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Family Ties	By : Deb Category: Gundam Wing/AC > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 19194 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing/AC, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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“Family Ties”

January 2007 ShenLong

Chapter 123

With the judge’s words, Kerferd gave a nod and reached for his glass of water. He took a couple of swallows, picked up the sheaf of papers and cleared his throat. Looking directly at the vid screen, Kerferd began his opening address.

“Your honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, it is my intention to prove to you all that my client, Agent Night, whilst he admits to having ended the lives of three, prominent men in the ESUN, the acts were committed under extreme duress and with grave reluctance. In fact, Agent Night was given no choice in the decision. I have testimonies from well-respected people and a couple of witnesses that will also prove my client’s position in relation to these murders. I trust that the jury will listen carefully to all evidence as it is presented and use compassion and understanding when drawing their conclusions and committing to their findings.”

Kerferd set his notes down and nodded to the judge.

“Thank you, Mr Kerferd. We will now hear from the prosecution. Mr Rivers?”

On the vid screen a tall, thin man stood up. “Your honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. The prosecution will present to you in cold, hard facts that this man,” Rivers waved his hand at the vid screen where Duo’s picture was obviously being shown to those in the court room, “this man, planned in minute detail, the murders of three well known men, men who were working within the ESUN to build a better, peaceful life for the citizens of the Earth and Colonies. These murders were committed in cold blood, pre-meditated and planned to the precise second. The prosecution will provide forensic evidence to support these charges, and the truth is hard to deny. I implore the jury to consider all the facts, the evidence and put this cold blooded killer behind bars where he belongs and should remain for the rest of his life.”

In the hospital room, Une had to take a deep breath and calm herself. Duo swallowed hard and felt his stomach sinking. The words from the prosecution struck deep into his heart and while he knew he’d had no choice but to commit those murders, to have the prosecution talking about him in such a manner cut him deep to the core.

Heero was having a difficult time in controlling his rage. That man didn’t know anything about Duo, what he’d endured, the pain, torment and soul searching he’d gone through whilst in the hands of Nolen and Barton. Duo was a kind, gentle, loving soul and hated killing. He’d hated it throughout the war, despised it, but carried out his instructions, knowing it was a necessary part of what and who he was, the same as Heero had done; but that didn’t mean they enjoyed it.

A squeeze to his hand had Heero looking up at his husband’s worried face. “Ignore him, Duo,” Heero whispered. “He has no idea what happened.”

“But what if the jury...”

“They won’t believe him. Kerferd will make sure of that. You also have witnesses, don’t forget,” Heero continued to whisper.

Wanting nothing more than a reassuring kiss right now, Duo had to settle for the comforting words and gentle rubbing of Heero’s thumb across the back of his hand.

“Thank you, gentlemen,” the judge stated and glanced to his paperwork. “Gentlemen, we will have a five minute recess to allow you both to prepare. Mr Rivers, the prosecution may present their case first.”

“As you wish, your honor,” Rivers replied.

“Court is adjourned for five minutes.” The judge banged his gavel down on his desk.

“All rise,” said the bailiff as the judge stood to walk out of the court for the recess.

Once the judge had gone, Kerferd turned his full attention to Duo. “The prosecution will state their case and proceed to try and prove that you are guilty by using forensic evidence. We already know you were there and committed the murders and when we present the defense we will address the forensic evidence. The prosecution will also want to question you: I want you to answer those questions as honestly as you can.” Seeing a frown appearing on Duo’s face, Kerferd quickly continued. “I will be here the entire time and should any of the prosecution’s questions be out of line, not relevant or possibly incriminating, I will be objecting to the question. Listen to whatever is said and look at me before answering. I will let you know with a nod of my head if it’s okay for you to answer. Do you have any questions?”

“No, I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure you’ve covered it all,” Duo replied.

“Good. Once it is our turn to present the defense, we have very strong witnesses that will testify that you were forced to commit these murders against your will.”

“Thank you.”

“Excuse me,” Sally interrupted, “But I need to check my patient and make sure he’s not becoming too stressed with all this.”

“Certainly, doctor,” Kerferd replied and moved aside for Sally to do what was necessary.

Whilst Sally checked Duo’s vitals and had a few words with both Duo and Heero, Une exchanged words with Kerferd; mainly double checking the line of questioning he was intending to take when presenting his defense. Satisfied, Une returned to her seat against the wall of the room.

“Your blood pressure is slightly elevated, Duo. I want you to try and remain calm, take deeper breaths and relax. If it goes up too much more I’m afraid I’ll have to call a temporary halt to the proceedings until you return to a stable level.”

Duo nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

Sally patted the back of his hand. “I know you will,” she smiled.

“All rise,” came the bailiff’s voice from the vid screen.

The judge entered the court room again and sat down. Banging his gavel, he spoke. “This court is now in session. Prosecution, will you please present your case.”

“Yes, your honor.”

Rivers began his spiel, explaining to the judge and jury that he would be dealing with the cases of the two assassinated ambassadors first and then the case of Senator Jefferies. Having outlined the case of the assassinations, Rivers called his first witness: Agent Autumn.

The agent was sworn in and Rivers approached the witness stand. “Please state your name and occupation within the Preventer Organization.”

“Agent Autumn and I work in the forensics department,” Autumn replied.

Rivers continued with his questioning, relating mostly to the collection of evidence from the crime scenes of the two ambassadors. He established that there had been sufficient evidence recovered from the crime scenes for the Preventer labs to determine the identity of the assassin.

“Thank you, Agent Autumn,” Rivers stated and turned to the judge. “No further questions, your honor.”

“Mr Kerferd, do you wish to question the witness?” the judge asked.

“Not at this time, your honor, but I reserve the right to recall the witness at a later point in the trial should I need to,” replied Kerferd.

The judge nodded. “Noted. Agent Autumn, you are free to leave. Mr Rivers, you may continue.”

“The prosecution calls Agent Summer to the stand.”

Agent Summer entered the court room and took his place in the witness box where he was sworn in.

“Please state your name and occupation for the court,” Rivers requested.

“Agent Summer. I am the head of Forensics at Preventer Headquarters,” replied Summer.

“Thank you. Agent Summer, I would ask you to cast your mind back several weeks to when you were asked to examine some fingerprints and DNA test several items recovered from the crime scenes at the residences of the L1 and L3 ambassadors...”

The trial continued, Duo biting his lip as the evidence began to stack up against him. He knew he was guilty of committing the murders, but to have it all set out in front of him only brought the hatred and self loathing back even stronger.

Sally kept a close eye on her patient, determined to call a break should Duo show any signs of becoming distressed. Sitting beside Duo, Heero continued to hold his husband’s hand, stroking his thumb across the back of it and giving a light squeeze of reassurance from time to time. Deep inside, Heero was seething with anger as he listened to the evidence. He knew Duo had committed those assassinations and his heart bled for his partner as they were forced to sit through the evidence.

Over to the side, Une bit her lip to stop herself from getting up and protesting. She already knew, as did the rest of those present in the room, what Duo had done, been forced to do and whilst she wanted nothing more than for the torture to end, she also know it was how the justice system worked. They would simply have to tough it out for now. Once Kerferd took the floor she had no doubt he would be presenting a strong case to explain Duo’s actions. Despite it all, Une was quietly confident that Duo would not be convicted of the charges of pre-meditated murder.

Having finished his questioning of Agent Summer and establishing through the Forensic results of the DNA testing that Duo had been present at the scene of the murders, Rivers ceased his questioning. “No further questions, your honor.”

“Mr Kerferd, do you wish to question the witness?” the judge asked.

“Not at this time, your honor,” Kerferd replied.

“Mr Rivers, you may call your next witness.”

“The prosecution will now move onto the murder of Senator Jefferies. The prosecution calls Agent Sand to the witness box.”

Agent Sand came in and took the oath. Seating himself he waited for the questions to be asked. Rivers simply wanted to know what Agent Sand had found when called out to the scene of Jefferies’ accident.

Sand recounted all he could remember, from scouring the area along the road side to moving through the undergrowth and eventually under the bridge where he located an explosive device. Agent Sleet was called in next and asked for his account of what had happened. The agent also recalled all he could remember, his story verifying that of Agent Sand’s moments ago.

“When I managed to climb up to the top of the bridge support I could clearly see it was an explosive device,” Sleet stated.

“What did you do then?” asked Rivers.

“I told my fellow agent what I’d found and asked him to let the Captain know and have the explosives experts come take a look as soon as possible.”

“Who did the Captain send?”

“Agent Rain, sir.”

“Thank you, Agent Sleet; unless the defense has any questions, you may step down.”

Kerferd again declined to question the witness, there wasn’t any need or purpose to at this point in time. Kerferd knew Duo had committed murder, it was his job to prove that those murders had been committed under force and duress. He would have his chance once the prosecution was finished.

“The prosecution calls Agent Rain to the stand.”

Agent Rain entered the court room looking decidedly uncomfortable. He knew why he was here having already given a statement to his superiors; but like so many other agents in Preventer, he knew Agent Night, liked and admired the man. To have to stand up in a court of law and testify that a fellow agent had committed murder just wasn’t sitting well with him. He would answer the questions, but he wasn’t happy about it.

Once Rain was sworn in, Rivers got right to the point. “You were the explosives expert called in to examine and diffuse the device located under the bridge?”

“That is correct.”

“I understand it didn’t take you long to disarm the device?”

“Correct.”

“Agent Rain, would you be so kind as to inform the jury and this court room why you were able to disarm the device in such a short time?”

Rain swallowed and fixed his gaze on the wall ahead of him. “The device was the same as one in which we had been trained on during our explosives training. I was very familiar with its construction and how to disarm it quickly.”

“Agent Rain, can you tell me who your instructor in explosives was? Who the person was that introduced you to this type of explosive device?”

Rain lowered his head. “Agent Night,” he whispered.

“No further questions, your honor.”

* * *

Rivers finished his questioning and presented the facts to the court room. Aside from the testimonies given by the witnesses, Rivers also had the hard copy evidence; the results from the DNA testing, photographs of the bomb found underneath the bridge and comparison photos of the same bomb from the training sessions stored in the Preventer archives.

Glancing at the jury on the vid screen, Duo was rapidly losing all hope of escaping a jail sentence.

“The court will adjourn for lunch. We will reconvene in forty-five minutes and the defense will have its opportunity to present its case.” The judge banged the gavel down hard.

“All rise,” said the bailiff.

The judge left the court room and the technician turned the camera and vid screen off. “I’m going to grab some lunch. I’ll be back in forty minutes,” he said before disappearing.

Gilbert also stood and announced his intention to find some form of refreshment, Commander Une not far behind him.

“Don’t worry, Agent Night. It’s our turn next and once the jury knows of the circumstances surrounding these murders, I’m sure they will be more than sympathetic to your case,” Kerferd said as he shoved papers back into his briefcase.

“Why didn’t the prosecution call Duo to the stand?” Heero asked. Duo was curious to know the answer to that too as he’d fully expected the prosecution to have him up there and grill him on what he’d done.

“He’s waiting,” Kerferd replied. “He knows I will have Agent Night on the stand and questioning him; once I’m through he will step up and ask his own questions in an attempt to discredit what answers Agent Night has given. That’s fine as I plan on questioning Agent Night once more after Rivers has had his shot. Don’t forget, we also have witnesses to back up your statements and actions.”

“I guess you know what you’re doing,” Duo muttered.

“Yes, I do,” Kerferd smiled. “I’ll be back shortly.”

Once everyone was gone from the room, Sally stepped forward and checked Duo over. She was pleased to note that all was still fine with the recovering man. “I’ll go fetch you some lunch,” she said as she put the chart back in the holder.

“Thanks, Sally, but I don’t think I could eat much at the moment,” Duo replied.

“Duo, you need to eat to keep up your own strength and don’t forget the baby too,” Heero whispered, a touch concerned.

“I know,” Duo sighed, “but all this trial thing has pretty much destroyed my appetite.”

“I’ll go get something anyway and even if you don’t eat all of it now you can pick at it as the trial continues. I’ll get something for you too, Heero.” Without waiting to hear any objections, Sally left on her errand.

Alone at last, Heero stood up and stretched. “That lot is off, isn’t it?” he questioned as he strode towards the technician’s equipment and checked that all had in fact been turned off.

“I guess so,” Duo replied as he picked at the blanket.

“Good.” Heero turned and within a couple of strides was back at Duo’s bedside and winding his arms around his lover. Holding Duo close, Heero feathered kisses along the throat and jaw, reaching those sweet lips and stealing them for a very thorough and intense kiss.

“Oh, god, Heero.”

“I’ve been wanting to hold you, kiss away the pain for the last few hours,” Heero confessed.

“Just having you here with me is a big help,” Duo murmured and pressed his cheek against the strong chest.

“I vowed to remain beside you through anything and everything, Duo; I meant every word. I love you with all my heart and soul, Duo. There’s no way I would leave you to face something like this alone.”

“What happens if I’m found guilty on all charges and sent to jail?” Duo’s voice held a touch of panic to it. There was no way he could go to jail, not in his condition. Being what was commonly known as a ‘pretty boy’ in jail would be bad enough, even if he did have the skills to keep himself safe; but to be in jail and pregnant...

“You won’t go to jail,” Heero vowed. “I won’t let them lock you up; Une won’t let them lock you up.”

“Heero, we have to be prepared for the worst possible scenario,” Duo soothed.

“Duo, if they do sentence you, we will appeal. I’m sure Sally will be able to come up with a medical reason for you not to be incarcerated.”

“As if being pregnant isn’t enough?”

“You could always plead insanity,” came a voice from the doorway. Both men looked up sharply.

“Wu-man,” Duo called out.

“It’s Wufei, Maxwell.”

“What are you doing here?” Duo asked, ignoring the rebuff.

“I am one of the witnesses in the defense,” Wufei replied as he stepped fully into the room. “Besides, if they do try to incarcerate you I’m sure that between Yuy and myself we could break you out in no time.”

“Did you just make a joke, Wuffers?”

“I’d be very careful how you pronounce the name of someone who just might hold your fate in their hands, Maxwell.”

“Guess you could have a point there.”

Wufei took a seat against the wall of the room. “How is the trial progressing so far?” he asked.

“Not too good,” replied Heero. “The prosecution has finished for the moment, but all the evidence is stacking up against Duo. They have the forensic proof that Duo was there, that he committed the murders.”

“We already know he is responsible, but that is why I’m here, to assist in backing up the defense in proving that Maxwell had no choice, that in fact, he did try to help us locate him and prevent the next murder.” Wufei’s eyes glittered. “Justice will be done, Maxwell.”

Duo had his doubts, but for now, his fate was no longer in his hands.

* * *

The lunch break finished, the various people returned and the trial got underway once more. Kerferd took the floor, an air of quiet confidence about him as he gave a short speech to open his defense.

“Your honor, ladies and gentlemen. We have heard from the prosecution and whilst we do not dispute the facts, the hard evidence that my client, Agent Night, did commit the murders, we do dispute that the murders were pre-meditated and performed in cold blood. In fact, we will present to you, evidence that the murders were committed under extreme duress and protest from my client, in fact, as you will soon see, he was given no choice in the matters.”

Kerferd turned his back to the screen and walked over to his table. Glancing quickly at his notes, he turned back to the judge and spoke in a confident tone. “The defense calls its first witness, Margaret Brown.”

Duo’s eyes widened a touch. He knew the nurse had given her statement, but he hadn’t expected her to be called as a witness.

Nurse Brown strode into the room, her head held high and a look of no nonsense about her. The cast on her wrist stood out in stark contrast to the dark blue of her skirt and top. Taking up residence next to the seat that represented the witness box, she waited for Mr Gilbert to approach and swear her in. Once done, she carefully sat down and looked to Kerferd as he approached with a soft smile on his lips.

“Please state your name and occupation for the court.”

“My name is Margaret Brown, I am a nanny to the Maxwell-Yuy’s child. I was formerly a nurse here at Preventer.”

Kerferd asked the nurse several questions, all related to Duo’s character, then he switched topic slightly. “Tell me about what happened on the day you took the child to the park...”

Nurse Brown frowned a touch before recalling the memories of feeding the ducks with Keitaro and being approached by the stranger. All those in the hospital room remained silent, listening intently to the nurse as she told of her kidnapping and being taken to the house and locked in the basement. Duo already knew the story, the nurse having relayed it to him when he’d also been a ‘guest’ of Nolen’s, but Heero had yet to hear all the details. As he did, so he fervently wished that Nolen and his followers had still been alive so he could have had the pleasure of killing them.

“I’m not sure just how long the child and myself had been in the basement before Agent Night showed up,” the nurse finished.

Kerferd asked a few more questions and then moved on to the circumstances surrounding her broken wrist.

Margaret told the court how Duric and Murphy had come into the basement with Duo and proceeded to show Duo how serious they were regarding their demands he assassinate the L1 ambassador by breaking her wrist. “Agent Night had no choice but to go along with what they asked, they had already broken my wrist as proof that they were serious. If he didn’t do as requested, they would hurt the child next,” she stated, the anger clear in her tone. “Animals, that’s all they were, animals. How anyone could hurt a child...”

“Thank you, Margaret,” Kerferd interrupted before the nurse could get into a full blown rant. “No more questions, your honor.”

“Mr Rivers, do you wish to question the witness?”

“Not at the moment, your honor,” Rivers replied.

“The witness is dismissed,” said the judge. “Kerferd, you may call your next witness.”

“The defense calls Agent Fire to the stand.”

Wufei stood up and walked calmly to where Gilbert awaited him and swore him in. Taking his seat, Wufei schooled his features to neutrality and waited for the questioning to begin.

Kerferd started by asking the usual questions, what Wufei did within the Preventer organization and how he knew Agent Night. Having established that part, Kerferd moved on to the investigation of the L1 ambassador’s death. “How did you know it was Agent Night that had committed the murders?”

Wufei patiently explained about the nanny and child going missing, the disappearance of Agent Night and the following murder of the L1 ambassador. He also related the clues that Duo had left for them and then went on to explain the discovery of the L3 ambassador’s body and the cryptic message left on the ambassador’s computer. “I have no doubt in my mind that Agent Night was forced to commit these murders against his will. I have worked with the agent on many cases, have been caught up in scenarios I would prefer not to be, and every time I have found Agent Night to be calm and efficient, using every available option to insure the best possible outcome of these situations. In all the time Agent Night has worked on cases, never once has he drawn his gun or any other weapon with the intent to kill. Agent Night is well aware of just how precious life is and knowing him as an agent and personal friend, there is no way he would kill anyone if there was any way possible to avoid it. If anything, Agent Night should be commended...”

Kerferd raised an eyebrow. “How do you come to that conclusion?”

“If it were not for the cryptic clues he was able to leave, many other deaths could have occurred. By leaving those clues, we knew who was to be next on the perpetrators’ ‘hit list’ and as such, increase security around that person to prevent it from happening. I also know that having no choice in the matter of killing the ambassadors, Agent Night did the only thing he could do,” Wufei lowered his voice, “he killed them quickly and efficiently. I very much doubt they would have suffered in any way at all.”

“No further questions, your honor.”

“Does the prosecution have any questions?”

“Yes, your honor.” Rivers stood up and walked towards the vid screen where he could look directly at Wufei. “Agent Fire, you stated that Agent Night killed the ambassadors quickly and efficiently, correct?”

Wufei narrowed his eyes. “Yes, I believe that is what I said.”

“Tell me, how would you know if the method used was quick and efficient?”

Wufei looked stunned for a moment. “It was covered in my training,” he replied, declining to elaborate on just what training he was referring to.

“Then that means if the method used by Agent Night to commit the murders was quick and efficient, he would have gone through the same training, and to be that good he has obviously had quite a lot of practice in this area? A cold blooded killer in fact?”

“Objection, your honor!” Kerferd stated hotly.

“I retract the question, your honor. No further questions.” Rivers looked smug as he took his seat once more

“The jury will please disregard the prosecution’s questions. If there are no further questions, the witness may step down.”

Wufei looked horror struck as he realized where the prosecution’s questioning had gone, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. Despite the judge ordering the jury to dismiss the questions and answers, Wufei knew the seeds of doubt had been sown. He stood and left the chair, passing by Maxwell’s bed as he headed for the door. He paused. “I am sorry,” he said softly.

“Not your fault, Wufei,” Duo replied in a whisper. “Maybe I should try for that plea of insanity.”

Wufei felt as if he’d been cut through the heart. There wasn’t anything more he could say and so with his head bowed, he left the room.

“Kerferd? Do you require a recess or are you ready to continue?” the judge asked.

“I would prefer to continue, your honor. The defense calls Colin Farrow to the witness box.”

The door to the side in the court room opened and Farrow, handcuffed and flanked by two guards, was ushered into the court room. He was quickly sworn in and took a seat in the witness box. Once the formalities had been taken care of, Kerferd stepped forward to the vid screen and addressed the witness.

“You were working for a terrorist group headed by a person called Anthony Nolen, correct?”

“Yes,” Farrow replied.

Kerferd went on to outline the plans the group had put in place, their dissatisfaction with the speed at which the L2 Colony was receiving assistance and their decision to take matters into their own hands to rectify that problem. “It was the intent of your groups’ founder to assassinate prominent world leaders one by one until their demands were met, correct?”

“Yes,” Farrow stated.

“And how did this Nolen propose to assassinate these leaders?”

Farrow looked up. “He told us he knew of someone that would be able to take out these officials without any problem, but this person may need a little persuasion to join our cause. He had a couple of the other guys follow this person for a while and observe what was most closest to him. Once he’d established that the child and the nanny were the most likely candidates, he arranged for a couple of the guys to kidnap the nanny and child. Once he had them in his possession, he contacted the person of interest.”

“And who was this person?”

“Agent Night.”

“Tell me, how did your boss plan on getting Agent Night to assassinate the ambassadors?”

Lowering his head, Farrow began to talk. “He threatened to kill the child or the nanny if the guy didn’t do as he wanted. To make it clear that he wasn’t bluffing, he had one of the others break the nanny’s wrist. He was given blueprints to the residences and told what he had to do. Failure to complete the task or any attempt to make contact with outside persons would result in the child or the nanny being killed.”

“How did Agent Night react to this?”

“He wasn’t at all happy. You could tell he didn’t want to do it, he protested against it all the time; he even tried to persuade the boss that killing wasn’t the way to get his point across. The boss didn’t want to know though and Night was driven out to the residences where he killed those ambassadors and the Senator that gave my boss a hard time.”

“Would you say that Agent Night committed these murders in cold blood, pre-meditated their murders?”

“No. The boss was the one that had it all worked out, he’s the one that planned it all, Night was just the pawn used to execute the final blow.”

“No further questions, your honor.”

“Mr Rivers?” asked the judge.

“No questions, your honor.”

“The witness may step down.”

Farrow looked relieved as he exited the witness box and was led away by the guards.

“The defense calls Agent Night to the witness box.”

~ * ~

tbc...
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- 123
- 124
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Family Ties