Seriously?! All that tension and then nothing! The elevator scene at the end, you could just tell that something was brewing. And the way he watched her walking away after she handed him her Judge badge.

So, that is why I decided to write a continuance.

Hope you like it. If you do and want more – Review! Thanks, Birgitta

I will NOT succumb to Temptation.

I'm finally heading home. It's been one hell of a 24hours. I just want to pull the curtains shut and shut out the shithole waiting outside. Every day I go out and do the best I can; to eliminate the filth and protect those that need protecting. But, it's all drugs, crime, and killing. It's all a deep end… with no shallow in sight.

On the bottom floor of my super complex, I disembark my bike and lock it up. My bike is ID protected just like my weapon, yet I see the need to secure it. There are hackers, brain perps, who can bypass even a Judge's technology. A bike like mine would sell for over a year's supply of Slo-mo. We might have shut down Ma's production but someone else will step up. Where ever there is a profit. Where ever there is a market with lots of customers.

'Fools.'

The elevator door slides open and I get in. Confined inside and traveling up to the top, reminds me of Peachtree. Peachtree is the worst of all the super complexes and it's a place avoided by most Judges. I'm not most Judges though. It was all by chance really… if there is such a thing. A routine multiple homicide case turned into something much more… worse.

"Take the Rookie out… chuck her in the deep-end… sink or swim…"

That's what the Captain had wanted and she got her wish. Shit, I almost sank myself. In fact, if it hadn't been for that Rookie, I probably would not have made it out of there.

As I step out of the elevator, a Judge is waiting for me at the end of the hallway. It's her; the Rookie… Anderson. She is standing by my door, leaning casually as if it is the most natural thing. Most other Judges are cautious, intimidated, around me but not her. Perhaps it because of what we just went through together. She's a Rookie, she young and naïve, so she thinks that there is a bond now between her. No matter, what she believes, I hadn't expected to see her again for our business is over. We're done.

She looks up as I approach and quickly pushes off from the wall. "I passed? Two automatic fails; losing my primary weapon and letting a perp go, and I passed?"

I continue to walk to my apartment door. There is nothing to say. I passed her… so what is the problem? Why ask why?

"Is because I saved your life?"

Key in lock, turned, and ready for door to be opened, I face her. "Because you earned it, because you survived… no other rookie would have… many veteran Judges would not have. This is why I passed you." My tone is hard and short, like always. The deep-end outside has made me so. "Are we done?"

I swing open the door, ready to take off my gear, redress my gun shot, shower, eat, and sleep.

But, she slides in like a cat and my mood instantly fires up. "Anderson, are you going to make me regret my decision?"

Unafraid, she dares my temper "So, what happens now… with us?"

"Us?" I repeat and try to keep my mind blank.

Anderson's a mutant, a psychic, able to invade peoples' minds and read their most intimate thoughts. It's mostly how she survived Peachtree… and how I survived. She's good, much better than I had ever thought possible, which also means that she is dangerous for there are things lurking in my mind that I do not wish for her to know. In the madness of Peachtree, something was awakened. Probably it was the adrenaline rushing that caused it. Perhaps it's her youth. Perhaps it's because it's been too long.

"Are we to be partners?"

With my mouth twisting into a scowl, I look down at her through the dark glass of my helmet. "I have no partner. I work alone."

Her eyes widen and her lips separate. "But I am still a rookie. I'm going to need guidance."

"Not from me," I snap, ignoring the pull of her youth and appeal.

I hold up the door, indicating my wish for her to leave. I want her out of here, before it is too late, before she senses. Yet, she does not move. I am not surprised. She is different than others, in more ways than one. If she wasn't, she wouldn't be able to do what she does to me. For years, I have been cold as ice. No one has been able to penetrate and affect. And, then she was placed in my view. I was asked to show her the deep-end, test her, and so I did. Certain I had been that she would sink, fail, and possibly even be killed. She was tested in the worst sort of way, thrown into a hell, and anyone else would have never seen the outside again.

'Anyone else… anyone normal… anyone not special… unique… magnificent…'

"Magnificent?" Her voice echoes back and I cringe.

She tries to search my face, read me, but luckily my helmet hides all unwanted messages. "Stay out of my head, Anderson," I growl and she shrinks even further. Her eyes lose its shine and her lips its soft smile. "And get out. Be lucky that I do not change my assessment to fail."

She nods, in haste, and scurry out. There is a brief stab which I ignore and simply shut the door behind her. Anderson is a distraction and a liability, and there is no room for such in this hell. A Judge does not have the luxury to feel other than compassion for the city's citizens and love for the law. A Judge is stronger than the common man; both in body and in mind. He or she does not succumb to temptation… ever... especially not I; Judge Dredd.