare feet on vinyl floor.
She raised her head and saw Dredd with a small pile of clothes in his arms. „Probably more comfortable than the uniform." he offered and dropped the pile into her hands.
„Thanks." she smiled weakly and went to the bathroom, leaving her shield behind, propped against the couch. There she peeled herself out of her uniform, a steady stream of profanities spilling out of her mouth as she felt more blood drip down her body. She stepped into the tub and switched the tap to shower. She let the water wash over her and gently scrubbed away the blood and medical gel remains. Delighted, she noticed, that although the wounds opened, it was only the skin that bled and the deeper layers of flesh remained sealed.
She plugged the tub and lay down, slowly letting it fill up. The water softly engulfed her and soothed the bruises covering her body. She closed her eyes, unclenched her tense muscles and let herself be consumed by the warmth and comfort.
She woke up with a start, splashing water everywhere, and started coughing violently, tiny droplets sputtering out of her nose and mouth. She didn't remember dozing off or how long she slept, but the water, now a faint pinkish shade, was only luke-warm by now, so it could have been more than an hour. She washed her hair as fast as possible and stepped out, feeling quite refreshed and awake now.
Wrapping a towel around her, she rummaged through her uniform's pockets and retrieved the sealing gel to reapply it to her wounds. With numbness spreading across her skin, she put on the clothes Dredd borrowed her, which consisted of a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, both too large for her, not that she complained in her situation.
With her uniform stashed under her arm, Anderson walked over back to the living room. The TV was running, sports channel, and Dredd lay leisurely sprawled on the couch, his cold and threatening presence somewhat diminished for now. He glanced at her briefly and, without a word, shifted to sitting position, making some room for her.
She smiled and plopped down onto the couch, her stomach uttering a low grumble just as she folded herself into comfortable position. „So... anything here I can devour?"
„Kitchen is that way." he waved in the general direction.
„Such a proper host you are." she laughed and jumped back on her feet, a quick spark of pain jolting through her joints as she did so.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw he sent some vague gesture in her direction. She frowned and shot him a suspicious glare, but he was back in his original position and the very notion that Dredd, the Justice personified, would flip her off, seemed completely ridiculous. She shook her head and went on to the kitchen, straight to the fridge. Unlike her, Dredd had some food, that had to be actually cooked before eating, but luckily, she found a good old trusty cup of cup noodles. She heated the instant meal and then took the hot cup back to the living room. She sat down comfortably and took a mouthful of the food.
„Fuck." Dredd muttered out of the blue.
Immediately, she tensed up, awaiting an order to move out or some other emergency. She turned to him, but he paid her no attention, his eyes fixed on the TV screen. On was one of the modern bastardized version of sports from last centuries, she couldn't quite remember the name, something along the lines of nova-football surely.
Unwillingly, a bright smile split her face. „You're a sports fan." she remarked, swallowing any smart-ass follow-up , that formed in her mind.
His eyes darted to her for a brief moment. „Yes. What of it?" he retorted and shifted his attention back to the match.
She shook her head. „Absolutely nothing." she smiled and slurped her instant noodles. „So, which guys are yours?" she asked him after a while.
„Marauders." sounded the curt answer.
„Yeah, yeah, that tells me a whole lot." she laughed. „Yellow or blue?"
„Blue."
With a little more clarity she looked on the screen. „Your guys are losing." she commented.
„Yes."
„They are losing by quite a bit." she dared to remark after few seconds.
„I know." he growled back.
They sat in relative silence, the TV of course spilling the standard stream of noise, and Anderson was getting bored, since the sport's interested her to the extend, that she perhaps got the name of the it right and had some very vague ideas on what the rules were. Watching Dredd proved to be a much more enjoyable pastime. Not that he displayed an abundantly wide array of emotions, he was still Dredd, stone-faced and stern, but the occasional twitches of his mouth and brows, did bring a small smile to her lips.
He uttered an exasperated groan, as the blue guys conceded another goal, or point or whatever those were called.
She shook her head. „They are not winning."
„Yes, they are."
„ They are so not winning." she kept shaking her head. „I mean, I know jack shit about this sport, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but this seems to be kind of set thing."
He sighed. „They will bounce back."
„Are you sure?"
„Yes."
„Sure enough to bet?" she said, her smile becoming just a little bit wicked.
He turned to her, his face again in work-mode scowl. „Hazard of any kind is a criminal offense punishable by-"
She waved him off dismissively. „Yeah, yeah, I know. I have recited this enough times to know, how long exactly would I spend in the Cubes. Dont fret my pet, I didn't mean to bet for money."
He watched her for few seconds and cocked an eyebrow at her.
„Not that either, asshole." she laughed and playfully punched him in the arm. Immediately she froze, because she just hit and insulted, albeit as a joke, the most revered Law enforcer of the City as if he was just a regular friend.
But Dredd didn't seem to mind, actually a smile split his face, flashing his teeth for a moment. It was a genuinely amused kind of smile and it made him look unsettlingly human. And attractive. Which was just as unsettling. „So what do we bet for?" he asked.
„The usuall stuff. The good my-guys-beat-your-guys feeling and of course the opportunity to gloat and call the other one loser." she grinned.
„Deal."
Cocksure, she rubbed her hands. „Okay, my guys are so totally winning this."
They didn't.
After the timer ran out and the definitive win of blue guys was confirmed, Dredd leaned back and turned to her. „So this is the point where I gloat?"
„No. This is the point where you prove to be the bigger man and leave me to my misery and shame." she added a melodramatic sigh for good measure and yawned.
Dredd seemed to think about for few seconds, then stood up and went to the kitchen a slight smile curving his lips.
Anderson yawned again and took the remote and casually flipping through the channels, but not finding anything worth watching. In the end she landed back on the sports channel, where another football game started.
Dredd came back with two cans of soda and handed one to Anderson, before settling in the spot she has left him.
She nodded him a thanks, took a sip and gestured towards the TV. „Found us another one. I want the purple guys."
He glanced at the screen and shook his head. „It's a re-run, I've seen it."
„Oh," she frowned a little. „So, do my guys win?"
„Yeah."
„Yay." she cheered and fist-bumped the air. She pointed at Dredd. „Ha! Loser." she exclaimed and started to perform something, that could be a sitting version of her victory dance.
He was watching her with a stern expression. „What about being the bigger man?" he asked, but she could heard, that he was holding back laughter, apparently her little dance looked ridiculous.
She shrugged. „Well, you only need to look at me and you can tell, that I'm physically incapable of delivering the bigger, not to mention the man part. So I'm perfectly justified."
Now, he actually laughed. It was a deep, throaty sound, very pleasant to hear and Anderson found herself wanting to hear more of it. He reached for the remote but she shooed his hand away. „Leave it. I want to see how my guys win."
It got a small chuckle out of him and he let the game play.
She stirred, her half-awake brain slowly delivering the information on her surroundings. She could hear the faint sounds of the TV, while her legs were hanging over the armrest. A wave of panic ran through her as she felt the absence of her shield but then she felt that the top of her head was pressed against something pleasantly warm, soft and entirely human.
She jolted up and her damaged body screamed in protest, making her whimper in pain. A soft sound came from her side and she whipped around, drawing another pained hiss from her body. Dredd sat up beside her, obviously still half-asleep with his hair a mess, and still unsettlingly attractive, and squinted at her. „You okay?" he asked, his voice raspy with sleep.
She nodded, drawing a deep breath. „The painkillers have worn off, I'll be fine." she spoke through clenched teeth, the knight knot of panic in her guts loosening somewhat.
Dredd reached for her uniform and handed her few of the pills. Gratefully, she gulped them down, washing them down with the leftover soda. Immediately the analgesics flooded her bloodstream and she let out a breath of relief. „Thanks." she smiled.
„Bedroom's that way, take the bed." Dredd waved her off.
She shook her head. „Sir, that's not necessary, I'm totally okay wi-"
She heard him take a deep breath. „I'm not discussing this, Anderson."
„But its rea-"
„Rookie, fuck off." he growled and practically forced her off the couch.
It was rude and harsh and... absolutely endearing. Anderson felt her face light up with a smile as she fell into a bed that wasn't hers.