Never Backing Down

Cherish sat between Gretchen and Max and Andrew, Max's partner, sat next to him while Arnold sat next to Gretchen. Jeff sat behind Cherish and Chris next to him everyone else sat in the general area. They waited for a while until Cherish's stepfather, Fredrick, came in with his lawyer and sat down at the table on the other side. Behind him sat a bunch of enraged WWE superstars.

"Let me kill him and that'll solve everything." Kurt Angle said to Carlito from his seat behind Fredrick and they saw Fredrick tense up at the statement.

"No, let the boys in jail fix him up." Carlito whispered to him and they both smirked at the man in front of him. Cherish looked over to them and smiled and they smiled back.

"Cook out after this for everyone." Cherish mouthed to them and they nodded in acknowledgment at her statement. Soon a female police officer came in carrying a huge file and read it out loud.

"Case number 120908764-B, WWE Company, NWA-TNA Company, Cherish Leah Hardy, and the FBI v Frederick P Martin. Would everyone please rise for the Honorable Judge Alex Samson?" As the female police officer finished her statement everyone stood and watched as a man in his middle 30s came out and sat down, taking the file from the police officer and reading.

"Will everyone please be seated?" The officer said and everyone did as they were told. Soon the lawyers were making their opening statements, after the jury had come out and been seated, and were beginning to call up witnesses. First the counts were read off.

"Mr. Martin, the charges being brought against you are murder in the first degree on count seven, Mrs. Faith Anne Hardy, assault and battery in the first degree on counts one, Cherish Leah Hardy, two, Jonathan Felix-Anthony Cena, three, Allen Jones, four, Randall Keith Orton, five, Jeffery Nero Hardy, and six, Matthew Moore Hardy, harassment on count one, Cherish Leah Hardy, fraud on count eight, the FBI and embezzlement on count eight, also the FBI." Judge Alex then allowed Arnold to call up their witnesses. The first one was John and after he was sworn in it was time to begin.

"Please state your name for the record." Arnold said as he approached the bench and John nodded and cleared his throat.

"Jonathan Felix-Anthony Cena." John said and Cherish smiled at him in approval and love. Right now she was the one that everything was revolving around. Everyone was looking to her for support, approval, and love.

"Alright Mr. Cena why don't you tell us what happened in your case?" Arnold asked him and John nodded and thought back.

"Well, Mr. Henson, the first incident happened the day of Ms. Hardy's birthday on October 20, 2005. The day started out normal enough and the WWE, Ms. Hardy's cousins, Matt and Jeff, and I had planned a surprise party for Ms. Hardy. Well the party went along fine until after the party had ended. Ms. Hardy and I were in my dressing room and we were kissing and trying to relax when there was a knock at the door. It turned out to be the defendant, Mr. Martin, and…." John continued as Cherish remembered the rest as John told it.

…..Flashback….

"You thought I wouldn't find you! You were wrong so wrong, and right now you're about to be dead wrong!" Her stepfather screamed at her as he grabbed her by the throat and was about to slam her body into the wall when John tackled into him and he threw her across the room only hurting her slightly.

"MATTT! JEFFF! HELP ME!" Cherish screamed as loud as she could, but she felt him pick her up again. She began to cry and then she felt him drop her suddenly. Matt had let Jeff throw him into her stepfather.

"Baby, are you okay?" John asked her and she nodded to him in pain.

"I thought I told you to leave her alone you bastard!" Jeff screamed at him as began to punch into the man's face and then the man got up and pointed at Cherish.

"Mark my words, you bitch! I will kill you just like I did your poor little slut of a mommy!" He teased her and the tears just came rushing out of her eyes. He laughed at her and then the security guards came in and escorted him out of the building. Cherish cried into John's chest and then when Matt and Jeff came over she went to them and let them take her away from John.

……End Flashback…..

"And that's pretty much how it happened." John explained and Arnold nodded and John got down with no questions from Mr. Martin's side. The next was AJ. His testimony was connected to Randy's so he told his little bit as Cherish remembered back on it as well.

…..Flashback……

"Hey, how are you doing?" Cherish grabbed for Matt's hand and he looked at her with concern as he saw her face go white. AJ got closer and she began to whimper.

"Cherish, what's wrong?" Cherish began to hallucinate and then she began to shake and cry out in pain. Something was desperately wrong here. Matt stood and yelled for Jeff. He wouldn't let Jeff touch her.

"Cher, baby, what's wrong?" Jeff was yelling to her and Matt just looked at him in confusion. Cherish was looking at the door that Jeff had come from. She knew what was coming she could feel it. She always knew when he was coming. Suddenly Matt and Jeff were thrown aside and slammed into the walls. They were knocked out cold. AJ tried to stop the man, but to no avail as he slammed him into Matt, who had gotten up.

……End Flashback….

After AJ finished Randy got up and sat looking at Cherish. There had been multiple times when they had come close to kissing and he was part of the reason why she wasn't with Tito. She looked behind her at Tito's face and saw him watching her with love and compassion. He smiled at her and she smiled back. She turned to face forward as Randy stated his name and began his testimony. His was another one where she remembered.

……Flashback…..

"OH GOD! PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME!" Cherish was crying and screaming and suddenly Randy came out of the break room alone and saw Cherish. She immediately ran to his arms. He enclosed her in them and hugged her. He then took the sledgehammer and whispered into her ear comforting words. He saw her step-father coming and ran towards him slamming it in his face viciously and with rage. Once he was down, Cherish ran back to his arms and clutched to his shirt in pure fear. She looked into his eyes and he saw how scared she really was.

"I-I-I need to go see how they are. Take me there please?" Cherish spoke in short sentences but Randy nodded and began to walk but found she stayed attached to his shirt. He rubbed her back and then lifted her into his arms. As he was walking he met John along the way. John looked at him with confusion and Randy just shook his head.

"John, let's not do this right now. Can you just make sure that the piece of shit I beat up near the break room is gone and out of the building?" Randy asked him and Cherish remained quiet and wouldn't look at him. He nodded slowly and as he began to walk away he heard Cherish's footsteps and he turned as she rushed into his open arms.

…..End Flashback….

As Randy got down Cherish looked over at the jury and saw they were looking at her stepfather in pure contempt and hatred. Some smiled at her as they caught her eyes and she smiled back. Next came Jeff which Cherish knew was a similar story and she just listened listlessly and tried to just pray that Matt would wake up and come to her aid. She had so many people there now but she needed Matt as well. He was her angel. Just like Jeff. Jeff recounted back on similar events and others and Cherish waited until her turn. Soon Jeff had finished and it was her turn. When she went up she went through the same thing and was sworn in and stated her name.

"Alright, Ms. Hardy, please tell us about your mother, Faith Anne Hardy." Arnold said to her and she nodded and remembered the speech and story she had prepared for this moment. She had always had the memory and what she would say the day that she were in this chair and telling the court about the horrible things this man did and she began. As she sat up in the chair she looked over at Fredrick and shuddered at the look he was giving her.

"Well, Mr. Martin seemed nice enough when he met my mother, Faith, and I was only eight or so years old at the time. However, Mr. Martin was only hiding his true nature underneath his kind demeanor. It started after he married my mother at which time I was twelve years old. It took him a long time to get my mother to finally say yes. So we lived fine until one day my mother came home late from work and Mr. Martin was angry with her. I came home to find my mother beaten and I was in shock." Cherish began and the jury looked at her stepfather like they could tear out his throat.

"I couldn't tell anyone except my cousins and they couldn't do anything because my mother was going to try and make it work so they backed off. Well, things went fine for a few more years until around the time I was sixteen and was with my at the time boyfriend, Mr. Gregory Shane Helms, and I came home after staying with my cousins, Matt and Jeff, for a while to find my mother in the hospital and near dying. I knew what had happened and that's when the beatings started on me because I defended my mother and told him not to touch her. For the next few months my life was pure hell until one night when I woke up to hear the blood curdling screams that I still hear in my sleep to this very day. I ran downstairs from my room to find my father beating my mother within an inch of her life and when I tried to stop him I couldn't." Cherish began to cry at the last few words and the jury started to pull out tissues. Arnold handed tissues to Cherish and she held them, feeling something almost push itself into her body and she sighed, feeling a renewed strength.

"Mr. Martin threw me into a wall and I slammed into an object that seemingly paralyzed me from moving and I was also paralyzed with fear because I saw him keep punching her and then I saw my mother not moving. She was dead when he left the house. I called the police and they passed off the case because I was too afraid to say what had happened. I remained with Mr. Martin until I turned seventeen. That is when I moved out and went to live with my cousins. The rest is exactly what the others have said. Thank you." Cherish said and her stepfather's lawyer didn't want to ask any questions and as Cherish got down off the stand she saw her other lawyer, Gretchen, hold up her hand and the judge called her up to his bench and Cherish saw the judge nod with wide eyes after a few minutes of talking to Gretchen. Gretchen walked back over and sat down with Cherish and she looked at her as Judge Alex called order to the court.

"I call a thirty minute recess and everyone needs to be back in here after that time please." Judge Alex said to the court and everyone stood and stretched and Gretchen, Arnold, Max, Andrew, Jeff, Gregory, Chris, Shannon, Jason, Amy, Adam, John, Tito, Ash, Bob, Trish, Randy, Sam, Shane, Steph, Dixie, Larry, Jim, Vince, Linda, AJ, Alex, and Eric went out to talk amongst themselves.

"Someone is coming to help us out. His testimony is pretty important." Gretchen explained and Cherish nodded and couldn't think of anyone who would be coming to testify unless it was…..Matt. But that didn't make any sense because he was in a coma and she hadn't been called and told he had come out of it. Soon the thirty minutes was closing to its last ten minutes and Cherish was talking when she heard something that made her drop the paper cup of water and turn.

"It will be with time and you know it will. I am going to be by your side come hell or water high. Down any road you choose to roam." Cherish whipped around to see Matt standing in the hall way with his arms open. She started to cry and ran to him, wrapping her arms around his waits and hugging him tight.

"I'll believe it, when I see it, for myself. I don't need no one to tell me about heaven, I look at my daughter and I believe. I don't need no proof when it comes to God and truth. I can see the sun set and I believe." Cherish said to him through tears and Matt just stroked her hair. Soon Jeff, Gil, Shannon, Gregory, Amy, Adam, and Jason all came running over and greeted him. Cherish stayed attached to his side, afraid to loose him.

"You dumb ass, don't you ever slip again!" Cherish cried to him as he stroked her hair and he nodded to her. She had missed him so badly and had prayed so much that to her this was a miracle.

"I know I won't, because if I died you would die too right?" Matt asked her and she looked at him with an open mouth.

"How did you know I said that?" Cherish asked in shock and he looked at her with a smile. He nodded and pulled her close to whisper in her ear.

"Your momma says hi and she loves you and she wants you to know you are doing an awesome job. She couldn't be more proud, Cher." Matt's words brought a smile to her face as she felt Jeff wrap his arms around Matt and her.

"We're back together. This is how it always should be." Jeff said to his brother and Matt patted his back.

"Son, I knew you'd pull through." Gil said to his son and Matt nodded and hugged him tight and pulled him a little closer to whisper in his ear as well.

"She loves you and misses you so much. She wants you to know that you've done a great job raising us." Matt's words now caused Gil to hug his son tighter and smile at him. Soon the lawyers ushered everyone back into the courtroom where they went through the same process of standing and sitting as the judge entered. Soon Matt was called up and told his stories of the past. Some things Cherish hadn't seen but he had and his testimony proved to be the one loaded with the most facts.

Then the FBI agents, Max and Andrew, testified and provided evidence for their case and soon they were done. After that came the lawyers' summations and then the jury left to deliberate. Due to how late it was the deliberation, which in reality lasted only a total of four hours, went on into the next day and while everyone chilled at Matt's house, the phone call came and everyone was there and waiting as the jury had reached its decision.

After getting dressed and ready, everyone hurried back to the court house and took their seats after the judge had come in and waited. The jury then followed and one of the jurors handed the officer a piece of paper.

The judge took the paper from the officer and read it and then handed it back to the officer who gave it to a middle aged woman with short brown hair and brown eyes. The woman cleared her throat and began to read.

"We the jury have made our decision and will the defendant please rise?" The woman asked and Cherish's stepfather stood and looked emotionlessly at them. "On the charge of murder in the first degree on count seven we find the defendant guilty. On the charge of assault and battery on counts one, two, three, four, five, and six we find the defendant guilty. On the charge of harassment on count one we find the defendant guilty. On the charge of fraud on count eight we find the defendant guilty. On the charge of embezzlement on count eight we find the defendant guilty." The woman's words caused everyone to stand and cheer and hug each other in victory. The Judge ordered for everyone to sit down and when they did the woman looked at Cherish and smiled.

"We have recommended the maximum amount of time for Mr. Martin on all of the charges and Cherish we wish you a happy life and future." The woman said and Cherish got up and looked at the Judge who nodded and she made her way over and hugged each juror and thanked them.

"This meeting is adjourned. I will see you, Mr. Martin, in a few days for your sentencing." Judge Alex said with a smile and they took away Cherish's stepfather in handcuffs. Soon everyone was getting in their cars and heading back to Matt and Jeff's houses for a huge cookout. After eating and talking for a bit, Cherish pulled out her I-Pod and plugged it into an I-Pod radio/alarm clock thing and selected her play list for love type songs. The first song was meant for her and Gregory. The name of it was "Every time I Hear Your Name" by Keith Anderson.

The next song was "Collapsed" by Aly & AJ and was meant for Cherish and John. The songs were picked out for a reason. The lyrics had meaning to them. "Red, Red Wine" by UB40 was the song she danced to with Jeff. "Heaven" by Live was meant for her and Matt because when you listened to it that was the song they always sang the one part of to each other. "Far Away" by Nickel back was her dance with Bob because it said how the person missed being away from the other one and that they loved them so much. The song she had picked out for her and AJ was "It Was You" by Ashley Ballard with So Plush. The next song was "That's Where It Is" by Carrie Underwood and it was for Trish and Randy.

"The One" by Backstreet Boys Cherish had everyone singing and this was meant to be for everyone. "You Found Me" by Kelly Clarkson was for Amy and Adam. They had loved this song when Cherish had first played it for them. "If I Can't Have You" by LFO was her dance with Jason and this one was more of a fun and silly dance. "Very Last Moment In Time" by Lindsay Lohan was for Ash and Rey because it made Cherish think of how Ash described how she felt about Rey.

"Baby I Would" by O-Town was played for Shane and Marissa because Shane had asked for it once and Cherish had remembered. "Craving" by O-Town was her dance with Sam because it gave a person a good realization of how he felt about her. "You Can't Lose Me" by O-Town was her dance with Shannon because Shannon had deemed that their song. "Say Goodbye" by Ashlee Simpson Caused Tito to pull Cherish out on the floor and she realized he recognized the song she had picked for them. Last was "Inside Your Heaven" by Carrie Underwood which was the song she had chosen for her and Chris.

After all this everyone got their rest and no one talked about what was going to have to happen in the next few days. Everyone from TNA and some of the WWE stayed with Cherish, Matt, and Jeff while the others went home and slept.

…..The Next Day…..

When Cherish woke up she smelt food and went downstairs and grabbed a plate from Shannon and ate it up. After a few hours of talking and such everyone was up. Dixie and Vince both had announcements to make.

"Since the trial didn't last as long as previously guessed we must all re-open the shows and get back to work. That includes you Cherish." Dixie said and Vince nodded from his spot next to her and he spoke next.

"We as well have to and Matt as soon as you're ready you are going to go back." Vince explained and Cherish wanted to cry but Matt looked at her sternly and she didn't. So as soon as Vince finished his sentence everyone was sent to pack up and get ready to go back. After many tears and more promises and hugs, the TNA superstars, including Cherish and Jeff, got in cars and headed to the airport. The thing was that when they got there they had a few surprises for Cherish and she had a few for them as well. Lately Cherish had been sicker than she had let on and been throwing up a lot. When someone had caught her throwing up she attributed it to Matt or the trial. Now she couldn't hide what was wrong with her. She just couldn't figure out how to tell Chris or Jeff for that matter.

Alrighty then, I finished another chapter and I am proud of myself. Hopefully I can get another up soon as well. I am hoping to give good surprises too, so review or no more!

Much luv,

Animus Patronus