My first fanfic so I would appreciate any kind of comments and if you should think it is worth it I shall upload as fast as I can.

Thank you and have fun.

Disclaimer: Dredd 3D belongs to Lionsgate, 2000 AD belongs to Rebellion Development

Rule-breaking

She scowled. Of course she did, three years of being a Judge will do that to you. And today just couldnʼt start better... highway was jammed, coffee was atrocious and someone apparently made a hobby of ritually murdering Judges. Some insane, abhorrent, pathetic, little cursed goddamn lowlife thought he could capture Judges, torture them, kill them and then display their corpses without anyone having a clue how or why he did it. Well, perhaps the why wasnʼt that much of a mystery. Judges died because they were Judges. There was always someone, who wanted to kill them. Usually the only thing it brought was swift and merciless retribution from the Hall of Justice.

But this, this was different. Those Judges werenʼt killed by some regular perps, not even an organized gang, during a case, they were hunted down, snatched from the street swiftly without managing to send out a distress call, and for no reason as it seemed. There were no clues, no demands, no threats but there seemed to be a pattern. Three Judges so far, Anderson kept repeating their information over and over trying to find a common lead. It wasnʼt her case but like every other Judge she thought about it. They were her colleagues if nothing else.

Judge Peters, 48, female, gone MIA 2 weeks ago in sector 78, found impaled less than 400 meters from Hall of Justice. Anderson met her when she looked for corrupted Judges. She was loyal.

Judge Kovacs, 64, male, gone MIA 9 days ago in sector 4, found crucified 250 meters from Hall of Justice. She fought with him during a riot at Calmwaters city block.

Judge Hamell, 23, male, gone MIA 5 days ago in sector 166, dismembered, no piece found further than 150 meters from the Hall of Justice. She couldnʼt remember if she met him.

So when she got a call at 5:47 this morning, Anderson knew another Judge was dead. She was just finishing night shift, quite eager to go to sleep and was on her way home when the com beeped and she was ordered to report. Now she downed the rest of the atrocious brew that pretended to be coffee and entered the Chiefs office, kicking the door on the process.

The chief motioned her to sit down. „Iʼm assigning you to the case, Anderson."

„I thought Dredd was on it." she replied. Of course he was, after the second victim appeared, the Chief made sure her best man was on it.

„He is." a gruff voice came from the door. „Anderson." he nodded in her direction and dropped on the chair beside her.

„Sir." she nodded back. „There has been another one." she said flatly.

„Mind-reading?" inquired the Chief.

„Deduction."

„Who?" Dredd growled.

„Judge Corey."

A low muffled growl escaped Andersons throat, catching the attention of both Dredd and the Chief. „She was a friend." she muttered and shook her head.

Chief nodded. „She was found today, wrapped in barbed wire and apparently towed behind a car. She-..." Chiefs voice broke. She coughed and composed herself again. „She was alive, when we found her."

„Is she in hospital? Can we ask her what happened?" asked Anderson. Her fists clenched she leaned forward hungry for the sliver of hope that her fried would pull through this. Next to her Dredd was almost mimicking her posture, knuckles white and a tense expression on his face.

„No. She was dead before the medics could reach her. But there is another thing."

„What." Dredd asked.

„Her distress call came in yesterday at 18:06 and then ended at 18:13. We figured she took care of herself but sent a patrol anyways. We found nobody at her last location and from then she was not responding to calls."

„Why was I not informed?" the older Judge growled menacingly.

„Ignorance, inexperience, plain old stupidity..." the Chief sighted. „Whatever you choose to call it, itʼs inexcusable. We should have made the connection. We have failed her."

„Where is the last location sent by her distress call?"

„I will send it to you GPS."

Anderson stood. „I suppose she is in the morgue. We should be starting there." She took the file from Chiefs hands and stalked out heading straight for the elevator. She didnʼt ask why was she assigned to the case or what would be her purpose, she knew exactly what those were. She was often assigned to complicated cases because of her psychic abilities. They made some things a lot easier, apprehending suspects, revealing plans, interrogating...

She briefly checked the file but there was barely anything worth of note. At 5:29 this morning Judge Morgan discovered the body of Judge Corey 48 meters from the Hall of Justice. Morgan examined the body and found that Corey was still breathing. After informing the central, group of medics was sent but after arrival at 5:35 they could only pronounce her dead.

She pushed the elevator button and handed the datatablet to Dredd, who accepted it with a low hmm. It didnʼt take long and they were headed into the underground morgue.

She liked Corey, really did. After Peachtrees incident, Anderson was key in eradicating the Corrupted Judges and even though every other Judge approved of it, she became an outcast in the process. Yes, she could see all their slip-ups, all the things they were ashamed of and so they avoided her. Corey didnʼt. She took the Rookie under her wings teaching her about the Judge life, not combat but about the time when duty takes a step back and one suddenly finds himself home all alone with a gun and thousands of dead faces.

She shook her head. She disliked to think about that time. Corey said every Judge goes through such phase sooner or later and even though Anderson put it behind her quite quickly, but still it haunted her. Corey showed her how to stay sane or at least the closest thing to it. All it required was a little rule-breaking.

They stepped into the morgue lit in sterile bright light and smelling of alcohol.

„The Judges code prohibites drinking alcohol," said Corey, tasting the golden-brown liquid in her glass, „ it influences your perspective, evaluation capabilities and hinders your reflexes. And all of that is true, of course. But no one can go through day after day after day of blood and shit and stay okay. Alcohol helps a little at least for a time. So we do it. Drink at home so nobody can slip anything into it, donʼt drink until you pass out and donʼt come to work drunk and you will be just fine." she smiled and downed the liquor in one swift movement.

Short pathologist came and wordlessly led them to the slab. Corey lay there, or at least the sad battered remnants of what Corey once was lay there.

„What did you find?" Anderson asked, trying to keep her voice level and calm.

„Her back, legs and forearms were basically skinned due to friction. There are many lacerations from the barbed wire, none fatal by itself but together they amounted to a blood loss her body couldnʼt sustain. There are also indications of torture prior death, cracked and broken ribs, missing fingernails, but these could have happened while she was dragged. Also there were burst capillars in her eyes indicating asp..."

She could feel white hot rage pumping in her veins. They would pay, whoever was behind this.

„Was she raped?" asked Dredd cutting the doctor off.

„Yes." sounded the short answer.

The breath in her throat hitched. She would find them, rip them apart, crush every single bone in their bodies, she would make them suffer... She let out a ragged deep breath. She was better than this, she was a Judge after all. She would bring them justice not revenge.

„Anything else worth of note?" Dredd continued in his questions.

„She had a tattoo. It was burnt away with what i presume is very concentrated sulphuric acid."

„A tattoo. Of what?" Dredd scowled.

„The Judges code disapproves of tattoos and piercings. It is not exactly prohibited but not seen gladly either. You could be recognized during an undercover mission, piercing can be ripped out as a part of torture and so on. Basically, get it somewhere not many people will see it. And besides you donʼt look like someone who would get tattooed, Cass."

„Two hummingbirds over a rose... or carnation... some flower." she responded without thinking.

Both men looked at her abruptly, pathologist clearly baffled but also very obviously curious. Dredds expression hasnʼt changed visibly, but she could have sworn she felt a raised eyebrow burning through his helmet. She shrugged without offering any kind of explanation.

Dredd nodded towards the pathologists and turned to leave. She shot last glance at Judge Corey and followed.

„Why did you ask if she was raped?" she asked when they left the morgue.

„So far they all were." he responded grimly.

„How did you know about the tattoo?" he asked when they were leaving the Hall.

„I was in almost everybodys head." she answered.

„The Judges code forbids sex. It can affect your judgement towards a person, influence your opinions, make you vulnerable both physically and mentally. And that is undeniably true. But sooner or later you will want to do it. Not because of the pleasure, Iʼm sure you can do that by yourself. It is the act of trust we all crave. You canʼt take a civilian to bed, well you can, but it usually doesnʼt go well and if i ever find out you took a perp for a ride i will stab you in the throat, which leaves only other Judges. It is the best way really. You both know who you are and what you do. The Duty comes first. Just pick someone you can trust."

„Iʼll manage. No worries."

„Well you are a mind-reader..."

„Where are we heading." she shouted as she mounted her Lawmaster.

„Last location is on the highway in 113. We will start there."