(This story is set in the original progs' Judge Dredd universe rather than the Dredd movieverse, in current, post Day of Chaos Mega-City One. I noticed there weren't many fics starring Hershey around here, and the ones I found didn't really click for me, so I decided to take a stab at it and focus on some of what I think are her best qualities. Also, this story guest stars a couple of old friends from my story for Zarjaz 21. Enjoy!)

The needle pierces her skin again. This time, right underneath the scar left by the shrapnel from last year's grenade attack. Or was that two years ago? Time feels out of joint. How long has she been here? She doesn't even feel the needle going in, but the serum, that she feels. Rather impressive, considering she's had at least three doses by now, as far she can tell. She makes a mental note to congratulate the chemist, when… if she makes it through.

"Alright, let's try it again," says Avila, not an ounce of frustration in his voice. A consummate professional, he sounds like this is their first go around. "Who are you?"

"Judge Barbara Hershey," she answers, and the serum in her blood boils and pumps the right answer out of her mouth a second later: "Chief Judge Barbara Hershey."

"Why? Why Chief Judge? Why you?"

"Because nobody else would," she answers. Her blood burns again. "Because nobody else could."

"So you're something special, huh? The right woman at the right time? You're so much more deserving… so much better than everyone else?"

"No. Not better. Just a judge," she says. The words come out on their own now. She couldn't stop them if she tried. For a moment, she feels peace.

"Drokk that!" yells Roth, keeping her on her toes. If Avila is here to get under her skin, Roth is here to bruise it. "If you were just a judge, you'd be out there on the streets, up to your knees in grime and mud and blood and stomm. Just like the rest of us."

"But you're not like the rest of us, are you?" Avila picks up, "You've got a nice office with a nice chair and your feet so high above the streets you wouldn't even know they're there unless someone told you. But you deserve it, don't you? You earned it."

"Yeah, earned the right to lord over us like Grud Almighty. Is that what this is about, Babs? Power?"

"No! I never wanted this!"

"But you got it! You got it twice!" Roth spits out, then twists the knife some more for good measure: "If you want to be back on the streets so drokking much, you sure have a funny way of showing it."

"I was needed, somebody had to step up."

"And you did," Avila says, "because you wanted it. Nobody gets to be Chief Judge without wanting it. Why? The fame? The glory? The power? It's gotta be the power. A bust in the council chambers and a statue in the hall of heroes are worth jack and stomm against being the ultimate, unquestioned authority in—"

"The Council of Five were given special majority veto powers in…" Hershey mutters out before Roth cuts her off like a daystick to the teeth.

"The Council are humps. Yes-Men with no power save what the Chief gives them. What you give them. Push comes to shove, it's nobody else's call but you. And that's just the way you want it, isn't it?"

"No, gruddammit!"

"Then why?" asks Avila, in a very final tone. "Why do it?"

"Because I am a judge," she answers, "and it is my duty."

Silence covers the interrogation room for a handful of seconds that feel like a century, until finally, Avila's shoulders slump and the next words come out of his mouth in a voice that's all but unrecognizable.

"Well, that's good enough for us," he says, while pressing a button on a console that releases the chair's manacles. Like clockwork, Roth appears beside her, holding a metal bucket. "Uh, we'll give you a minute, Chief."

"Yeah," Hershey answers, grabbing the bucket and mustering what little strength she's got left to mumble what's sure to be the last thing she'll say for a while: "You're… dismissed."

Fourteen minutes and three pills later, all that's left of her stay in the box is a pit in her stomach and a sour, acid taste at the back of her throat. And the memories. And a certainty.

"Well, what did you think?"

"The theory is sound," Dredd answers, "and the methods are proven. Roth and Avila are a good team."

"But?" she asks, making Dredd's jaw set.

"But we won't be sure if it really works until…"

"Until we get a new Chief Judge, yes. Let's hope it's later rather than sooner. And let's also hope that, when it happens, this annual test will save our city another Sinfield."

"Or another Cal," Dredd concedes. "You do realize there was no reason for you to take your own test, right?"

"Better than another budget meeting. And I disagree: there was definitely a reason."

"Oh, yeah? What?"

"You know the answer already", she says, almost smiling. "And I believe I've had enough questions for one day."