Loose Ends

The week in Hawaii had the intended effect on the baby. While still not quite normal, Amanda's soothing talk calmed the baby considerably. Carol, Sam, and Carra also spoke to the child, and Maybourne was acting like a grandfather. Upon returning they called the TV station that found them and gave them an exclusive interview. Maybourne broke the news that he wanted to adopt Amanda and stay in her home. Carol stayed in the house Maybourne rented and became the counselor for the abused girls. Will was released into Maybourne and Carol's joint custody and stayed with Carol. He insisted on marrying Amanda. The baby needed a father and he grew rather fond of Amanda. The feeling was mutual. Maybourne insisted on a Christmas wedding, to the delight of both Will and Amanda. Will was accepted back into high school and worked hard to catch up and graduate.

On Eddie's trial date Carra showed up to testify. As expected, Eddie's attorney accused Amanda of being a willing accomplice, especially since she was so calm. Eddie mouthed some threats to her on the witness stand, but Amanda totally ignored him, smiling when she looked at him. This made him extremely angry and one of the jurors noticed the exchange and nudged his neighbor. At lunch break word got around and by the time Megan and the other victims took the stand someone was always watching Eddie. He gave them quite a show.

His attorney made snide remarks about how Amanda was staying at the home where most of the supposed abuse took place. She looked him in the face and gave him a confident and defiant answer, "I refuse to be a victim. That house belonged to my mother and she gave it to me in her will." She asked permission to get up and walk around, unheard of, but the judge gave his approval. She walked over to the jury and addressed them directly. "We former victims are often controlled by our abusers long after they are gone. We are afraid to go to certain stores. We are afraid of certain vehicles. We are afraid to go to the park. We are afraid to wear certain clothes. We are afraid to associate with anything that reminds us of our abuse. We are still controlled by our abuser. People like this defense attorney expect us to be controlled by them. That makes him an accomplice to the abuse." The defense attorney objected but the look Amanda gave him sent chills down his back. This young lady was no pushover and she was going to tell her story. The judge hesitantly overruled his objection and cautioned Amanda to stick to the subject.

"This is entirely the subject that this defense attorney brought up," she confidently, but gently stated to him and turned back to the jury. "The defense attorney is also correct. Normally one would expect an unwilling victim to avoid the place that such terrible abuse occurred, abuse that the defendant freely admitted to in the video the defense attorney is terrified to show you. My situation is not normal. Two people out evading some very dangerous people almost abandoned their mission to help me."

At this point Amanda was in tears. The defense attorney thought he finally had her and made a comment to her. She laughed at him. "Harry and Carra set me free that day, more free than I could have ever imagined. They showed me things that made me wonder if I got hooked up with some lunatics." She chuckled at that and then admitted that they were indeed lunatics and she was glad they were! "They had the most insane plan to entice Eddie to run after both me and Carra and admit to all the abuse and the two murders."

Again the defense attorney objected to evidence he fought hard to hide. The judge sustained, but was overruled by a voice from the crowd. Carra approached the bench. "There is no justice if you hide evidence." She turned to attorney and addressed him, to the dismay and objection of the judge. She ignored his comments and continued, "Thank you for admitting that you are deliberately hiding evidence. You just destroyed your credibility." She turned to the judge who ordered her removed from the courtroom. "Your honor, you have no jurisdiction over an Ambassador. My authority overrules yours. Go on Amanda."

Amanda continued over the objection of the judge, but Carra's secret service escort stopped his objection. Turning again to the jury after giving Carra a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Normally a victim has issues for a long time. However Carra here and Harry, Colonel Maybourne, whom will speak soon concerning his extensive credentials, demonstrated to me how important I was and they were honored to protect me. They showed me that I don't have to live under my abuser's control any more. Has it been hard at times? Yes. I had to leave my home twice since being allowed back there. I spent three nights with Carol, also a survivor and victor over her own abuse."

"How much of the trial did you go over with Carol," came the cross examination by the defense attorney, desperate to discredit this girl that was getting the best of him.

Amanda turned to him and walked over to his table. "We talked about her abuse and we ate popcorn. We talked about Carra and her friends who were murdered the day they helped her escape her abuse. We hugged and watched movies. We talked about her," Amanda was about to let something slip, but caught herself. "Carol has been helping some of Ambassador Carra's friends in their war against some very nasty abusers."

The defense attorney tried to get more information, but one of the Secret Service officers interjected, claiming military secrecy over any further details.

Amanda continued, "I didn't need to talk about anything in particular. I just needed a little space to be able to deal with my past. I want to get this trial over with so I can help Megan and the other victims overcome their past. Megan is doing fine and no, we have not discussed the trial or the abuse specifically. Carol and I were extremely careful in only discussing abuse in general, mainly Carol discussing her former husband who used to beat her up."

Amanda finished quickly and returned to the witness stand for further questions, but the defense attorney was eager to get her out of there. Unfortunately for him and Eddie the prosecuting attorney kept her there for quite some time. She freely spoke about the movies Eddie made of her and the prosecuting attorney pushed to have them shown. The judge was pressured by Carra's earlier comments to view a selection of the videos in closed session. Amanda insisted on only those with her alone be viewed to avoid hurting the other victims, but Megan insisted hers be viewed also. Although not quite as confident as Amanda, she caused the defense attorney enough trouble to decline any cross examination. In the end, the jury demanded viewing Eddie's confession video that Amanda, Carra, Maybourne and the Sheriff all mentioned.

When Carra took the stand Eddie's attorney was already worn down from the confidence Amanda and Megan showed on the stand and the way Amanda humiliated him. A few of the other girls were still afraid of Eddie and his friends, but pushed through. The defense attorney tried to discredit Carra, but he ended up being the one on the defensive. She asked him more questions than he did, rarely actually answering his questions directly, but made the jury and audience think about what happened in the video. She had an uncanny ability to engage her audience. She had the opportunity to demonstrate her ability to hear in a crowded room by addressing a comment one of the jurors made to another about her. Carra further demonstrated her ability by having everyone talk to each other. By the fourth conversation the defense attorney quickly dismissed her, but the prosecuting attorney kept her there to describe every detail of Roger's conversation with Eddie and how she and Maybourne set the trap for Eddie. She praised Amanda's performance that day, to which the courtroom applauded. The defense attorney was totally defeated by Carra's video, the videos found at the home, and the confident testimony of the many witnesses. There would be no parole for Eddie or his friends.

Denton also faced similar testimony and mounting evidence they found. Agent Thompson asked Carra for help and she gladly went and found several cleverly disguised hiding places in his home and quickly decoded all his computers, locating three warehouses and several kidnapped girls he used for his videos. His customer list netted a great harvest of molesters and solved many cases across the country.

Will ended up pushing through and graduating that spring, going on to the Air Force Academy from Maybourne and SG-1's recommendation and Will's judge's orders. The commander didn't like the arrangement, but after the first semester accepted it as Will showed no signs of his former life. He was considerate of his fellow cadets and respected his instructors, who pushed and tested him, trying to get him to quit, but he clung on. The commander and the instructors expected all kinds of trouble from a court ordered cadet, but quickly tolerated him. Unfortunately, a few of the cadets continued to shun him and degrad him, but he just ignored them.

Amanda and little Carra made frequent weekend visits to Will. She refused to let go of her mother's house and Will needed to be free of distractions. She was Harry's, and soon to be Carol's, princess, but she was Will's queen. She ached to tell him of some of her adventures with Carol and Carra and Virginia, but that would wait until he graduated and hopefully received a position at Stargate.

The President gave Maybourne a full pardon that next fall and celebrated by going on a visit to Will with only little Carra, giving mother and soon to be grandmother some time together causing trouble for the Goa'uld. It was a nice ride for his fully restored Chevelle that he and Amanda worked on together. While he was at the academy with Will he had some lettering put on the door and trunk lid, 'Princess' and 'Princess's Chariot.' Will smiled at that. Harry needed to look for another ride, but it would be another year before she could drive. Will would be there for the New Year's wedding. Harry thought about another Christmas wedding, but decided against it. Nothing to distract from his princess! Kapono was there for Amanda's wedding and would be there again for Harry and Carol's wedding too. Grandmother would join them too.

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