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Equus	By : Deb Category: Gundam Wing/AC > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 2855 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, it belongs to Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. I do own the equines though, please do not take them without permission. Written for pleasure not profit.

Chapter List
- 63
- 64
- 65
“Equus”

Chapter 64

With the hour up for Bremner and Stefan, Anderson knocked on the door and opened it. “Time's up,” he informed the occupants of the small room. “If you will follow me?” Anderson led the pair back through the hall and into the original interview room, motioning for them to take a seat.

Opening the folder again, the detective glanced through the information there before clearing his throat. “Mr. Graves, where were you on the night of the fire at the Yuy stables?”

“You don't have to answer that,” Bremner said.

Stefan remained silent.

Anderson sighed. He knew this was going to be futile, but he had a protocol to follow. “Mr. Graves, you are aware that we have video footage of you entering the Yuy stables and lighting that fire What I want to know is why?”

“My client has nothing to say to you,” Bremner stated.

Looking from the lawyer to the accused and back again, the detective mentally rolled his eyes. He couldn't possibly see what they hoped to gain from remaining silent, the evidence was there in black and white, Stefan was going down whatever way you looked at it and regardless of anything the lawyer could come up with, it wouldn't be enough to get him off the hook this time. “Mr. Graves, do you intend to answer any of my questions?”

Stefan remained stubbornly quiet.

“My client is exercising his right to remain silent,” the lawyer sniffed.

“Fine. You can do that, but I warn you, very shortly you will be in court and under oath; then the truth will come out.” Anderson stood and opened the door. “Henry, can you come in and escort Mr. Graves back to his cell please?”

Constable Henry stepped inside the interview room. “With pleasure,” he replied.

“Hold on a moment,” Bremner spluttered. “I want bail for my client.”

“I'll have a judge come down shortly to hear the charges and set a court date for the trial. Once that's been dealt with he can hear your bail application. I will be opposing it though.” Anderson looked down his nose at the lawyer.

“Why does that not surprise me?”

“Take him away.” Anderson turned to leave the room. “I'll call you when the judge is here,” he said as he departed.

“Don't worry, I'll have you out of here very soon,” Bremner informed his client.

“You'd better,” Stefan snapped as he was led away to the cells again.

*

Henry stuck his head around the office door where Anderson was discussing the Graves' case with Sergeant Williams. “The judge is here,” he informed them both.

“Thank you. Care to join in?” Anderson asked Williams and Henry.

“Wouldn't miss it for the world,” Williams smirked.

“I'll fetch the accused, shall I?” the constable asked.

“If you wouldn't mind, thanks. I'll call his lawyer and let him know the judge has arrived.”

Henry went to fetch Stefan, Anderson placed his call to Bremner. With the call made, the detective continued through the station to a room that was set aside for a JP or Judge to hear bail applications and book court dates. Sometimes it wasn't practical for the applications to be heard at the court house as it tied up the courts that could be in use for trials and cases – and given the escalating crime rate, there was a backlog of cases waiting to be heard.

Bremner arrived within half an hour of the call to find Stefan, Anderson, Henry and Williams waiting. With the arrival of the lawyer, Anderson let the clerk know and they were the next to see the judge. Entering the small room once the clerk had given them the go ahead, Williams couldn't help the smirk on his face when he spotted the judge. Both Stefan and Bremner's faces fell when they saw who the judge was.

“Judge Harris,” Anderson greeted, unaware of the reactions of the others in the group.

Harris nodded in acknowledgment and took the offered paperwork from the clerk. Scanning through it, he placed the papers on the table and looked from the detective to the lawyer. “Mr. Bremner, how does your client plead to the charges?”

“Your honor, my client pleads guilty to the charges of Breaking the Restraining Order, Trespass and Breaking and Entering. He pleads not guilty to Arson, Willful Damage and Aggravated Cruelty.”

“I see. I've noted the response to the charges.” Harris picked up a large book from the side and flipped through it. “ Do you have anything else to say in relation to your client?” Harris asked Bremner.

“Yes, your honor. I feel my client is wrongly accused here, the facts will come out in the court under questioning. In the meantime, I feel my client should be granted bail to enable me to work with him to present our defense.”

“Detective?”

“The police strongly oppose the granting of bail, your honor. We feel that the charges against Mr. Graves are severe enough that he should remain in custody until the case is presented at court. We are concerned that given the type of charges, the accused could cause further distress and damage to the defendants and/or their property.”

“I object,” Bremner stated loudly. “My client has no intention of going anywhere near the defendants or their property.”

“There was a restraining order on him last time, but that didn't stop him from going back and causing further damage and destruction as he's already admitted,” Anderson snapped. “Why should this time be any different? This time he could succeed and we will find ourselves in the middle of a murder trial.”

“I hardly think that's appropriate. Besides, these are alleged offenses, not proven.”

The judge decided now was probably a good time to intervene before things got out of hand. “Gentlemen! That is quite enough. I have made my decision.” Anderson and Bremner turned to look at the judge. “Given the severity of the charges, the past history and the risks involved, the application for bail is denied.” Before Bremner could protest, Harris continued, “The accused is to remain in custody and be held at the Bradford Prison until the date of the trial which will be one week from today, ten o'clock in court two at the Salsbury court house.”

“Thank you, your honor,” Anderson replied.

“Yes, thank you, your honor,” Bremner also said, although his tone was a little on the cool side. Knowing there wasn't anything left to be said, the small group exited and left the judge to continue with the other cases still awaiting his judgment.

Stefan didn't look too happy and once they were back outside the room, he rounded on his lawyer. “You said you would get me out of here,” he snarled.

“I tried,” Bremner snapped back. “Ultimately it is the judge's decision and there's nothing more I can do.”

“What happens now?” Stefan clearly wasn't in a good mood.

“You will be taken back to the holding cells to await transport to the Bradford Prison. You are to remain there until the court date. I will be coming in to see you each day and work out our defense for this case.”

Knowing he was stuck with the decision, Stefan grudgingly accepted it. Henry escorted him back to the holding cells, Bremner returned to his office to begin compiling his case. Anderson and Williams started back towards Anderson's office when the detective's cell phone began to ring.

“Anderson.” The detective took the call, a slow smile developing on his lips as he conversed with the other person. The call took a minute or so and once he was finished, Anderson pocketed the cell and turned to his fellow officer. “That was the DA. He should be here within the hour to go through all the evidence with us and put this case together.”

Williams grinned and rubbed his hands together. “I can hardly wait.”

* * *

Heero entered the surgery just as the last client was leaving. Hilde and Zechs were busy cleaning up the consulting rooms, Catherine was logging the day's consults onto Nrobbuts' data base whilst Duo was chatting to the client. Spotting his lover from the corner of his eye, Duo wound up his conversation and the client left.

“What's up, Heero?” Duo asked, curious as his lover seemed to be in a very good mood.

“I've just had a phone call,” Heero replied, the grin getting wider.

“And?” Duo prompted, a little frustrated by the lack of forthcoming information.

“Detective Anderson called to let us know that Stefan has been before the judge and entered a plea of guilty to breaking the restraining order, trespass and breaking and entering; he pleaded not guilty to arson, willful damage and the aggravated cruelty charges though. His lawyer applied for bail and the judge has denied it, he's to remain in police custody until the court date.”

Duo gave a loud cheer. “At least he's pleaded guilty to a couple of the charges which will make things a bit easier, although how in hell he plans to try and beat the arson charge with the evidence stacked against him is beyond me. As for the bail - at last, someone who sees sense and through that fake exterior of his. With him safe behind bars we can rest a little easier.”

“That's exactly what I was thinking too. Also, the court date is for a week today at ten in the morning.”

“Shit, they aren't wasting any time.”

“No, they aren't. Anderson said the DA is meeting with them as well and they are in the process of putting the case against Stefan together right now.”

Duo lowered his voice. “What about the rape?”

Anderson didn't elaborate on that much, other than to say that the retrial for that would be done at the conclusion of the other charges. The judge still wants a closed court for that and given how the press have already gotten wind of the fire, he won't risk that case in a public court.”

That did make sense to Duo. The press had an uncanny knack of unearthing things as was already proven with their running of the story on the stables being burnt down. The last thing he needed was for the rape to be made common knowledge too. It was taking a while, but Duo was steadily coming to terms with all that had happened to him. With the help from Doctor Jamieson and now the fire having taken up most of his conscious thoughts, it was all combining to help Duo heal. “I'm glad of that,” Duo replied huskily.

“The detective, DA and Williams want us to pop back to the station before the trial to go over statements and check facts. They will also brief us on their case and how they intend to proceed. Anderson said they will call us when they are at that stage.”

Duo moved his wheelchair closer to Heero and managed to wrap his arm around the rider's waist, pulling Heero a little closer to him. Looking up into his partner's blue eyes, Duo smiled. “Finally we will have our justice, Heero.”

“Hai, we will,” Heero replied and bent down to kiss his lover.

Catherine discreetly left the reception area so the pair could have some time alone.

* * *

“Mr. Trimbole?” Heero asked as he walked towards the man getting out of the modest sedan.

“Yes, Peter Trimbole from Sunbreaker Insurance. You are Heero Yuy?” The man extended his hand which Heero looked at and offered an apologetic smile to, showing his bandaged hands to the assessor.

“Sorry, I'd shake your hand but I'm afraid it's not possible right now.”

“That's okay,” Trimbole grinned. “I hope you're not too badly hurt.”

“It could have been a lot worse,” Heero replied and led the way to the cottage, sitting his guest down before taking a seat himself. They sat and discussed Heero's insurance claim, Trimbole asking several questions, all of which Heero did his best to answer honestly. Heero explained about the pending court case, the arrest of Stefan and the charges against him. Trimbole asked for the contact details of the police officers in charge of the case, Heero passing them over without complaint. Trimbole went on to let Heero know that the insurance company was quite happy to pay out on his claim, however, knowing that the police had arrested and charged a suspect with the crime of arson, they would be keen to see what eventuated. If Stefan was found guilty of the charge then it meant the insurance company could file charges against Stefan to recoup the cost of replacing Heero's stables, any and all gear as well as the costs of veterinary treatment for the horses and the medical bills for the humans.

Heero wondered if this day could get any better.

With the paperwork side of things covered, it was time to take the assessor down to the stable ruins to see first hand the damage done.

Trimbole let a soft whistle pass his teeth when he looked upon the scene of destruction. “It certainly did raze everything to the ground,” he said. “You said you and your partner, Doctor Maxwell went into that to rescue the horses?”

“As did a couple of other friends,” Heero replied.

“All I can say is it was a damn miracle you all got out of there alive, the horses as well as the humans. I've seen many fire scenes in my time as an assessor, but this would have to be one of the worst.” Trimbole approached the ruins and began to pick over them. He pulled a notebook from his pocket and scribbled in it from time to time.

Heero stood to the side and let the man go for it. Personally he'd had enough of looking at the mess of what had once been his dream and wanted nothing more than to start getting the mess cleaned up and the new stables built.

After several minutes, Trimbole seemed happy enough with his investigation and returned to Heero's side. “You said there was some gear lost in the fire as well as the building. Do you have a list of the items that were destroyed?”

“Hai, I do. It's back up at the cottage. Most of the gear belonged to me, but there were a few things that belonged to the clients and the rugs that the horses were wearing at the time were also damaged.”

“That's fine. If you could bear with me for a while longer, I'd like to go over that list with you and get an approximate costing of all the items.”

“No problem.” The pair walked back up to the cottage where Heero fetched the lists from Carl, June and Frank and put them with his own list for Trimbole to look over. Whilst the assessor was doing that, Heero fetched them both refreshments.

It took about another hour before Trimbole had a rough figure to work with regarding replacing the lost gear. Putting all the paperwork together in the bag he'd brought with him, Trimbole stood up to take his leave. “I'll write up my report as soon as I'm back at the office. You should get a call within the next two days to go ahead and commence the clean up and rebuild your stables. The company will also send you a list of our recommended trades persons for you to go through and arrange direct with them to come in and do the work. We will pay them direct. As for the replacement of the gear, if you let us know which store you wish to go to we will contact them and arrange to have the invoice sent directly to us. Now, you said the horses were being treated here on the property by the vet practice?”

“Hai, that's correct.”

“If you could have the Maxwell Vet Practice send through their invoices for the treatment I will arrange payment for that too. Oh, I'll need to get in touch with the hospital as well. Did you say it was Salsbury Memorial that you were treated at?” Heero nodded in the affirmative. “Good. I'll get in touch with them once I'm back at the office too and arrange payment of your medical bills. Now, I really need to get going. If there is anything else I need, I'll call you.”

Heero escorted the assessor back to his car. “Thank you for coming out and all your help,” he said as the man got into his car.

“You're welcome, Mr. Yuy, it's my pleasure. I'll be in touch.” Trimbole closed the door and started up the car. Heero remained outside as he drove off down the driveway. Once the car had disappeared, Heero headed for the surgery stables where he knew his partner would be to give him the good news.

* * *

“I think I'm gonna throw up.”

Duo turned to look at his partner and frowned.

“I hate hospitals,” Heero clarified.

“I'm not overly impressed with them myself, but this shouldn't take too long,” Duo replied with a small smile. He wasn't all that fond of hospitals either – the human ones that was.

Five minutes later they were called through to the treatment room in the outpatient's section of Salsbury Memorial; Doctor Devlin was waiting for them.

“Ah, Mr. Yuy, Doctor Maxwell, how are you both?” he inquired whilst snapping on a pair of latex gloves.

“We're both doing well all things considered,” Heero replied for both of them.

“Good. Mr. Yuy, I'll treat you first. Doctor Maxwell, if you wouldn't mind waiting just over there.” Duo maneuvered the wheelchair across the small room to the corner and 'parked' himself there.

Devlin removed the bandages from Heero's hands, asking questions as he examined the healing flesh. The hands were given a wash over with a sterile solution and patted dry so the doctor could examine them more closely.

“What's the verdict?” Heero asked.

“Everything is starting to look much better than I'd hoped. The blisters have all burst and any dead skin has cleaned away. There's just healthy, regenerating tissue there now which is what we wanted to see. I'll change the cream I want you to continue using...” Devlin took the tube of cream from the nurse and applied it to Heero's hands. “I want you to apply this twice daily,” he said. “Just gently rub it in, but not completely.” Devlin turned to the nurse again and took something from her.

“These are a glove that's similar to a bandage, “ he explained. “They will protect the regenerating skin from infection but allow some air to circulate to assist with the healing. These are also to be replaced twice daily. I also have another pair which are waterproof which I want you to put on over the top when showering or if you are using your hands for anything that involves water. As the hands start to heal further you may begin to use them a little, just don't go overdoing it and put the protective gloves over the other ones. Is that all clear? Any questions?”

“No, that's fine.”

“Good. Do you still have some of the antibiotics left?”

“Hai, enough for another two days.”

“I'll give you a repeat 'script. I want you to continue to take them for another seven days after you've finished the current course. I'll see you again in another week to check on the progress. In the meantime, if you have any concerns or the hands suddenly take a turn for the worse, call the outpatient clinic and I'll make an appointment for you.”

“Thanks, doc. Oh, one question. When can I start riding again?”

Devlin looked like he could easily have smacked Heero across the back of the head. “What is it with you horse people?” he muttered. “Mr. Yuy, you cannot ride until after your next appointment, and only then if I think the hands have healed enough to cope with it.”

Heero didn't look too happy about that but he had to accept it.

“Now, Doctor Maxwell, your turn.”

Duo's hands were given similar treatment to Heero's, the doctor pleased with the way things were healing up on them. Devlin gave Duo the same speech he'd given Heero in regards to the gloves he was now putting on as opposed to the bandages. “That's the hands finished with, let's take a look at how those calves are healing.”

The nurse assisted Duo out of the wheelchair and onto the small examination bed. The vet rolled to his side to make it easier for the nurse to remove the bandages, thankful that he'd worn shorts. Once more Devlin flushed the area with a sterile solution, probing and examining the wound sites. “Your left calf is healing faster than the right, but I expected that as the right one was slightly more severely burned. I want you to start using the cream on the calves as well, but I'll also fit you with those pressure sleeves I was talking about the other day. They will assist in the healing and hopefully reduce the amount of scarring.”

Rolling onto his stomach, Duo let the nurse and doctor do their 'thing' with the cream. He turned his head when the doctor finished and began to speak again. “This is a similar thing to the gloves you have on your hands. It's made from the same material and will allow the burns to continue healing without chafing. I'll put these on first, then I'll slip the pressure sleeves over the top.”

The thin, gauzy type material was slipped over his feet and up his legs until both calves were completely covered. Devlin showed Duo the pressure sleeves before he put those on. They looked like a tube of elasticized bandage to Duo, which they basically were. They were also slipped over his feet and put into place. Duo could feel the light pressure from them both against his muscles. It wasn't uncomfortable, it didn't hurt, but Duo could feel their presence.

Assisting Duo to sit up, Devlin spoke again. “Those calves are to be cleaned and treated twice daily, the same as your hands. I'll have a pair of crutches brought in for you before you leave and I want you to use them. You can start to move around on your legs now but do not overdo it. A little exercise will be good in helping the skin as it granulates back, the movement will ensure it doesn't heal too tightly. You can also start to use the hands a little, the same as I explained to Mr. Yuy, use the protective gloves over the top when showering or if you are near water. Oh, I'll give you a couple of sleeves of a plastic type material you can use to cover the calves when showering.”

“Does that mean I can take a shower now?” Duo asked, his voice hopeful.

“Yes, you can take a proper shower now.”

“Thanks, you have no idea how good it is to hear you say that.”

Devlin smiled. “Ah. Here are the crutches.” Devlin went on to explain what Duo was and wasn't allowed to do as the nurse adjusted the height of the crutches to suit Duo. Having written out another 'script for more antibiotics for Duo and letting the vet know he was to come back with Heero in another week for his checkup, the pair were free to leave.

* * *

The next few days were very busy for the pair, Trimbole sent through the promised list of recommended tradesmen and they both went through it, making notes against those they thought would be able to do the job well enough to meet Heero's standards. Heero was lucky that he still had the copies of the blueprints from when he'd had the old cow shed renovated into the stables. It was his intention to have the stables rebuilt to what they had been before the fire, with a couple of additions.

The security cameras would be replaced, this time Heero planned on having a couple more installed. Aside from placing two where he'd had them before, he decided it would be to his advantage to have one set inside the feed room and another in the tack room. Another change Heero had decided to go with was having a couple of smoke alarms fitted, not the smaller type used in houses, but a more industrial one, that way should there ever be another fire, the smoke alarms would be loud enough to alert them.

There was one final change Heero had insisted upon having installed. A sprinkler system. Should they ever be unlucky enough to have another fire, aside from the smoke alarms being triggered to let them know of the problem, the sprinkler system would also start up and hopefully either put the fire out completely before it could get hold, or at least slow it down enough that the horses would all be able to be got out without suffering any damage.

Duo had agreed that a sprinkler system was an excellent idea.

They scaled down the list of possible tradesmen to those that had the skills and equipment to be able to do the job and then it was just a case of contacting them and seeing who was available and when they could actually start on getting the stables rebuilt. Before any work could commence though, Heero needed to get a clean up crew in to remove the debris and clear the area from all the rubble.

After what seemed like endless phone calls and constant repetition of the job required, Heero finally had people booked to do the work. A contractor would come in and start removing all the ruins in two days. He estimated it would take him a day and a half to remove and dispose of all the rubble. He would also leave the area leveled off so the builders could pretty much come in and start laying the concrete pad somewhere in the next four to five days.

Heero could finally relax a bit, knowing he would have his stables back within a month or two.

The day of Stefan's trial was looming on the horizon and whilst Heero couldn't wait for it to get here so he could see Stefan pay for all the trouble he'd caused, Duo wasn't quite so enthusiastic. Yes, he wanted the bastard to pay for what he'd done, but Duo was nervous about having to sit through the retrial of the rape.

Duo had been for another session with Doctor Jamieson and spoken of his fears, Jay understanding and offering what advice he could. They talked about the fire and the impact it 'd had on Duo, not just physically, but emotionally. They also talked about the weekend the pair had spent away and when Duo admitted he'd actually managed to overcome his fears a touch and been a little intimate with Heero, Jay couldn't help but smile and offer encouragement to the vet.

Slowly but surely Duo was managing to overcome his fears. Jay knew that although the fire had been a tragic event, it had also managed to give Duo back his sense of self worth and build his confidence.

With the trial just two days away, Heero and Duo were asked to come to the Salsbury Police Station to meet with Anderson, Williams and Morris to go over the evidence and the case that the DA intended to present to the court.

“The charges will be read out first, although the retrial for the rape case will be omitted at that stage as it will be the final charge to be heard and the judge will close the court for that,” Morris explained. Duo gave a sigh of relief. “The first charge to be heard will be that of breaking and entering followed by breaking his restraining order. Trespass will also be covered under the breaking and entering.” Morris paused for a moment to take a drink of water. “The charge of Arson will follow along with willful damage. Once the verdict has been handed down on those charges and depending on what that verdict is will determine what charge the R.S.P.C.A. brings against him.”

“I thought it was Aggravated Cruelty,” Heero stated.

“At this point in time it is and providing we get a guilty verdict it will remain that way. If for some inexplicable reason the verdict not guilty is handed down then the R.S.P.C.A. will look at what evidence was put forward in both prosecution and defense and see what charges they can file.” Seeing the look on both faces, Morris was quick to reassure. “I cannot see him getting off the arson charge, not with the evidence we have. That recording will be his downfall as it proves beyond doubt he was the one to start that fire.”

“I wouldn't put it past that slime ball and his sleazy lawyer to find some way out of it,” Heero muttered.

“Mr. Yuy, believe me when I say I will do everything to put this man behind bars for a very long time and that recording of yours is going to be the crucial evidence we need to do so. There is no way he can refute what is there in black and white.”

Heero just wished he felt as confident.

~ * ~

tbc...
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Equus