A/N Hey another chapter! Sorry about the filler chapter last chapter. I hope you guys like this one. Pretty long tbh. Happy reading!
15 April
Natalya couldn't stop shaking. She hadn't seen Ender in over a month. And though her scars and bruises had healed, she often had nightmares about him still. Something she never shared with anyone, not even Gilbert.
"Stop worrying. You're going to be fine." Gilbert said looking over at her. "Just hold my hand okay? You're going to do just fine." He said.
Natalya put her hand in his, her trembling slowing to a stop.
"You wanna hold my hand too Natty?"
She looked over at Ludwig in his car seat, and she reached for his little hand.
.
.
.
Natalya walked in, Gilbert closely behind, but he stopped and sat in the audience with everyone else, only Alfred walked in with her. And that was good enough for her.
Then she saw Ender walk in, nice pressed suit, officer walking in behind him as well. He stood on the other side of the room, and locked eyes with Natalya. He smiled sweetly and waved at her.
Natalya felt as weak as water, and seeing him smile and wave at her like that made her want to throw up.
"All rise for Judge Kirkland. Court is now in session. " The bailiff spoke throughout the room.
Arthur Kirkland came out, and sat at his stand.
"Arlovskaya vs. Smith/Hale is now in session. You may be seated."
Arthur sighed quietly as he received evidence and files of the case. His eyes widened as he read Ender's files. "Well Mr. Hale—"
"I would prefer Mr. Smith, your honor."
"In my courtroom, I prefer people that exist. And from the looks of it, Ender William Smith, does not exist. As I was saying, you, Mr. Hale, have gotten yourself in quite the pickle. Assisted prostitution, unauthorized identity change, confirmed kidnapping and torture of a police officer, attempted murder of said police officer, and my favorite, embezzled profits of an illegal gambling ring." He spoke.
"As for you Miss Arlovskaya. One count of prostitution. Interesting." Judge Kirkland said with a nod before looking at the two. "Doesn't really seem like a trial when everyone can predict what is going to happen. And what the verdict is going to be." He spoke putting the papers aside.
"If I may sir. I've worked hard for this town, the Cramm and Grover law firm would not even exist without the help of me."
"Haven't I already told you that in my courtroom we don't play pretend? Cramm and Grover does not exist Mr. Hale. I am not stupid, yet this is the second time you've treated me as such. Now I advise you shut your mouth before you get something worse than Gabriel March Grandos." He threatened before going over the evidence once more. "Miss Arlovskaya, your file says that you are in custody of your sister, who is a teacher at the Montessori, correct?"
"Yes sir that is correct."
"Had she always had that job?"
"No, your honor. She was working as a receptionist in a pediatric office. She had lost it due to missing too many days while being sick with the flu."
"Okay. What made you chose prostitution?"
"My brother committed suicide, my sister was sick, and didn't have a job. Our financial base fell from under out feet; I needed a quick job that would get me money fast to help my family. My family was the only reason I did it." She said.
"Well you seemed to have gotten yourself caught up with a very bad crowd."
"Yes sir I did. And it was unknown at the time, but I do not deny that I was caught up in something I couldn't get out of easily. The bruises and scars speak for themselves."
Arthur nodded. "How about we treat this as a misdemeanor? I'll have it expunged if you do thirty days of community service. Your choosing of where you want to do that community service."
Natalya's eyes widened. "Thank you sir. I will be sure to do that." She said.
"As for you Mr. Hale, from adding up all of your counts, I seemed to have gotten sixty years, no bail, the money that you illegally profited going to Officer Jones bills, and the rest of your money being distributed about the city. In other words, thank you for paying for nicer roads, better education systems, sewer systems, and much more. Too bad you won't be out to see it all of the changes you caused." He said and slammed his gavel against the stand.
Natalya released the breath she didn't even know she was holding. Then she looked at Alfred, wrapping his arms around him gently. "Thank you for everything." She whispered.
"This was the most biased case I've ever worked on, and I cannot believe I still have a job honestly." He said and rested his head against Natalya's for a moment before pulling away. "But as always, the hero comes out on top, and I'm always the hero."
Natalya walked out of the court house sighing quietly. She had wanted to tell Judge Kirkland for his decision on having it expunged if she did community service. She hadn't even been expecting that verdict.
Her family had been waiting in the car for her, and a calmness washed over her for the moment. Just soaking in the fact that she wouldn't be seeing Ender for a long time. That was something to be calm about. It was something to be happy about.
When she reached for the car door handle, a strong hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the ground. She caught her breath quickly from the sudden surprise only to hold it again when she found Ender glaring daggers into her. He hadn't been wearing the sharp suit he had on in the courtroom, it was instead replaced with an orange jumpsuit. Before she could even process what was going on, he grabbed her by her throat and slammed her up against the car like a rag doll.
"You did this to me you bitch!" He roared at her and wrapped his hand around her throat tightly. "I told you, you were going to fucking pay. And look, right in front of your family that can't even help you."
Natalya choked and gagged for air, her eyes flickering back to see Alfred and Gilbert banging on the door, trying to get out of the car, and Katyusha holding a screaming Ludwig.
Everything was moving so quickly at one time, and yet so slowly. Her life flashed before her eyes and everything went dark.
.
Natalya gasped for air, pulling herself from out of that nightmare. She panted quickly as shaky hands reached for her eyes, brushing away the tears. She climbed out of bed, and grabbed her pillow. She couldn't sleep by herself tonight.
Natalya went to the next room over, pushing the door open. "Gil? Gilbert? Wake up." She said shaking him slightly.
Gilbert rolled over tiredly and sat up. "Nat? What's wrong?"
"I couldn't sleep. Can I sleep in here?"
"Sure...Better yet, let's get out of here. Go for a little drive. Sounds nice?" He asked.
The Belarusian blinked in the darkness. "I-uh, yeah. That sounds nice, let's go."
She hadn't known where he was going, but she silently rode, her hand resting on the car console. Natalya tensed slightly when she felt his hand on top of hers. Soon she wordlessly laced it with hers as he continued to drive.
They had soon pulled up to the back side of a house, near the backyard. Once Gilbert parked, they climbed out, and Gilbert walked in the backyard.
"Gilbert where are we?"
"My house, my backyard."
She was silent for a moment, and walked in with him.
He took her hand, and lead her over to the ladder of the tree house.
Gilbert climbed up first, and Natalya climbed up behind him.
It was much bigger on the inside, though Gilbert had to duck his head a bit when they were both standing up.
"Haven't been back here since I got kicked out. Always a favorite space of mine. Odd though, favorite place now is home."
"Our home."
"Yeah."
Gilbert sat down on the pile of covers, Natalya sitting down next to him.
"You ever talk to your dad?"
"No, I haven't talked to him since we left, I know why he didn't want to see me anymore, but it's still a little...hard knowing that he kicked me out, and kind of screwed up Ludwig's life so suddenly. I'm glad he didn't have that depression for long, I would have never forgiven myself really." He said looking around for a moment. "You and Kat especially helped him settle down in the new environment really quickly. And that's pretty awesome of you girls, so thanks."
Natalya laid her head in his lap, smiling some as he talked. "Yeah. I'm glad he's happy. He doesn't deserve to get his life disrupted like that. He's only four. And I'm sure it's much harder on him seeing that he's so smart. He grasped the concept that his father didn't want to see him so easily. I can only imagine how scary that must be at the age of four."
"Yeah...What about you?"
"Huh?"
"You said you couldn't sleep. It's why we're here."
"Oh right, that. Well, I couldn't sleep because I had a really bad dream about Ender. And even though the verdict is set in stone and everything, and I won't be seeing him for a long time, the threats he made to me, and the words he said. I guess it got to me more than I thought it would." She was sure it would get to anyone if they were told that their life would be ended, make it look like they disappeared.
Gilbert stroked her hair gently. "Well, I guess it's kind of like the shoe thing. You know, trying it on for size. You've just got to believe that every little thing is gonna be alright, and it will. Try believing in yourself, and that everything will be well, you'll actually start to believe it. When you believe in yourself, no one can stop you."
Natalya looked up at him. "Why do you always do that?"
"Do what?"
"Say things to make me slowly fall in love with you."
A/N Long chapter, great chapter hopefully. And also the last of Ender. For real. So many breakthroughs, so many confessions. We're finally reaching our resolution y'all, and I hope you'll all be here to see it. Until next chapter!
