-:-1923-:-
"Order please! I will have order in my court!"
Elphaba huffed quietly at the scene playing out before her. The judge brought her gavel down repeatedly trying to get the rowdy spectators to calm down. What exactly the strange group of spectators were upset about was beyond Elphaba, she'd tuned out the entire court room a while ago. Her eyes landed back on the judge, her nose curling in distaste.
She thought the judge looked like a fish, like a grouper, or a really obese trout. The judge, for her part, sat up upon her perch wildly beating the table before her, tiny eyes flitting around the courtroom, a vein on her neck popping from the exertion of her yelling. She seemed short, even sitting, and her hair was done up in a preposterously high up-do as if to compensate. The name plate sitting on the desk clattered in time to the gavel's beats, it read 'Judge Morrible'. Elphaba rolled her eyes before looking away; the judge's name was as horrible as her appearance.
The green girl's eyes floated around the room a bit before coming to land on her lawyer. He was a nice enough looking middle aged man, his hair just barely more salt than pepper. He stood at the end of the table she was sitting at, arms folded behind his back. He looked awfully proud, which only made Elphaba assume he'd started the ruckus in the court. There was a broad grin plastered on his face, which widened briefly when he noticed Elphaba watching him from the corner of his eyes. She snorted dully before turning her attention instead to the table before her and the papers covering it.
For a moment the girl got lost in her own terrible situation again, she'd done so well at keeping it away for the afternoon. But the newspaper clippings and fact sheets spread across the table before her brought it all rushing back in an instant. She cringed at one headline from a clipping that sat on top of the rest blared at her "Wicked Child Suspect in Father's Murder". Wicked, that's what people thought of her, al because of her skin tone. It wasn't her fault, it's not like she came out of the womb consciously deciding that she would be green. She sighed and ran a hand over the article to push it away, half revealing case photographs that were hidden beneath it. With a shudder she put the article back where it was, the headline was better than an image of her father's bloodied corpse.
"It's getting far too late to continue this nonsense," the judge half sighed once the room finally settled, "The court is adjourned. We'll reconvene tomorrow. Now everyone get out of my courthouse!"
The room filled with noise once more as everyone shuffled to their feet and made to leave at the same moment. A police officer ambled up to her to escort her out; she cast a tired glance over her shoulder at her lawyer who was gathering up his papers. She hadn't even bothered to learn his name, did he even have one? The green teen shook her head a bit and half listened to the officer argue with one of his brothers at arms. The good news, it seemed, was that she was too young to be kept overnight in jail. Her eyes stared off in the distance, pretending not to listen while the two officers discussed her fate for the night. Apparently being fifteen and a murder suspect had its perks, at least as much as a murder suspect could expect to get. The girl couldn't help but sigh again as the officer led her off.
-:-:-
Elphaba cozied into the couch as much as it would allow her, pulling her knees up to her chin as she glanced around. In the end it had been decided that while she couldn't stay in jail, they couldn't let her go either. So instead she was to stay the night in the police station's break room. It was nothing fancy, the room was rather bare and the entire wall opposite the couch was windowed so you could see in from the main part of the station. However, Elphaba figured it still beat jail any day; they'd even allowed her to have a book, which now rest right in front of the girl's face atop her knees. Despite the niceties though she couldn't help but notice that no officers had been in to check on her since dinner. After a day in the noisy courthouse though she couldn't say she minded either.
Shortly after midnight though, her solitude was broken. The door opened to reveal a stout older woman who waddled in like she owned the place. Neither the visitor nor Elphaba said anything as the older woman moved around the room closing the blinds over the windowed wall to make it more private. Only once all the blinds had been shut, and the door locked, did the woman look at her at all.
"Miss Elphaba," the aging woman dropped herself unceremoniously into a chair opposite where Elphaba sat jack-knifed on the couch. Elphaba merely nodded in acknowledgement, recognizing the woman the other woman as soon as she was seated as the trout judge from earlier. What was her name again, Morrible?
"I'm here to talk to you about your options," Judge Morrible paused once more, waiting for Elphaba to say something. The green girl gave no audible response though, brown eyes staring calmly at the judge from over the top of the book still resting on her knees. "No much of a talker, are you? No matter, I'm going to give you the option of getting off for this, even if the jury finds you guilty."
Elphaba raised her brows at this, partially shocked but mostly skeptical, "Is that likely?"
"Oh yes, very," Morrible nodded gravely. If she hadn't already decided it before by this point Elphaba mentally noted that she did not like this woman at all. Even if what she'd just said was true, it wasn't kind to tell a fifteen-year-old that she was going to be convicted of murder.
"Still, when all is said and done I make the decisions," the graying lady commented slyly.
"What's the catch?" Elphaba shot back instantly.
"Oh, smart one I see," Morrible's grin widened, Elphaba ignored this comment, her face dead panned, "I'm not entirely sure why he wants you, actually. I think you'll be more trouble than you're worth. I think your skin will make you stick out like a sore thumb. However if you work with us you may be an asset."
Elphaba wrinkled her nose at the back-handed compliment. Even then though, they were still compliments, and the girl couldn't help but feel a little warmed by them. After all, she was so used to just getting straight up insults that even this round-about compliment got to her.
As is sensing thins Morrible continued, "Surely you know about the current state of . . . establishments (1)." The judge paused; Elphaba nodded indicating for the other woman to carry on. "My associate works hard to keep these establishments running. He commissions me to pick out the best of the best. And you my dear are the best."
Elphaba scoffed audibly, Morrible shot her a dark look before talking again, "Getting back to your options. I can get you off, and you will go free. You will be trained, and well kept. Every now and again you will be contacted to do something for us, and when you do you will be finely paid. Or you can rot in jail. Your choice really," she finished matter-of-factly.
Silence prevailed once more. Elphaba hid a grimace behind her book, still balanced on her knees in front of her face. She would surely rather be free, even if it was a faux freedom, than in jail. Furthermore she had no trouble at all believing Morrible when she said the chances were high of the green girl being found guilty. People had always thought of her as bad, no thanks to her verdigris, and this whole ordeal simply propelled that sort of thinking. Big brown eyes peered reproachfully at the aging judge.
Setting her face in a false sense of confidence Elphaba reached a hand out to seal the deal. If it were even possible the grin on the trout lady's face widened as her chubby hand met Elphaba's. This fact alone made the green teen uneasy.
"Do I at least get to know who my employer is?" the girl questioned dully, wiping her hand on the couch discretely as Morrible made to leave. The older lady paused in the door frame, glancing over her shoulder.
"You already have," and with that the door closed behind Morrible.
Elphaba swallowed hard at that. This whole arrangement seemed fishy, and she was sure that wasn't just because of the woman who had offered it to her. She could only hope she hadn't made a horrible mistake, although she was sure she had. A horrible mistake and a Horrible Morrible.
-:-:-
"INNOCENT!"
Elphaba's stomach dropped as the jury announced its verdict. Her lawyer smiled triumphantly as the people watching the proceedings were mixed between cheers and groans. She remained where she was as the room slowly emptied. She should have just trusted the system; she'd never in a million years guessed she might have been found innocent. Her eyes met Morrible's for a brief instant before the trout lady smiled and vanished through the door behind her stand.
It was too late. She'd made a mistake betting against the justice of people. She was stuck now, gambled and lost, she was doomed to do whatever this Horrible Morrible and her nameless associate had in store for her. She cursed herself silently for having believed someone she had so disliked. She should have just listened to her gut and then she'd have been a real free woman, instead of what she knew was going to be a false freedom now.
"I'm glad you took our offer."
The voice jerked Elphaba from her downward spiral of thought. Her head spun to the side as she looked at the owner of the voice. Her lawyer was the only one there. She swallowed softly and wrinkled her brows at the thought. Her lawyer just winked at her as he slung his briefcase over his shoulder nonchalantly.
"This was definitely worth hanging around for one last case. Shall we get going? We've got a long road ahead of us."
The green girl sat up a little straighter, all of her attention now on the lawyer. He was wearing a dark green, well pressed suit with a matching hat. He looked professional in every way; she couldn't imagine him being questionable. Then again she couldn't imagine being a suspect in her own father's murder case prior to a few weeks ago, nor could she imagine the jury proclaiming her innocent. She opened her mouth to ask something, and then shut it as if having thought better of it.
"People call me The Wizard," He answered anyways, as if he knew what Elphaba was going to say. "Now let's blow this joint my little apprentice."
His voice was sickeningly sweet as he began to wall down the hall and out of the court room. Now Elphaba was entirely sure she'd made a horrible, horrible mistake. The worst part was that she couldn't even go back because she had a gut feeling that if she ever disobeyed now she'd turn up at the morgue or worse at the bottom of some lake. With a shallow sigh she stood and followed the green suited man through to doorway and into her new life.
-:-:-
1 – Establishment was a rather ambiguous term referring to speakeasies, or illegal liquor operations.
A/N: So I'll apologize ahead of time for this because each of the chapters are going to have these foot notes. Because I'm a massive dork and using slang from the era pleases me, though I know much of it will be pondersome to others so footnotes are my answer to that. Anyway, all of this is set in an AU with the influences of 1920s America and the prohibition. However for ease the city is still the Emerald City. And. . . yes that's on that for now.