A\N This was my very first trial that I have ever written but I got through it, with the amazing editing styles of Tinkerpanda. She made this chapter so much better then it was before. It's kind of long but it used to be even longer, I cut it back and added the rest to make the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Flashpoint, CTV or CBS

Warnings: Vivid descriptions of child abuse.

Spoilers: First in Line, Behind the Blue Line, Acceptable Risk and Terror.

Trial Part One

The warm air of June drifted through the broad streets and sprawling parks of Ottawa, fragant with the smell of blossoming flowers. The city's lawyers, judges and other court employees wore only light jackets to shield against the gentle win, scurrying up the marble steps of the courthouse. Media personel lined the crowded streets – it was the start of one of the biggest national trials of the year. General Martin Braddock, highest ranking military General in the country, was being charged with ten counts of child abuse. His son Samuel Braddock and the country's best JAG lawyers were gunning for 10 years in a federal penitentiary.

"Constable Braddock!" Ten reports rushed towards the blonde haired man as he climbed the courthouse steps. "Do you think you can win this case?"

"We have no comment." The lead attorney stepped to Sam's aid. "Now clear the way." His voice was powerful.

"Major Laker-

"I said no comment." Fifty-three year old, grey haired family-man Dennis Laker angrily led Sam and Jules, along with his aides and associates into the downtown Ottawa court house.

"You okay son?" The man turned to look Sam in the eye as soon as they were in the air-conditioned building.

"Yes sir." Sam said nervously rubbing his hands together. "I'm not very good with this kind of thing."

"You just tell the truth and the jury will belief you, you've done nothing wrong, you hear me?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. Now we should get going." He clapped a hand over Sam's shoulder in a sign of affectionate support.

"Please state your name, age and rank." The court reporter ordered Sam.

"Former Major-Corporal Samuel Braddock, twenty-six."

"Thank you, you may sit down."

"Constable Braddock, you no longer work in the Canadian Forces. Can you tell us where you are currently employed?"

"I work for the Toronto Police Department as a sniper for the Strategic Response Unit.

"But you are also learning how to talk to people, and sort out problems, is that correct?" Major Laker wanted clarification.

"Yes. As a member of the SRU, I'm learning to profile and negotiate as well. Team members have to be well-rounded and trained to perform any job at any time. It's been a struggle but it's something that I need to learn."

"Are you married?"

"Objection your honor, relevance?" The defense lawyer rose to his feet.

"It goes to credibility your honor- I'm trying to get the jury to understand my client better."

"I'll allow it but you better be going somewhere with this." The judge responded, lifting a brow.

"I am Your Honor." Laker reassured him.

"So, Constable Braddock are you married?"

"Yes sir, I am." Sam smiled.

"Any children?"

"Not yet." His stomach clenched at the memory. Almost. He thought, remembering the child they'd lost.

"But you do want children correct?"

"Yes sir."

"Again relevance Your Honor?" The defense attorney interjected.

"Major Laker I assume this is leading somewhere." The judge mused.

"It is Your Honor."

"Okay Major Laker but skip to your point."

"Yes Your Honor. Constable Braddock, do you remember what it was like as a child? Your father is a military man so I am guessing you moved around a lot."

"Yes sir, twenty-two houses in eighteen years. I've lived in five countries and almost every city with a major base in North America."

Major Laker nodded his head. "Do you remember the events of June 1st 1989? You would have been 5."

Sam swallowed hard. "Yes sir I remember."

"Can you tell us what happened?"

Sam nodded his head as he tried to regain his composer enough to speak while fighting off his father's glare.

"Its okay son take your time." Major Laker calmly told Sam. "Just take your time."

"I am fine sir," Sam swallowed hard as he took a quick look at Jules who was sitting at the back of the courtroom. That was all it took to bolster his courage enough to speak.

"We were living in Wainright, Alberta. My father had just gotten back from – well, I'm not sure, exactly. But I remember him telling my mother we were moving and she wasn't very happy. Neither was I. I started crying. We had been on base for six months and I had made some really good friends so I didn't want to leave. My father he got angry. He started yelling. He picked me and … uhm." Sam faltered.

"Take your time."

"I remember him shaking me. His face was red from shouting and his arms were locked around my neck. Then he threw me. I landed on my left leg and shattered my left tibia. The pain was incredible – it hurt so bad I passed out. When I woke up I was in the hospital. I had a cast for five months and spent another three on crutches."

"What did your parents say happened to you?"

"My mother – she was furious at my father. I remember them yelling, but they fought all the time so I guess it wasn't that big a deal to anyone else. My father told everybody I tripped over a hockey stick. Nobody wanted to argue with him."

"Speculation!" The defense attorney shot to his feet again, blustering as he objected.

"I agree, watch yourself Constable Braddock."

"Yes sir."

"Constable Braddock take us through the night of December 10th 1990."

"I'd failed a spelling test. My father had big plans for me, he told me. And they didn't include failing a goddamned first grade spelling test. He made me spell them over and over again until I got them all right. And every time I said one wrong he'd hit me. On the back – so nobody would see it. Then, at the end, he pushed me. I must have landed wrong and the bones in my left leg were already weak from being broken the year before. They snapped."

"Constable Braddock can you tell us what happened on February 12th 1991?"

"Yes sir." Sam seemed more motivated, picking up speed. "My father was stationed in Washington D.C. and there was this fancy dinner party. It was really important. My parents were ready to go but I was having trouble with tying my tie. I was only, seven." My father called me stupid and he started hitting my head against the wall, harder and harder until my head was throbbing. I ended with a concussion and lucky enough not to have brain damage."

"How long were you in the hospital for?"

"Two weeks."

"Weren't people wondering what was going on?"

"No sir, different bases, and people tend to turn their heads. He told them I feel down the stairs."

"Objection!"

"Constable Braddock."

"Sorry sir."

"I think we'll break for twenty minutes." The judge decided seeing tensions already on the rise.

"I'm sorry I kept on messing up sir." Sam apologized to Major Laker, "I shouldn't have said some of those things."

"No belief me Sam your father deserves much worse. You were doing great."

"I just want this to be over sir." Sam admitted. "My mother hasn't spoken to me in months."

"I know you told me, she's not cooperating with either side."

"That doesn't make me feel any better." Sam said dryly.

"I know."

"Sam!" Jules voice sounded like heaven in his ears as she ran towards him, pulling him into a tight hug. "I'm so proud of you." She told him, kissing him quickly.

Sam tried to smile. "Jewel some of the things – I'm not sure I want you to hear. Why don't you go and get something to eat."

"No Sam I want to know, I need to know." She responded, pulling back to frown up at him. "I don't need to be protected. I can handle the truth."

"Jules-"

"Sam." Jules shook her head as she turned and walked away.

"She's pretty tough." Major Laker commented.

"Yes sir she is." Sam smiled. "She's too tough for her own good sometimes,"

"Constable Braddock can you tell the court what happened on August 19th 1994?

Sam nodded, letting the memory come back. "I was ten years old and my father was stationed in Madrid. We'd buried my sister there. She was killed in a hit and run. I was walking her to the park and this big chevy – it jumped the curb and slammed into her. Not two months later my father comes home and tells us we're being redeployed to Turkey. I didn't want to abandon her there. The thought of leaving her alone."

"I can imagine." Major Laker said. "Please continue."

"Yes sir. I decided I was going to run away. I had everything packed in a small suitcase; the only thing stopping me was my father. He walked into my room and he grabbed my arm and told me I was not going anywhere. He twisted it so hard it broke."

"What arm was this?"

"My right arm sir."

"I know this must be hard for you but can you tell us what happened on May 15th 1996?"

Sam nodded his head slowly, he would never forget that night. "My father put out a cigarette on my leg. It caught my pant leg on fire and I got second degree burns to my right leg. He stomped on it to put the flames out and broke it as well. To this day fire still really freaks me out. It brings it all back to that night."

He shuddered.

"My leg was a mangled mess. We were stationed in Saudi. They, uhm, didn't keep medical records of the incident. They've been lost."

"What about September 12th 1998? Do you remember that day?"

"Yes sir. I was playing road hockey on the street with my friends. My father didn't like it very much, when he called me inside the house and told me never to do it again. I told him he couldn't tell me what to do so he punched me and then sent me up to my room. I had a black eye for a week or so – it swelled so much that I couldn't see out of it for nearly two days.

"What about November 12th 1999 when you were fifteen years old? Do you remember what happened that day?"

"Well sir, like you said I was fifteen and we were living in Petawawa at the time and I was skating on an outdoor rink with some friends. I got home my father just ripped my skates from my hands and threw them across the floor. One sliced open my shin – it needed 12 stitches. I still don't know why he was so mad that day."

"Did you ever try and fight back?"

"Yes sir I did but that only made my father more angry with me."

"What about on August 20th 2000?"

"My father broke my hand sir, he told me he was never proud of me and he never would be."

"You left for the military when you were eighteen correct?"

"Yes sir."

"Why is that?"

"Well sir the military was really the only then I knew growing up. It was expected of me, in a way. But it was something that I wanted to do."

"Did you like the military?"

"Yes and no. It got me away from home and I got to meet some amazing people. I served my country. But everybody always assumed that I got by on my name, especially when I got promoted and transferred to JTF-2. People always wanted to know what it was like growing up with General 'Badass'. I didn't know what to tell them. The truth wasn't as pretty as they thought it would be."

"JTF-2, can you tell us what that is?"

"It stands for Joint Terrorism Task Force Two. Its Canada's elite counter-terrorism unit."

"So what they do is classified?"

"Yes."

"How many tours did you serve with JTF-2?"

"Two tours sir."

"Then what happened?"

"A few weeks into my third tour there was an incident. One of the men, my best friend Matthew Greene, was killed. I can't say more – all our ops are classified. But in the end JTF-2 and my father agreed that it would be best if I left the team. So I left and got a job on at the SRU."

"Do you like working at the SRU?"

"Yes sir, I love it."

"That's great, now your wife Jules she works at the SRU as well correct?"

"Yes sir, that's where we met. We were originally assigned to the same team but after we started dating I switched. You are not allowed to be romantically involved with other team mates."

"Now remember your under oath Constable Braddock. Have you ever hit your wife?"

Sam gulped. He knew that Laker was asking to cut the defense's feet out from under them. It would be much worse if his father's lawyer asked about. "I was going through a very rough phase sir. I was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder but that doesn't excuse my actions. I'm not going to deny the fact that I did try to hit her."

"You tried." Major Laker said. The courtroom was aflutter with whispers. Sam's stomach gave a nauseating roll.

"She defended herself sir, she's a trained sniper she's very strong."

"What happened after that?"

"After that I received help sir I went to the military base in Kingston where I received treatment. I'm not going to say I'm perfect but I'm doing a lot better."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"Can you tell us what happened this December?"

"My wife and I were spending Christmas with her family in Medicine Hat, Alberta. A few days before I had seen my father and mother and they told me they wanted to meet my wife Jules and her family. I told them I didn't want that. I did something I'd never done to them before. I walked away. My wife's family made me realize something. That family's about love and acceptance. Not fear and pain. I didn't want any part of my parents' anymore. Because that's not a family."

"Why didn't you want your parents to meet your wife and her family?"

"My father had already made it perfectly clear that he didn't like Jules. I wasn't going to let him anywhere near her or her family."

"Your wife's family, do you get along with them?"

"Yes sir." Sam smiled. "She has four nosy older brothers, and an overprotective father." He grinned, thinking of them.

"Her brothers do they have any children?"

"Yes. Jules' nephew Andrew passed away this past year. She also has two nieces – Becky and Katie."

"I'm sorry to hear that. My condolences to your family." Laker said sympathetically.

"Thanks."

"The girls, do they like you?"

"The older one just turned eleven and she's a good kid though I haven't seen her since Christmas. The younger one is two. Her family lives in Ottawa so I get to see her more often. She's a sweetheart."

"Getting back to last Christmas can you tell the court what happened on December 28th 2012?"

"My father came to my wife's childhood home and he was asked to several times."

"Who asked him to leave?"

"All of my wife's brothers, her father, my wife and I all did at some point or other."

"You said you're learning how to negotiate. Did you try and talk to your father."

"We all did sir but it wasn't working. He didn't want to leave."

"What did he want?"

"He wanted to..." Sam paused. "I've got absolutely no clue, to be completely honest."

"How did your father end up leaving?"

"He was escalating – in SRU terms that means he was getting more violent. I approached him, and told him to leave, he laughed in my face. He rammed his head into mine and broke my nose."

Major Laker shook his head obviously disgusted at what he was hearing. "In your opinion Constable Braddock was your father a good parent."

"Absolutely not sir."

"Thank you Constable Braddock, no further questions your honor."

"Constable Braddock." Defense council stood up, "You said in your testimony you liked to play hockey, did you play any other sports as a child?"

"Yes sir."

"Can you tell us what those sports were?"

"I played hockey, soccer, I snowboarded, played football, baseball, basketball, basically if it was a sport I tried it. I even gave squash a go."

"Playing all of those sports must have gotten you injured."

"It did sir."

"So all of these alleged injuries could have come from any number of sports."

"They could have sir."

"Now September 12th 1993 you said your father General Martin Braddock gave you a swollen eye. You said he initially got mad at you for playing road hockey."

"Yes sir that's why he called me inside."

"Constable Braddock you'll have to agree with me that road hokey, however fun it might be is very dangerous. I mean one of the first things you learn as a child is not to play on the road, and your parents must have been especially worried about you having lost a daughter just a few years earlier."

"Objection!" Major Laker rose to his feet. "Relevance your honor?"

"It goes to credibility of the charge your honor."

"Sir, defense council is merely trying to upset Constable Braddock."

"Your honor I assure you those are not my intentions."

"Council approach the bench." The judge ordered.

"Major McIntosh find a more suitably and relevant way to phrase your question and Major Laker do not jump to conclusions in my courtroom." Judge Withering ordered.

"Yes your honor." Both men said at the same time.

"Now Constable Braddock, your parents were worried about you playing road hockey, correct?" Major McIntosh rephrased his question.

"Yes sir they were."

"So when your father called you inside the house and you disobeyed him, he must have been angry."

"He was sir angry enough to hit me."

"No Constable Braddock. Your father did not hit you. You already had a swollen eye from a fight you had gotten into that day. Do you remember that?"

"Yes sir."

"Now Constable Braddock I have three sons of my own and I come from a military family myself. I know boys get into fights all the time especially when they move from place to place and have a need to fit in."

"I did get into a fight that day, sir, but I didn't get a black eye, nobody really got hurt it was just a bunch of friends roughhousing."

"Your under oath Constable Braddock, you need to tell the truth."

"I am telling you the truth Sir I did not receive a swollen eye from a fight earlier that day."

"You claimed your father burned you but isn't it true you ran into multiple burning buildings during your time at JTF-2?"

"That's classified sir."

"I understand that Constable but I'm not asking you how many people you killed I'm simply asking you if you ran into any burning buildings."

"Yes I did."

"So that burn you said your father gave you when you were twelve could have been from another fire."

"I didn't tend to run into burning buildings at the age of twelve." Sam responded dryly.

"Could your current burns not have not been from a later incident?" The defense attorney glowered at him now.

Sam shrugged. "I suppose."

"You also mentioned you almost hit your wife. Would you say you have a quick temper."

"I would." Sam admitted. "But the treatment I received in Kingston has been extremely helpful."

"You said you were suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD from what? Surely it wasn't still from your time in the army unless something traumatic happened."

"I was suffering from latent PTSD from my time in the military and from my childhood."

"And now you're magically better. How do we know you don't abuse your wife?"

"I would never hurt Jules." Sam tried to stay as calm as he possibly could.

"Right, and I'm sure if we asked her she'd say the same thing."

"She would."

"Constable Braddock women whose husbands abuse them tend to side with their husbands, you'd know that know wouldn't you."

Sam wanted to explode with anger and he was loosing his temper fast but he knew that, that was what the lawyer wanted and he did not want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he had gotten to him.

"You could say that sir. But that's not the case here."

"I will, no further questions your honor."

"Major Laker would you like to re-examine your witness."

"No Your Honor."

"Alright we'll break for an hour lunch. Court resumes at one o'clock."

"I'm very proud of you Sam, you did a great job." Major Laker praised Sam as they sat on a bench outside the courtroom. "Especially at the end."

"Thank you Sir," Sam said, "I'm just glad its over."

"I'm going to head back to my office I suggest you and Jules get something to eat and be back here for court when it starts."

"Yes sir." Sam said as his head well back against the wall and he breathed.

"You feel up to eating." Jules voice entered his head as she approached him.

"I think so." Sam opened his eyes one by one smiling at her. "You should probably eat you're going up next."

"Yeah I know." Jules nodded her head.

"You uh-never told me you were afraid of fire." Jules spoke.

"Terrified."

Jules nodded her head gently taking his hand in his. "Lets go grab something quick to eat."

TBC

A\N Please review! :D :D