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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
- 68
- 69
- 70
“Equus”

Chapter 69

Once the judge had left the court, Stefan and Bremner got into a very heated discussion. Not wanting to stay and watch as the verbal sparring began to rise in pitch and volume, Heero gave Duo a hand with his crutches and the pair left as quickly as they could. Williams, Henry and Morris followed, Morris making a note of the time on his watch.

“Someone doesn't sound very happy,” Williams smirked.

“No he doesn't,” Morris agreed, “But then so he shouldn't; he knows he's guilty and now there isn't a damn thing he can do to refute the evidence against him. Come on, there's a small waiting room down here where we can sit and grab a drink of water.” Morris led the group down the hallway, turned into another and stopped at the end where it opened out into a small room with a view into a courtyard. The room was currently unoccupied and Heero assisted Duo to a seat.

Once everyone was seated and those that desired it, had a paper cup of water, Heero spoke up. “I have to say, Mr. Morris, I'm very impressed with the evidence you brought up.”

Duo looked up and fixed the DA with his violet eyes. “I agree with my partner, Mr. Morris. I'll admit, I had my doubts about this re-trial, but you have been very thorough in your obtaining this new evidence. But all that aside, what do you think our chances are?”

Morris gave a soft sigh and looked at the two men. “I wouldn't have asked for this re-trial if I wasn't damn sure we would have a good chance at getting a guilty verdict. I'm not a cruel man and I wouldn't have put you through all of this – again- if I thought we would lose.” Morris stretched. “I have a really good feeling about it though and Harris is a good and fair judge...”

“But you can't commit yourself to a verdict,” Duo sighed, knowing what the DA was trying to say without saying it.

“In one way, yes, you’re right. It would be unfair of me to say I expect the guilty verdict. There is never any real cut and dried answers in these sorts of cases; but I am confident.” Morris offered a small smile.

“What will happen to that woman, Marion?” Heero asked with a frown. “She did admit to lying in court the first time, surely that is a punishable offense?”

“Yes, it is,” Williams replied. “Don't worry, she's already been charged with accepting a bribe to pervert the course of justice and contempt of court.”

“Aa.” Heero frowned again and began to fiddle with his tie. Duo had a pretty good idea what was going through his partner's head and seeing how Heero wasn't about to voice his concern, Duo did it for him.

“Sergeant Williams, what about the charge of assault against Heero for attacking Graves when he pulled him off me?” he asked in barely a whisper.

Heero's head shot up at that and he gave his lover a small glare. Duo just shrugged.

Williams thought for a moment before replying. “I'm pretty sure that Mr. Yuy will find that charge will be dismissed. The judge will need to hear the circumstances surrounding the alleged assault and once he knows of those I'm certain he will dismiss the charges as Mr. Yuy was only coming to your aid after all.” Williams did his best to give the pair a reassuring smile.

“Thank you,” Duo replied.

The group sat in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts before Morris got to his feet and crumpled the cup in his hand, tossing it to the trash before speaking. “I think we should head back now, the judge is due to give his verdict in another ten minutes.”

With mixed emotions, the remaining four got to their feet and accompanied the DA back to the court room.

*

Duo cast a glance across at Stefan and his lawyer when they reentered the court room. Bremner looked grim, Stefan wore a look of thunder on his face. Duo couldn't help but wonder what had passed between the two men in their absence – obviously it hadn't been pleasant and Duo could hazard a pretty good guess that it had been something along the lines of Stefan's disappointment in his lawyer for the weak defense. He gave a mental shrug. Let the bastard suffer, he deserved to after all the shit he'd caused.

“All rise.”

Judge Harris swept back into the court room and took his place, sitting quickly and dropping a sheaf of papers to his desk top. The rest of the court also sat and waited anxiously for the judge to speak.

Harris cleared his throat and looked at Stefan. “Will the defendant please stand,” he ordered, Stefan stood, Bremner mimicking his client's move. Harris took a quick glance at the papers before returning his eyes to Stefan. “I have gone back over all the evidence presented to the court in this case, from the previous trial and the new evidence presented today. Before I hand down my finding, I wish to say that the crime of rape against another person, regardless of their sex, is one of the most humiliating, degrading and lowest acts that one human being can commit against another. The physical trauma is hard enough to come to terms with for the victim, but the psychological and emotional trauma that goes with it remains for so much longer and quite often never leaves. This is something that no person should ever have to deal with, but unfortunately many do. The cases of a male raping another male are much more complex. Aside from the physical, psychological and emotional trauma a victim of male rape experiences, they also have to deal with the social side of it too. The human race can be a vindictive species when it comes to things they do not understand and fear and this is why so many male rape cases go unreported and unpunished.” Harris turned his attention to where Duo sat and looked the young vet in the eyes. “It takes a lot of courage for a man to admit he's been raped by another man, and even more courage and bravery to lodge charges against their attacker; I admire the strength of those men who, knowing they are most likely going to be ridiculed and suffer at the hands of society for speaking out, still retain enough inner strength and dignity to proceed.”

Duo could feel himself starting to blush under the judge's gaze and obviously sincere words. He didn't think he was strong at all.

Harris returned his attention to Stefan and continued. “After much deliberation and studying the facts presented, in the case of Mr. Graves raping Doctor Maxwell, I find the defendant guilty as charged.”

All the blood drained from Stefan's face as the verdict was handed down and his legs turned to jelly. Bremner caught the sway of his client and quickly grabbed his elbow to steady him.

“This court sentences you to twenty years jail to be served concurrently with the other jail terms you received for the other charges against you. In total, you will serve twenty years for all of these crimes with a non parole period of fifteen years.” Harris slammed his gavel down hard. “Before this court is adjourned, there is also the matter of an assault charge filed against Mr. Yuy by Mr. Graves. Under the circumstances of this rape trial, I find that Mr. Yuy was perfectly within the boundaries of the law in protecting his partner from Mr. Graves' attack and took only reasonable measures to stop Mr. Graves from raping his partner. Therefore, the assault charge against Mr. Yuy is dismissed.” Harris banged the gavel again. “This case is now closed.”

“All rise.”

Somehow Duo and Heero managed to get to their feet as the judge left, each man was as equally stunned as the other with the judge's verdict and it was taking some time for it all to sink in. Once Harris had left, the pair sat down and simply stared at each other.

“Guilty, they found him guilty,” Duo muttered to himself. The relief that he'd finally won washed over and through him, he felt as if a ton weight had gone from his shoulders and he couldn't help the tears that formed in his eyes. Turning to Heero, he noted his partner in a similar state of disbelief and happiness.

Reaching out to his partner, Heero wrapped the vet up in his strong arms, buried his face against that warm neck and mumbled. “Guilty, Duo, he's been found guilty.”

They shared their mutual happiness and tears for a moment before a yell from the side drew them apart.

The guilty verdict sank into Stefan's brain and as it did so his anger began to build. Shooting a look across the room he saw Yuy and Maxwell wrapped up in each others arms and his anger finally exploded. “You bastard!” he yelled and made a lunge across the room. Bremner wasn't quite quick enough to grab his client and neither was the bailiff. Fortunately, Williams and Henry were a little faster off the mark.

“You assholes!” Stefan screamed as he made a grab for Duo. Heero managed to see Stefan coming for them and pushed Duo to the side and out of Stefan's reach. “Because of you I've lost everything!” Stefan screeched as he swung his fist back ready to take a swing at Heero.

Both Williams and Henry jumped forward, Heero ducking under the punch and causing Stefan to lose his balance. Williams made a grab for Stefan's arms whilst Henry went for the midriff, both officers managing to pin Stefan between them and force him to the ground where he continued to fire off several expletives at all who dared to oppose him. Bremner and the bailiff caught up, Bremner shaking his head whilst the bailiff grabbed for his handcuffs and with Williams' assistance, managed to get them on the protesting man.

“Can we gag him, Sarge?” Henry asked with a touch of humor in his tone.

“I wish,” replied Williams. Between them they hauled the still swearing Stefan to his feet. “Any chance we can put him in the holding cells until he cools down?” Williams asked the bailiff.

“We still have to do the paperwork on him, but I guess he can wait in there for a while, it will take some time to have it all drawn up,” the bailiff stated.

“Good. We can bring him down for you if you prefer?”

“Thanks, that would be good.”

“Back shortly, Morris,” Williams informed the DA and then left with Henry and the bailiff to secure Stefan in one of the court's holding cells.

Once Stefan had been removed, the room went quiet again. Duo and Heero were both still in shock, not just from Stefan's sudden attack on them, but also the guilty verdict. Bremner sat wearily at his desk and shuffled through his papers, Morris took a look across at the defense lawyer and gave a sigh. He knew what Bremner was going through; it wasn't easy to accept you'd lost a case, and in this case it was three in total – that was a slightly bitter pill to swallow. He felt a touch sorry for the lawyer, he'd not had a chance given all the evidence, but he still admired his tenacity and attempts to get his client off the charges completely. Mind made up, Morris walked across the small expanse to where Bremner sat.

“You put up a good fight, Bremner, not just in this case, but in the previous ones too. Unfortunately, it's damn hard to try and protect a guilty person.” Morris extended his hand.

Bremner looked up at the words and noted the extended hand. Quietly he took it and shook the DA's hand firmly. “Congratulations on your wins, and yes, it's not easy trying to defend someone you're pretty sure is guilty, but I had no choice, he engaged my services and I did the best I could with what was given to me.”

“That you did and I didn't envy you the task. Are you going to appeal any of the sentences?”

“He wants me to appeal on the arson case, but I don't know, it doesn't seem like a case I can win on.”

“Regardless of whether or not he intended to start that fire, the fact remains that he did and he's shown no remorse whatsoever for his actions.”

“I know and that's why I'm reluctant to put in an appeal,” Bremner sighed.

“Personally, I don't think you would stand much of a chance.”

“Neither do I which is why I'm seriously thinking that if he does want to try and appeal to tell him to get another lawyer.”

“Then do that, you're quite within your rights to refuse to represent someone whom you know is guilty,” Morris reminded him.

“Isn't that the truth.”

“Once the bailiff gets back and we've sorted out all the paperwork, how about we grab a beer?” Morris offered.

“Thanks, I'd like that.” Bremner gave a small smile and Morris turned to walk back to his clients.

“What happens now?” Heero asked when Morris returned.

“Now we have to go through all the paperwork and finalize the judge's orders. Once that is all complete, Mr. Graves will be escorted to the place of his incarceration to begin serving his sentence. The paperwork will also deal with the compensation he's been ordered to pay and then all that can be sorted out over the next few weeks. Don't worry, it's a little complicated, but not overly so. You guys won't have to worry about any of it, I'll take care of it all for you and keep you informed of what is happening in regard to it all.”

“Thanks, Mr. Morris,” Heero said softly.

Duo turned his violet eyes to the DA and offered his still lightly bandaged hand to the man who took it and shook it gently. “Thanks, Mr. Morris, not just for prosecuting this man and getting the guilty verdict, but for believing me in the first place. If I hadn't listened to you, the police and my partner, this guy could have walked free, almost did, and who's to say he couldn't have done this again to someone else? I'm really grateful to you and everyone else for the time and effort you put in to see he was found guilty and put away for his crimes.”

Seeing how choked up the vet was becoming and feeling the genuine appreciation rolling off the man, Morris gave a warm smile. “Trust me, Doctor Maxwell, it was my pleasure to assist you and I'm just pleased I managed to get a successful result.”

“If we are no longer needed, I think I'll take my partner home, Mr. Morris,” Heero stated and stood up. “Would you please pass on our thanks and gratitude to Officers Henry and Williams?”

“Of course I will. Take care and I'll be in touch.”

With Heero's assistance, Duo left the court room and headed outside into the late afternoon sun. Stepping out of the court house, he felt a peace wash over him, all the tension, heartache and worry just blew away with the light caress of the afternoon breeze. Duo knew he still had a way to go before he would be completely healed. The physical side wouldn't take long, but the emotional and psychological sides were an entirely different story. But Duo also knew he would eventually recover, with Doctor Jay's help and Heero's stoic presence, he'd eventually conquer his demons.

“Take me home, Heero, we have some celebrating to do,” he whispered.

* * *

When Heero and Duo pulled in behind the cottage they were surprised to find all their friends gathered around waiting for them – all except for Hilde, Zechs and Catherine who were still up at the practice finishing off the evening consults. A large cheer went up as the pair exited the car, Duo laughing and shaking his head.

Quatre was the first to approach and congratulate the pair on the success of gaining a guilty verdict for the arson and associated charges. Wrapping Duo up into a hug, Quatre whispered into the vet's ear, “How did the other trial go?”

“He was found guilty,” Duo whispered back, a broad grin on his face.

“That's fantastic!” Quatre cheered and spun around to the others who had all paused in their congratulations to Heero when they heard the blonde cheer.

Whilst Duo hadn't informed June and Carl that he had been raped by Stefan, he had divulged that he'd been assaulted by the other man. Seeing the curious glances from those two as well as Trowa, Treize, Wufei and Meiran, Duo cleared his throat and spoke. “You all know we won the case against Stefan for arson and the other charges and that Quatre also won the charges of Aggravated Cruelty, well... “ he paused for a second and took a deep breath. “We made it a hat trick, the charge of assault against Stefan that I filed? He was also found guilty of that too. That bastard got twenty years with a non parole period of fifteen years.”

Duo's news was met with a range of smiles, cheers and congratulations. Everyone was over the moon with the good news and one by one they came forth to shake hands, hug and offer their sincerest congratulations to both Heero and Duo.

June, Carl, Wufei and Meiran had all pulled together to bring the horses in and settle them for the night. Hilde and Zechs had treated Nataku earlier so there wasn't anything for the guys to do other than bask in the moment of their victory. The group headed for the cottage to celebrate in style, the women all combined together with ideas for food, the men all put in for refreshments and Carl offered to make the run to the local store to fetch everything. Meiran went with him and by the time the pair returned, Hilde, Catherine and Zechs had finished consults and had joined the party.

It turned out to be a great evening. The women soon had snacks sorted out and handed around plates of delicious food. The refreshments were all non alcoholic except for a bottle of sparkling wine that Carl had insisted on buying to have a toast to the victory with. June, in her pregnant state didn't drink, Meiran also wasn’t a fan of the alcoholic stuff either, Treize and Zechs both enjoyed a glass of wine at times but the remainder of the group rarely touched alcohol so the choice was a good one for all concerned.

As the celebrations carried on, Carl popped open the bottle of sparkling wine and a small amount was poured into everyone’s glass. Despite preferring not to drink, everyone accepted a small amount knowing it was for a toast to something that was hard fought for – justice.

“It's been a long, hard road to get to this victory today,” Treize began, “But with perseverance and hard work, the law has come through and the perpetrator has been finally brought to justice for his crimes. Now it's time to put all of this behind us and move forward. To the future; may it be a long, happy and healthy one for everyone.” Treize raised his glass, the rest of the people murmuring 'hear hear' and joining him in the toast.

Once the toast was over with, the party began to wind down, the women all cleaned up, washing dishes and putting things away despite Duo's protests that they should just leave it all and enjoy themselves. June and Carl were the first to leave, June's pregnancy making her tire easily and Carl had work the next day. Wufei and Meiran were next to go and congratulated the pair once again as they took their leave.

Hilde and Catherine followed the Chinese couple out, both of them were tired and had the following day's work ahead of them. Zechs left a little after the girls along with Treize which just left Trowa and Quatre with Heero and Duo. Quatre had the kettle on and was making cups of tea for everyone while Trowa cleaned up the last of the glasses and straightened the kitchen and lounge room.

Once everyone had a mug in front of them, they sat around the kitchen table and discussed the relevant cases. No one brought up the rape re-trial, figuring Duo had already gone through enough in that area and with Stefan now safely locked away there wasn't any point in rehashing it all.

Quatre admitted to his disappointment that Stefan had pleaded guilty to the Aggravated Cruelty charges, he'd been looking forward to grilling the man on the stand. As Heero pointed out though, knowing he'd already admitted to attempting to poison Shini and the video footage of him in the stables right before the fire, there really wasn't any point to him pleading not guilty. It was pretty much a given that he would have been found guilty so why have to go through all the trial? Quatre agreed that it had probably been for the best, but he was still a little pissed he'd not been able to give the guy hell.

That line of conversation brought them back to their earlier one of Stefan's animals. Knowing that not much time had passed between the trial and now, Duo and Heero were still both interested to know if Quatre had managed to track down any animals that Stefan owned and what the society had done in regards to them so far.

“At this stage we are aware that he owns one cat and the horse you mentioned earlier, Heero. We believe that the cat is at his place of residence and I'm going there first thing in the morning to pick the cat up and take it into Headquarters for a full check over. If it's all okay, I'll drop it off at Trowa's for re-homing. As for the horse; we're still in the process of trying to track down where she's currently kept. Mr. Graves wasn't exactly forthcoming with his information, but we do have a few leads.”

“If you like, I can ask around a few of the people I know and see if they have any information on Comet's whereabouts. The show jumping world is a pretty tight knit lot and most of us know where others keep their horses or are based,” Heero offered.

“If you could, that would help a lot, Heero. I'll continue to make my own inquiries, but if you should find out anything in the meantime, give me a call.

“No problem.” Heero finished off his mug of tea and gave a wide yawn.

Trowa noticed the yawn and discreetly nudged his partner under the table. Quatre looked up and frowned, his sight changing direction with Trowa's nod towards Heero and Duo.

Both men looked very tired, the day's events having worn them both out physically and emotionally. Giving his partner a soft smile of acknowledgment, Quatre finished his tea and stood up. “I think we'd best get going too, got quite a bit to do tomorrow. I'll keep in touch regarding the animals and if we have any luck in tracking down that horse.”

Trowa collected their mugs and rinsed them through before exchanging good-nights and taking their leave. Heero closed the door behind them and locked it, giving a soft sigh and resting his head against the back of the door.

“You okay, Heero?” Duo asked as he reentered the kitchen having gone through to the bathroom to relieve himself.

“Just tired,” Heero replied and turned around. He gave Duo his special smile. “Tired, relieved and happy.”

“Amen to that,” Duo replied.

Heero moved across the kitchen and wrapped his arms around his lover. “Let's go to bed,” he suggested. “I think I could sleep for a week.”

“Must admit, I feel rather worn out myself,” Duo replied and pressed a kiss to Heero's lips. “Thank god that's all over and done with, now we can start to get our lives back on track.”

“Hai, I agree. Come on, I'll give you a hand.”

* * *

The following morning saw a phone call for Heero from the insurance company to let him know that all the paperwork had been finalized and all that remained now was to get the clean up organized and underway so the rebuilding could commence. Heero advised Trimbole of the court findings and resulting sentence for Stefan's destruction of the stables and passed on the phone number to the District Attorney's office as Morris had instructed him to. Trimbole was very happy to hear the results and promised Heero the insurance company would take care of all the bills and then recoup the expenses from Mr. Graves.

That information put Heero in a very good mood for the day.

Trimbole passed over the contact numbers of the contractors the company had engaged to commence the work on his stables and let him know they would call to arrange a convenient time for the work to commence. Finally Heero felt as if something positive was starting to happen.

“Good news?” Duo asked when Heero returned to the kitchen. They had been sharing a late breakfast when the phone had rung, now Duo was busy reading through the local paper.

“Hai. That was the insurance company, they have engaged contractors to commence work on the new stable block. I should get a phone call from them sometime today to arrange when it would be okay for them to start.”

“The sooner the better if you ask me. Oh, that didn't quite come out right,” Duo added quickly when he realized how his words could be taken the wrong way. “I didn't mean it in the sense of moving the horses out of the surgery stables; they're more than welcome to stay there as long as they need to. I meant it would be good for you to be able to get back to normal again.”

Heero chuckled. “I know what you meant, Duo, so don't worry. I agree though, the sooner we can get the new stables built, the better for everyone. It will free up your stables again for the practice and I can start to get the training and competing back on track.”

“Don't forget we have a doctor's appointment in a couple of days,” Duo reminded his lover.

“I know. Hopefully these damn glove things can come off permanently. My hands have healed up okay and I really need to get back to working the horses.”

“I think we'll both be okay to have our hands back,” Duo chuckled, “Although I think it's gonna take a couple more weeks for my legs to be allowed out of these pressure sleeves.”

Heero wrapped his love in his strong arms, pressing soft kisses to Duo's neck. “I'm so sorry you got hurt, it's not fair that all I got was burnt hands whilst you ended up nearly losing your legs.”

“It's okay, Heero. I didn't nearly lose my legs, they got a touch well done, that's all. You'll see, once the burns have healed I'll be as good as new.” Duo sat in silence for a moment, Heero still cuddling him from his crouched position beside Duo's chair and the memories flowing through both minds. Finally Heero broke the silence.

“What are you planning on doing today?”

“I was going to spend the morning up at the surgery running the reception with Catherine. What about you?”

“I'd hoped to try and lunge some of the horses, they've been out of work for way too long and it's going to be hard to get them fit again and I'll need to do something with them as they all have shows coming up shortly.”

“Don't go stressing yourself,” Duo warned.

“I won't. Oh, Duo?”

“Yes?”

“We really should start to get our wedding plans sorted out. Now that the trials are over with we can set a date and get things moving,” Heero suggested.

“You know, with all the shit that's happened lately, I'd completely forgotten about that. How about we both go through the calendar later and see if we can find a suitable date?”

“That is a good idea.” Heero reached forth to press his lips against his lover's when the ringing of the phone interrupted them. “This had better be important,” Heero growled. “Hold that position, I'll be back in a moment to continue kissing you senseless.”

Duo chuckled and swatted Heero's backside as the rider went to answer the phone.

Heero reappeared in the doorway a few moments later. “It's Quatre,” he announced. “He wants to talk to both of us.”

“No problem, come over here and bring the phone with you.” Duo managed to scoot his chair across a little, Heero taking the one next to him and placing the phone between them so they could both hear what the blonde had to say.

“Can you both hear me okay?”

“Yeah, Quat, loud and clear. What's up?” Duo said.

“I've been out to Stefan Graves' place and picked up the cat this morning. It's fine, in perfect health so I'm going to drop it to Trowa's shelter shortly.” Quatre told them both.

“That's good then.” Heero replied. “Any word on Comet?”

“That's why I'm calling. We have managed to track down where Graves has her agisted and I plan on going out there this afternoon to pick her up. What I was calling for was to see if you could possibly spare the time to come with me, Heero? You've had a lot more experience with horses than I have and I don't know how she will react to strangers trying to load her onto a float. She knows you and I think it would be a lot less stressful if you could be there too, that is, if you don't mind?”

“Quatre, I'd be more than happy to help. What time did you want to go?”

“I'll swing by and pick you up about one if that's okay?”

“That's fine.” Heero paused for a moment to look at Duo who was gesturing at him. “Quatre, Duo's going to come along too.”

“Is he sure he's up to it?”

“I'm fine, Quatre. Besides, it might be an idea to have me along just in case you get into any difficulties and need veterinary help; plus I can give her the once over when we get there and give you a brief report on her overall health and condition,” Duo insisted.

“Thanks, Duo, that would be wonderful. To be honest, I'd be happier if you were to come along too, but I didn't want to ask given how you're still not healed up from the fire and all.”

“No problem, Quat. We will see you around one.”

“Yeah, thanks guys.”

~ * ~

tbc...
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Equus