Disclaimer: see chapter one.
A/N: I'm back! I didn't think that anyone was still interested but thanks to the anonymous reviewer known only as Danny I have found the will to carry on with this once dead fic starring everyone's favorite stair person and all around nice guy, David Cullen AKA The Thing Between the Walls, AKA Roach.
"These things are always more interesting on TV." Said Trysta as she fought to keep her eyes opened. The people who took her brother hadn't even had the chance to talk yet. The only people talking were some fancy lawyer and doctor trying to say that the Robeson's are crazy and couldn't be held responsible for their actions. Like anyone was going to buy that.
"Shh." Said Roach putting his finger to his lips. He didn't want to be there and he certainly didn't want his family there. He didn't want them to know what he had been. He just wanted to Robeson's to be put in some kind of horrible jail worse than what he went through if such a thing existed.
"Kids, shut it." Muttered David Sr. as he tried to follow what was going on. He found himself lost in the fancy medical jargon traded by the lawyer and psychologist. His eyes wandered around the room to the people under the stairs. His son's…conrads…possibly friends. They sat perfectly still for the most part although a few seemed to have some sort of shaking disorder. His son could hve been one of them. His son was one of them. David Jr. could have died.
"I call to the stand Elmira Robeson." Said the lawyer representing the Robeson's. They had hired some slick high priced fast talking lawyer but nobody showed any sign of lenience. The Robeson's on the other had felt some sort of suicidal confidence that had caused them to decline any sort of deal and make a public spectacle of themselves.
"Fuck you." Muttered Roach under his breath as he watched Mommy take the stand. She was trying to be the perfect wife and mother but was failing. Hatred coursed through Roach's veins. Alice turned to look at him. Their families had sat together but Dot was between Roach and Alice thanks to that little display they put on. It didn't stop Alice from reaching across Dot and holding Roach's hand.
"Now do you deny what the court is accusing you of?" asked her lawyer. He knew that calling them both insane and making sure that Elmira Robeson was cast as a victim of her domineering husband was the best defense. The evidence, after all, was sitting in front of the courtroom.
"No." said Elmira earning some chatter from the court. Several of the people under the stairs muttered very graphic threats of death and torture until Boss raised his hand in silence. He was trying his best to listen to this and they weren't helping.
"And why is that?" asked the lawyer. Roach was gripping Alice hand tight within his own. She wasn't even deny it and this somehow felt worse than if she had. Dot let Roach sit closer to Alice and made Trysta scoot over. Nobody noticed; her parents were as mad as he brother.
"Every now and then a good mother had to discipline her children." Said Elmira in a sweet voice. It was as if her voice was twisting the key that wound up the room. Everyone that was there from family of the kidnapped and deceased to the jurors looked like they wanted to make her suffer.
"And you don't think that you were being a bit…excessive?" asked the lawyer. The room was so quite the only thing that could be heard was the labored breathing of a few of the people under the stairs. Alice felt a rage not unlike that one that overtook her earlier coming on and gripped Roach's hand as tightly as he was gripping hers. Something about the feel of his hand in hers, his body next to hers, the smell of his cologne ebbed her anger and all she could think about was what they shared earlier. Even if it was just a big fuck you to Mommy it was something between her and him. Something primal; something akin to playing with a fire she was nowhere near ready for but also sort of was.
"I tried to help them." Said Elmira her voice taking on a cold edge the people under the stairs had heard many times before. Messenger pulled Headbanger and Miracle close to him. He wasn't afraid of Mommy but Headbanger was and if Headbanger was afraid of Mommy then she must have still been a threat. He had to protect his family.
"How?" asked the lawyer. Eloise didn't know where he was going with this. If anything he was just making Mommy look worse. A life inside of an insane asylum was worse than a life in prison in many ways. Yes, he was going for an insanity plea. This case was unwinnable since it had gone t jury. They should have just taken a deal or only gone before a judge. Well, everyone said they were crazy nobody said they were geniuses.
"I tried and I tried to discipline them but they were just so bad that Eldon made me cut the bad parts out. It didn't make them any better so we locked them up and let them have some sort of life. I tried to save them through discipline but Eldon always found something wrong with them."
"So it was Eldon that mutilated these people, you're children and theirs? You were only trying to help them through discipline?" asked the lawyer playing it up to the jury. Roach wished that he had some sort of weapon on him. He'd put her out of everyone's misery. Especially Alice's.
"Yes." Said Mommy breaking out into tears. If Roach didn't know better he'd say that she was actually crying but that was something that human beings did. Amanda Cullen felt her pulse in her ears and she saw red. This inhuman monster was defending ruining her son's life. Killing and mutilating all of those people. Something inside of Amanda Cullen snapped when she said that. Before she even knew what she was doing she was standing up and everyone's attention was on her.
"You were not and my son's mother and what you did was not discipline! You are a monster!" yelled Amanda she was ready to go up to Elmira and give her hell but was held back by her husband and children. To her astonishment she heard clapping and someone remarking that she must have been cockroach's mother. She'd have to have a talk with her son about answering to the name cockroach.
"Order! Order!" called the judge as pandemonium broke out in the courtroom. Amanda Cullen was the spark that set off the powder keg that was this court room. The next few minutes were a crazy blur for anyone that was there. The people under the stairs mobbed Mommy and Daddy. Roach tried to join them but was held back by Alice. Messenger and his family were ushered out of the room as quickly as possible to protect baby Miracle.
"I should've killed you all when I had the chance!" yelled Mommy as the people under the stairs were held back. They didn't stop struggling until Boss shook his head 'no'.After what seemed like forever everyone was calmed down and the people under the stairs were taken back to North Mercy. Nobody could fault them for acting as they did. The trial would be picked up at a later date after both lawyers requested a brief recess. Roach didn't look at his fellow people under the stairs as they were led away. Why were they bothering with this trial? If this was the cellar the Robeson's would have been killed by now. He shook his head, he wasn't there anymore.
"Roach…" said Alice quietly. He turned to face her and she looked at him with a mixture of fear, love, and co fusion. He felt ashamed of himself for wanting to join them. He was back on the outside where he belonged and he was going to have to act like them. He scared Alice. He hated himself for that. He gave her a quick kiss. He felt more and more comfortable doing that. Maybe she returned his feelings. He tried to stop himself from thinking about that day. This was not the time to be hard, especially not in public in front of all these people.
"Time to go." Said Mary-Anne motioning for Alice to follow her. She had thought of them as just friends until now and she was almost happy that they were together. The thought of Alice being a normal teenage girl with a boyfriend almost made Mary-Ann forget the inflammatory remarks Elmira made earlier. Almost. She was however thankful that Amanda spoke up before her. She would have just started cursing and thrown her heels.
"Us too, David Jr." said David Sr. Roach nodded and let go of Alice's hand. There were a million and one things he wanted to talk to his son about but he just didn't have the energy. He just wanted to be able to go home and sleep a little. The family loaded themselves into the station wagon and hit the road home. It was a silent ride broken only by the radio that no one was listening too. Even Morgan, Trysta, and Dot were silent as they sat crammed together. Somehow seeing the people under the stairs in person, being around them, made everything all the more real for them. They knew that their brother had gone through some horrible stuff but seeing the others and hearing that awful woman talk had done something to them. Maybe they were growing up.
"End of the line." Said Amanda attempting to be jovial. The kids gave her small smile and then went into the house. She started on a simple dinner of spaghetti and meat sauce from the jar. David Sr. went to his garage to have some time alone to think as his kids went their separate ways. He thought that getting Amanda pregnant at fifteen was going to be the low point of his life…man was he wrong. He reached under his workbench and pulled out a small warn photo album. He flipped open to David's ultrasound photo and just stared at it. He then flipped to the end to a photo of his son on a hospital bed looking like he had been to hell and back. From a five year old in the tub playing with the bubbles to a fifteen eyar old in the ICU. There would be justice for his son. This he swore.
