I wanted this fic to go out with a bang. The reason it took so long to update was because I wasn't sure how I wanted this to go. But I didn't want it to be boring. And thankfully, a small error I inadvertently made earlier in the story provided the perfect foothold for this chapter to grow!
"The prosecution has engaged in egregious perversions of justice, bringing in outside evidence of no relevance to the case to attempt to sway the jury! If I may say so, Judge Freeman, the entire thing should be thrown as a mistrial! Irrelevant witnesses being brought into the court for undocumented incidences that occurred years ago! A volatile teenager insubordinate on the stand! This entire proceeding has been a mess!" the defense lawyer prattled on, pacing in front of the twelve jurors.
"I implore the jury to look past this farce of words- this charade of justice, masquerading as righteousness! Colonel Banks has had a spotless record since Ishval- his rank at such a young age personifies his drive and sense of duty to his country! To have that sense of duty and fortitude perverted like this before you is a miscarriage of justice- I urge you to find Colonel Banks not guilty, so he may continue to serve this great country! The defense rests."
The judge nodded solemnly to Marissa. "Ms. Jennings. You may proceed with your closing argument."
"I'd like to instruct the jury to turn to page twenty three in their official documents. While gory, it's a photograph of injuries received by Eric Lester- a recruit who'd faced formal reprimand under Captain Banks while at bootcamp and went missing for two days shortly after. He was found unconscious in a ditch with those wounds, claiming to have been attacked by vagrants."
"On page twenty four you will find a photograph of the knife wounds Edward Elric received at Colonel Bank's hands during his interrogation. Same type of wound, same spot. Awfully strange coincidence."
"Your honor, I file a motion to suppress this evidence! It's strictly heresay!" the defense lawyer erupted.
The lawyer turned to Jennings, frowning. "This is a strange coincidence, but can you prove beyond a shadow of a doubt it was Banks?"
"No, your honor, I cannot. But this collection of strange coincidences- the similar injuries, the suppressed reports, the mysterious injuries- as well as Ernest' Priest's testimony to the court- paints the picture of the harsh reality to our jurors. Indeed, Colonel Banks is a devoted man- he's a Colonel at age twenty one. And he achieved that rank due to his pattern of violence and physical abuse of his subordinates, which gave him the results needed to rise up the ranks. He climbed to his rank by climbing over the bodies of his victims. Several are either dead or unwilling to testify. "
"Banks might have gotten away with it. If he hadn't kept up his abuse of power and attacked Edward Elric- hero of the people- and interrogated the alchemist so brutally the boy was convinced he was a Drachman spy trying to destroy his intel and risked further injury to keep the information from him. Either way you look at it- Colonel Banks is either a merciless, cruel leader- or a foreign agent. Neither of these realities are needed in the Amestrian Military."
"Your honor!" the defense lawyer crowed, wrinkled jowls jiggling with fury. "Those photos never should've been allowed as evidence!"
"They were pre-approved by the court prior to this court martial." Jennings piped up.
The judge remained silent for a long moment, before he sighed. "I'll allow it."
"In conclusion- I'd implore the jury to find Colonel Robert Banks guilty of the unlawful imprisonment of a state alchemist- with a maximum of twenty years in prison. Guilty of assault on a military officer- carrying maximum of one year in prison. And guilty of impeding a military officer in his mission, as well as treason for interrupting a matter of national security- with a maximum of thirty years in prison. The prosecution rests, your honor."
"The jury will retire to deliberate. The court enters an informal recess." the judge announced.
The twelve jurors stood and filed out of their bench into one of the court's conference rooms, out of sight, and hushed chatter broke out among the courtroom, the general buzz of activity filling the room.
"So- what now?" Ed asked, looking over at Mustang boredly.
"Now- we wait. It can take the jury hours to decide on an appropriate verdict. Might as well make yourself comfortable." Mustang mused. Ed sat at the table of documents before him- evidence gathered and paperwork- some of it his own- that he'd helped fill out.
He started to read through it all.
"What are you reading that for? I thought you'd have had enough paperwork by now." Mustang said, pouring himself a glass of water.
Ed shrugged. "I'm only reading the stuff I haven't seen before. It's not like I have anything better to do."
Ed took special notice of the file on Ernest Priest- he read the written accounts twice, before he was back to sifting through the regular, everyday documents.
"Colonel Roy Mustang,
The high court of the military has received your official complaint against Colonel Robert Banks. The preliminary review of your complaint has convinced us this matter warrants further investigation, and should you confirm you wish this complaint to proceed in writing, official summons will be sent out to the involved parties.
A formal court martial, including the attendance of you and the Fullmetal Alchemist, a written statement for the court giving detailed accounts of the mistreatment the Fullmetal Alchemist received, and your presence for cross-examination and testimony is requested two weeks from now, under the honorable military judge Jude Forman.
We await your reply.
Sincerely,
General Gruman"
Ed set that paper aside, bored, before looking over at the chairs behind him.
Ernest Preist sat among team Mustang, his cane in hand, chatting idly with them, smiling and laughing occasionally. Ed had a feeling the man was staring at him.
"He's a fan of you. So's his little sister, apparently. That's why he was so eager to testify on your behalf. I told him we'd go out to dinner, all of us, after this whole thing is over. If you're up to it." Roy said simply.
"Yeah. I guess. I'm just not used to people being so interested in me."
"Despite your small stature, your reputation is quite large, Edward." Roy said with a smirk.
Ed frowned, a red hashtag beginning to throb at his temples, and he growled. "If we weren't surrounded by officer right now I'd give you a black eye!" he hissed.
Roy chuckled. It was nice to see a bit of the uncouth, natural Edward- this week had been full of a polished, uniformed young man, who was quickly growing into manhood and a soldier's uniform- it was good to have his reckless, rude Edward back for a little.
"Relax. People like to read about some of your missions in the newspaper. That's all."
"But what else do they know? If people snoop about me and Al..." Ed's voice hung in the air, the unspoken question about his secret- Al's missing body, his burden, and his commitment of the taboo- hung in the air.
"They won't. I make sure to feed the press enough information about you to keep them satisfied."
"Do people like to read about you in the paper?"
"Some of my missions used to be published, yeah." Roy admitted.
"But not anymore I guess. you don't do that much- old age has made you useless." Ed quipped with a grin.
Roy made some indistinct crack at Ed, which Ed ignored, looking down at the documents on the table in front of him and frowning.
Something seemed off. He didn't know why. He glanced back at Ernest Preist, who offered him a smile that Ed didn't return. The documents- he had an itching, crawling feeling inside that something was off about the paperwork, but he couldn't figure out what...
He went back to combing the reports.
The rest of the time passed in muted silence, before the Bailiff strode back into the room.
"I call this court to order! The jury has reached a verdict!"
Roy paused. It'd only taken them two hours. They must've been certain of their verdict to make a choice so quickly.
The jurors filed back into the room and onto the bench- they were soldiers- six men and six women. An older man, who looked a lot like Falman, with salt and pepper hair, but more wrinkles about his face and a decided potbelly, stood.
"We the jury find Colonel Roger Banks guilty on the count of unlawful imprisonment of a state alchemist. We find him guilty on the assault of a military officer. And we find him guilty of impeding a military officer in his mission. We find him not guilty of treason- we could not, without a shadow of a doubt, convict him of such a high offense without further evidence. While it is the duty of the judge to sentence the accused, in this case the Jury would've given the accused seven years in prison and a demotion of two ranks- to that of Major."
The man sat back into place, and the judge cleared his throat, nodding.
"While the jury's verdict has been noted- I have a hard time accepting the verdict of guilty on these charges, and with such speculative evidence presented. Therefore, I am exercising my right as a judge of this high court to overrule the verdict of the jury-"
Several gasps went up in the room, and there was a series of murmurs.
Roy looked at Marissa, who stared at the judge, gobsmacked.
"Due to Colonel Bank's exemplary service record until now, I will override the guilty verdict. Rather, he will be given official reprimand by his superiors and a temporary demotion of one rank to Lieutenant Colonel..."
Ed couldn't believe what he was hearing. The courtroom was a sea of murmurs and confusion- Mustang and Marissa looked shocked, even the bailiff looked surprised, and Banks sat in his chair, smirking like the Cheshire cat at the news.
This judge- had jsut shut down a jury verdict. Who the hell did he think he is? They'd have the evidence, everything...
Ed looked down at the paperwork and narrowed his eyes. Then it hit him.
"I object!" he was on his feet so quickly his chair fell over behind him.
The judge stopped mid-rambling his half-hearted explanation, looking surprised.
"Major- you cannot object to the sentencing. Sit down before I hold you in contempt."
"I will do so without complaint, Sir- if you answer one question for me. Who are you?" Ed narrowed his eyes.
The judge took a breath, face reddening. "I'm military court judge Mason Freeman- show some respect!"
"Of course, your honor, of course. I'm just rather confused."
Ed took a few steps forward towards the bench, taking the official letter off the table in front of him and stepping forward with it in his hands.
"Because I have a signed notice from General Grumman stating that a judge Jude Forman would be presiding over this case. Not to mention the fact your just totally threw out a jury's verdict." Ed frowned, stepping forward and narrowing his eyes. "So just who the hell are you exactly, Mason freeman? Because I sincerely doubt you're a judge."
Confused murmurings had reached a new level in the courtroom behind Ed, and the judge rose to his full height, shulders quivering slightly.
"I'll have you know I was assigned to this case last minute! Judge Watson became ill!"
"A likely story." Ed frowned, turning to look at the audience. "Hughes. Check the judge's chambers. I have a feeling the real judge Watson is perfectly fine and hogtied somewhere around here."
Hughes nodded, standing and moving towards the front of the courtroom.
"This is outrageous!" Judge Mason freeman crowed, his complexion nearing purple with rage.
The sound of a chair scraping the floor stopped everyone in their tracks.
"It's alright, Mason. Should've known my luck would run out right about now. This kid- he's damn unlucky." Colonel Bank's voice was raspy, and he looked over at Ed from where he stood across the courtroom with a murderous smile.
"You got me, kid. Again. There's only one thing I got left to say to you, brat. Catch me if you can."
There was a flash of metal- the shot split the air and the silence seemed to shatter around it for a moment.
There was no sound. Except for Ed hitting the ground, the letter he'd held in his hand a moment earlier fluttering to the ground beside him. And Colonel Bank's running feet as both he and the judge took off running.