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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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Many thanks to everyone for reading and warm hugs for the kind reviews!

“Family Ties”

January 2007 ShenLong

Chapter 127

“Not guilty?! Not guilty?!” Duo spluttered. “That son of a bitch.”

“Now Duo, calm down,” Heero soothed

“Calm down? You’re telling me to calm down when that no good, lower than an insect assho – swine has the gall to stand up there and say he’s not guilty?!” Duo was almost yelling by now but had enough brain cells left to mind his language with Keitaro and Nurse Brown present.

“Don’t go getting all riled up, Duo. He won’t get away with it,” Quatre said in his attempt to help Heero calm the braided man.

“They are right, Duo. There’s too much evidence for him to get off. No way will he beat the charges,” Trowa added to the mix.

“He’s guilty all right. You know it, I know it and they all know it too. They will sentence him, Duo, it’s just going to take a little longer as the prosecution will have to present all the evidence to back up the charges, which won’t be hard to do at all,” Heero stated.

“Trust that slime ball to drag it out as long as possible,” Duo muttered.

“He will get what he deserves. Those judges are excellent,” Quatre informed.

“How do you know that?” Duo asked, his fury abating for the moment.

“I happened to speak with Wufei a couple of days ago and he told me that Une had informed him who the judges would be in Barton’s case. She seemed very pleased with them. They each have an exemplary record and are known for being fair and honest. They also believe in the punishment fitting the crime.”

“If that’s the case then maybe they should consider strapping Barton to a chair, put a single bullet in a gun pointing at him and let a computer play Russian roulette with him. After all, isn’t that kind of what he did with humanity, releasing that Firecell onto them all?” Duo growled.

“Duo!” Nurse Brown scolded.

“I’m sorry if I sound bitter,” Duo apologized, “But that bastard deserves to die for his crimes.”

“Duo, I’m not annoyed at you for wishing such a thing, I’m annoyed at you for voicing it aloud when there are children present,” Nurse Brown explained, then added in a hushed tone, “Personally, I happen to agree with you.”

“I’m sure the judges will come up with a suitable punishment for him,” Trowa said.

“Well, I hope they give him the death sentence; many times over,” Duo huffed and folded his arms across his chest, glaring at everyone and daring them to disagree.

“I suggest you calm down a bit otherwise your blood pressure will rise too much and I'll have to take you back upstairs to bed and you won’t get to watch the trial at all,” Heero threatened.

That gave Duo pause to think. He sighed and relaxed into the sofa. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Heero replied. “I quite understand, but you need to remember that you’re supposed to be taking it easy, resting and not getting excited. It’s not just you that we have to worry about staying healthy.” To back his point up, Heero stroked a hand across Duo’s now obvious baby bump.

“I know and I promise to try better.” Duo let his own hand join Heero’s in stroking across his abdomen.

“The prosecution is about to start,” Quatre informed them and everyone turned to watch.

* * *

Martin Jones took the floor, introducing himself once again for the benefit of anyone who may not have heard him earlier. Facing the judges, he began his opening address. Jones was straight to the point, no beating around the bush for him, he went right for the jugular. He summed up the prosecution in a few, but concise words. “I have sworn statements from victims, visual evidence, computer evidence and forensic evidence that will back up each and every charge brought against this, this madman. I will prove to your honors beyond any and all doubt that the accused had meticulously planned every detail of his overall plan. He knew exactly what he was doing and didn’t care how many innocent people were killed along the way as long as he achieved his goal.” With a nod of his head, Jones resumed his seat.

“Nothing like keeping it simple,” said Trowa approvingly.

David Thussell stood up and approached the bench. “I intend to defend the accused against all charges and refute all evidence brought against my client. My client has been wrongfully accused of these crimes; he is nothing more than an innocent victim of circumstance.” The defense lawyer didn’t look convinced with his own words and having said all he wanted to, returned to his seat.

“Well that was short and sweet,” Duo snickered. “I’m glad I didn’t have him as my defense.”

“Actually, he’s a really good defense lawyer; that’s what Kerferd told me anyway,” Quatre piped up.

“I feel sorry for him,” said Trowa. “It’s obvious that the man hasn’t got a hope in hell of defending Dekim, there’s too much evidence stacked against the man to start with. Thussell knows that but unfortunately, he’s got no choice in the matter, he has to try and do his best to defend Barton.”

“It does look that way,” replied Quatre.

“I really don’t give a rats either way,” stated Duo. “Just as long as that assho – excuse for a human being gets what he deserves.”

All eyes were back on the television as the trial got underway.

Jones was meticulous in his presentation of the facts. He began where any good prosecution lawyer would; at the start. He outlined Barton’s plans, how the man decided to implement those plans and then took the judges through each phase, step by step.

“When the original Operation Meteor failed to come together and the plans went off on a completely different tangent, Barton was not happy and that is when he first began to look at how he could avenge himself for the deviation. Once the war had finished he set to his task with a purpose, looking at how the failure of the original plan had come about and factored those things into his new plans. He was well aware of how fickle the human element was and could be and that is when he began to look at other forms of intelligence to put him where he felt he deserved to be,” Jones outlined.

“He spent a lot of time researching into computer systems and that is when he happened to stumble across a Professor Hawkins and the early stages of a program that would come to be called a Firecell...”

Jones presented all the facts and as he did so, he backed those facts up with the appropriate evidence. Hawkins had given his statement which was read out, outlining his kidnapping and subsequent inclusion into the project. Computer hardware was produced that held vital information into Barton’s dealings, plans and so forth.

“Barton required significant funding to be able to carry out his plans, building mobile suits and gathering an arsenal of weapons does not come cheap. More people were drawn into his plans, those that were in a trusted position and able to siphon off funds intended for the Colony cluster known as L2 were recruited. His human factor was built up of those very people he was depriving, twisting the truth of the shortage of funding to make it look like the ESUN was denying the cluster what was rightfully theirs when in fact it was himself that was responsible for their continued downward spiral into poverty...”

Jones produced the banking paperwork that Heero and Wufei had painstakingly sought out along with the records from the computers confiscated from the offices of Wainright and Richards.

All the time Barton sat in the defendants chair with an unreadable face.

When Jones got to the Satellite XRB 23 and facilities, the lawyer was almost grinning with glee. He had so much evidence to produce it would take him quite some time to do so. Knowing that though, Jones gave a condensed speech as to the results of the investigations into Satellite XRB 23 and handed over several folders to the judges with all the relevant details, statements and other evidence to back up the claims contained within.

After a good three hours, Jones finally came to the end of his presentation. “Your honors, I think the evidence speaks for itself. This man, Dekim Barton is guilty of trying to take over the ESUN, the people and the Colonies. He planned it out over the course of several years, implementing his plan in many different stages and places until the time was right for him to completely unleash on an unsuspecting population his desires. During the course of all this, many people suffered at his hands; many died. I trust that your honors will look at all the evidence provided, weight it carefully and make an informed and correct decision in relation to this man. Thank you.” Jones resumed his seat and immediately reached for his glass of water, downing it all in just a couple of swallows.

“The court will adjourn for an hour’s recess,” Judge Carmichael announced and banged his gavel down. “We will return at thirteen-hundred hours when the defense will have its opportunity to present its side of the case.” With another bang of the gavel, the three judges began to stand.

“All rise,” called the bailiff as the judges left the court room.

The television cut to a commercial break and those present at the mansion all breathed sighs of relief, annoyance or frustration, depending on who they were.

“I’ll go feed Keitaro and put him down for a nap,” Nurse Brown said and got up to collect the child. Keitaro gave a few grunts as his play was disturbed, but soon settled once he realized he was going to the kitchen which usually meant food.

“Is anyone else hungry? I can make some sandwiches,” Trowa asked and offered.

“Sandwiches sounds good if you don’t mind, Trowa. I am feeling a little peckish,” Duo smiled.

“Duo? Why didn’t you say something before? I could have gotten you something to eat,” Heero fussed.

“I wasn’t hungry before,” sighed Duo.

Sensing a possible argument coming on, Trowa unfurled himself from the chair and stood up. “I’ll go start on those sandwiches.”

“I’ll come help you,” Quatre said quickly and followed his husband from the room.

“The prosecution put up a good argument, didn’t they?” Duo stated in an attempt to divert the conversation from food and Heero’s fussing.

“Yes, he did. He also had all the evidence to back up the facts. When Une said she had the best in the legal team working on the case, she wasn’t joking,” replied Heero.

“I wonder what Barton’s defense will come up with to try and get him out of this?” mused Duo.

“There isn’t really anything they can do to refute it. It’s pretty much cut and dried, black and white.”

“I guess he could always plead insanity.”

“He’d have a hard time proving that!” snorted Heero. “Even if you and I know he’s probably lost his marbles.”

“Guess you're right there. If he were insane at the time he wouldn’t have been able to come up with the plans that he did,” thought Duo aloud.

“Yeah. In one way it looks like the work of a madman, but in another it’s sort of the work of a genius too.”

“Seems that way. I still hope the judges find him guilty and give him the death penalty,” growled Duo.

“If you ask me, that’s too good for him,” Heero snarled.

“Shoot him, shoot him,” chirped Barney.

“Duo, have you been watching those cop shows with Barney again?”

“Err...”

“Fucking weather.”

* * *

“Have they started again?” asked Nurse Brown as she entered the lounge room, cup of tea in her hand and resumed her seat. Keitaro had been fed, changed and put down for his nap, the child quite happy to doze off.

“Not yet,” replied Quatre. “They’re still waiting for the judges to return, but I don’t think it will be too much longer.”

“Is it back on?” Duo echoed Nurse Brown a second later when he returned from his short trip to the bathroom, Heero hovering at his elbow.

“No, not yet,” Quatre repeated in his ‘patient’ voice.

“Good, I was hoping I hadn’t missed anything,” Duo replied as Heero assisted him back onto the couch and then sat beside his lover.

“Is it on again?” asked Trowa as he entered the room, a tray with drinks and a plate of cookies on it in his hands.

“I swear, the next person that asks me that I’ll shoot them,” Quatre growled.

“Is it on? Is it on?” chirped Barney, his beady eyes watching the group gathered in the lounge room.

Quatre cocked his finger at the bird.

“Now Quat, Barney’s just a bird, not a person and you said person,” Duo chuckled.

Quatre’s eyes narrowed and he flipped the Weiro the bird.

Duo fell into fits of laughter. “I don’t believe it,” he snickered. “Quat just gave the bird, the bird.”

“Pretty boy. Give us a kiss,” Barney chirruped.

Quatre shook his head and sighed.

“It’s back on,” Nurse Brown interrupted and all eyes returned to the television once more.

The three judges filed back into the court room and took their seats. Duo guessed they must have all eaten a good lunch as their faces appeared to be content.

“This court in now is session,” Carmichael announced with a bang of his gavel. “We have heard from the prosecution; it is now the turn of the defense. Mr. Thussell, if you would present your case?”

The defense lawyer looked anything but happy and took a moment to shuffle the papers on his desk. He glanced briefly at Barton who returned the glance with a glare. Swallowing, Thussell stood up, wiped his sweaty hands on his pants and cleared his throat.

“Your honors, the charges and the evidence brought against my client are many and varied. Whilst the evidence is pretty compelling, my client is still innocent of these charges.”

The three judges all raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, it all started way back with Operation Meteor, a project that my client was dragged into supporting. He was a peaceful person, one who didn’t enjoy fighting or anything like it. When Operation Meteor was developed, Barton was brought into it under false pretenses, he was told it required his support to insure the Colonies and Earth could exist in harmony together. By the time the Operation was underway and he’d figured out what was going on, it was too late, the war was in full swing and he’d been cheated out of much more than just finances. It was a bitter pill to swallow, one I’m afraid my client couldn’t take.”

“He should have choked on that damn pill. This is such a crock of shit,” Duo whispered.

“I’d say he’s going to try for that plea of insanity,” Heero whispered back.

“You can imagine the shock all this was to my client when the truth behind Operation Meteor was revealed, and then the deviations. I’m afraid, it affected my client very deeply, in fact, it sent my client over the edge.”

“Are you saying your client pleads not guilty to the charges because he wasn’t in his right mind?” Judge Pinkerton questioned.

“Your honors, my client pleads not guilty to all charges on the grounds of insanity,” Thussell stated.

There was an immediate uproar in the court room from the people present, all of them clearly stunned and angered by the defense’s reasons for the crimes.

In the dock, Barton sat with a smirk on his face.

“He’s no more insane than I am a woman,” Duo spat.

Four sets of eyes turned to the braided man. “Pardon?”

Realizing what he’d said, Duo blushed and then did his best to climb out of the hole he’d just slid into. “You know what I mean!”

All four chuckled.

“Yes, Duo, we know what you meant,” Trowa snickered.

“I hope the judges can see through this rouse,” Margaret muttered.

“I can just imagine what Wufei is thinking,” Quatre mused.

“I think we should give the judges some credit. They know the defense is just grasping at straws. He might be nuts now, but no way was Barton insane when he put all this together,” Heero snarled.

“I guess we better hope.” Duo gave a soft sigh and followed it with a small smile as he felt Heero’s hand stroke over his belly.

“Don’t worry, Duo. Barton will pay for his crimes. If the judges don’t find him guilty I’ll take care of it myself,” Heero vowed.

Duo could see his love was deadly serious. “Heero, don't go doing something stupid,” he warned.

“I’m not about to.” But the threat was there.

“Order! Order!” Judge Carmichael repeatedly slammed the gavel hard until the court room fell silent. “Defense, do you have anything further to say or are you finished?”

“No, your honors. The defense has nothing further to add.” Thussell sat down, clearly relieved he was finished.

“The court will adjourn whilst we make our decision,” Carmichael said and with a glance to his fellow judges, the three got up and left to deliberate.

“Might be time for a cup of tea,” Duo said with hope in his voice.

* * *

In the mansion, the group all remained in the lounge room. None of the men knew how long it would take the judges to reach their decision, but no one was going anywhere until they’d heard the result. Whilst none of them would confirm verbally, all were quietly confident in their own minds that Barton would be found guilty. The prosecution had presented a water tight case, backed by undeniable evidence.

All the defense could come up with was a plea of insanity.

Everyone felt kind of sorry for the defense lawyer. It had to be hard to try and defend someone when you knew damn well they were as guilty as sin. From what Quatre knew of the case and the lawyers involved, all those lawyers that had been approached to defend Barton had declined. Thussell had been pretty much ordered by the State to defend the man and had done so under duress.

At least it was mostly over now.

The judges remained absent for almost two hours, Duo had begun to wonder if they would ever return. “Surely it can’t take that long to come to a decision,” he muttered, making his impatience known.

“I don’t think it’s so much deciding that he’s guilty, but rather them coming up with an appropriate sentence for him,” Quatre tried to reason.

“What’s so hard about saying ‘Guilty, sentenced to the death penalty, ten times over?’” Duo growled.

“Nothing, but they have to follow protocol,” Quatre replied.

“Well, whatever it is they’ve decided, it better be the right thing or they will have a riot on their hands,” Heero stated with a nod to the television.

All turned back to note that the coverage was still going, the television crew doing their best to keep people interested whilst they waited for the verdict by speaking to people inside the court room as well as some from the large mob that were based outside. The general consensus from those present was to ‘lock the bastard up and throw away the key’.

“I’d say we’re about to find out. The judges are coming back in,” Trowa informed everyone.

The court room fell silent, the bailiff being the only one to speak in his request for everyone to rise. Once the judges were back in their places and seated an expectant silence hung over the room.

“Will the accused please stand,” Carmichael ordered.

Barton got to his feet, glaring defiantly at those in the court room.

“Dekim Barton, you have been accused of many crimes and pleaded not guilty to those crimes. Your defense has pleaded insanity in your defense. After listening to the evidence supplied, viewing the facts and evidence to support the charges and discussing all with my colleagues, the three of us are all unanimous in our decision.” Carmichael paused to take a sip of his water and clear his throat.

“On behalf of the ESUN and the Colonies, we three judges find you guilty on all charges.”

The court room burst into an uproar of cheers, whistles and applause. Outside wasn’t any better with the crowd all going wild. In the lounge room of the mansion, everyone added their own cries to those on screen.

“Yes!”

“Rot in hell, you bastard!”

“That’s the best result.”

“He deserves everything he gets!”

“Woof, woof!”

“Where’s the fucking fire?”

“Barney!”

*

Once order had been restored to the court room, (and the mansion lounge room, including placating one Nurse), the judge was free to continue.

“You have been found guilty on all charges,” Carmichael continued. “Given the severity of the charges my colleagues and I feel that giving you the death penalty is too good for you. Therefore, we sentence you to life imprisonment. From this day forward, you will be held in a maximum security prison with hard labor for the rest of your natural life.”

Barton paled as the implication of his sentence struck home. This was worse than death.

The rest of the community didn’t have a problem with it – in fact, they were all very pleased with the result and let it be known.

The parties went on well into the night.

Barton was led away to face his fate. In the mansion the residents all toasted the result with glasses of wine; and one of orange juice.

* * *

Barton was led out of the court room and directly into a prison van. The doors were locked and the vehicle started up. Soon Barton was on his way to the ESUN maximum security facility.

It didn’t take long for him to arrive at his new ‘home’. The van pulled up and the doors were opened. Barton was escorted out of the van and into the reception room where all his details were recorded. Despite already wearing a prison issue jumpsuit of orange, Barton was strip searched and sent to shower. From the shower he was issued with a new set of clothing; this time a jumpsuit of bright red.

An officer collected him from the showers and led him through the main doors and into the main cell block. “You have a second change of clothing there and a list of the rules. I suggest you learn them. We have strong penalties for those who do not obey the rules. As you are new, you will be allowed one error and that is all. Make any more mistakes and you will discover what those penalties are. Understood?”

Barton sneered at the guard but nodded his head. The man was pretty solidly built with a buzz cut and a stony expression. It was clear he wasn’t a person to be messed with.

“This is your cell. Your cell mate is at work right now so I suggest you make the most of the quiet time and put your things away. Familiarize yourself with the rules and regulations. Dinner is at five and your cell mate will be back at four.”

Barton noticed the strange smile that appeared on the guard’s face when he mentioned the cell mate. Shrugging it off, Barton entered the cell and began to put his things away.

A little after four, Barton heard the sounds of the other prisoners returning from work and he raised himself slightly on his bed where he’d been reclining. A shadow fell across the entry and he looked up to see a small man standing there. He gave a soft sigh of relief. This man was a little shorter than him so wouldn’t pose any threat to Barton.

“Hey Tiny, your new cell mate is here,” the short man said to someone outside the cell.

Barton froze as the short man moved to one side to allow the other prisoner - his cell mate - to enter. He swallowed hard as a giant of a man stepped inside. Muscles rippled beneath the skin, brown eyes lit up as they alighted on Barton and a tongue slipped out past a missing front tooth to lick at thick lips.

“I’m Tiny, your cell mate,” the hulking man said as he stepped deeper into the cell, leering at Barton as he did so. Looking Barton up and down, Tiny brought a hand to the front of his jumpsuit and rubbed at his crotch. “I like meat, especially fresh meat, and it’s been a while since I had any...”

~ * ~

tbc...
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Family Ties