The Envelope 29
Author's Note: Okay, I know less than nothing about court procedures in the USA or anywhere else. This is my best crack at how things would work so please ignore any procedural errors. Let me know what you think with a review.
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"Entering the paternity test results into evidence," the defense said as she handed over a paper. "Agent Ressler, care to change your earlier testimony?"
Don leaned forward. "No."
"You testified that you were not Agnes Keen's biological father," the lawyer said.
"I did," Don said.
"But you are," the lawyer said.
"I am," Don said.
The courtroom buzzed.
"So, you are changing your testimony?"
"No, at the time you asked, I had no knowledge of my paternity," Don said. "My testimony from the time is unchanged. But if asked now, then my answer would be, yes, I am her biological father."
The courtroom buzzed again.
"And prior to this paternity test, you did not know you were her father?"
"I am her adoptive father," Don said. "But now I am aware that I am also her biological father."
"Elizabeth Keen did not share this information with you?" The lawyer asked.
And in this moment, Don decided he needed to lie. He honestly, thought he knew the truth, but didn't know it for sure. The only people who would know he was being less than honest, would be Cooper and Reddington and neither would tell.
"I don't believe she knew either," Don said. "We are still investigating, but it appears that we were both drugged one weekend, the weekend Agnes was conceived."
"Do you have evidence to prove this?" The lawyer asked.
"We are compiling it," Don said.
"Your honor, where is this testimony going? Have we not given this line of inquiry enough latitude?" The prosecution said. "We are here about the death of Elizabeth Keen that occurred as a result of her most recent birth not her other child."
"Your honor it is part of our case that neither parent is faultless and therefore partially responsible for her death," the lawyer said. "She and Donald Ressler have a history of irresponsibility."
"How is this irresponsibility linked to the paternity of their older child?" The judge inquired.
"It demonstrates that both Donald Ressler and Elizabeth Keen have lied, evaded, and had not just a recent episode of irresponsibility and poor choices, but a long history of that, which, in part, lead to the death of Elizabeth Keen."
Don shifted in his seat, he wanted to object himself but shot daggers at the prosecution imploring them to.
"Donald Ressler and Elizabeth Keen are two decorated field agents for the FBI," the prosecution said.
"And it's their personal life, sometimes as related to their professional life, that I am questioning here," the defense argued. "Donald Ressler and Elizabeth Keen wear blinders when it comes to each other and some of those choices have been harmful, irresponsible, compromising, and, in the case of Elizabeth Keen, deadly."
"I'll allow," the judge said.
Don looked at him surprised.
"So, you and Elizabeth Keen were drugged why?"
"As I said, we are still investigating, but there were forces that were trying to impede our task force and I believe they would do anything to make that happen," Don said.
"And an unexpected pregnancy was going to take down your task force?" The lawyer quipped.
Don shifted his jaw in his mouth.
"She was estranged from her husband at the time, but still technically, married," Don offered. "It would have hurt our unit immeasurably had we known I was the father."
Don realized in that moment, that those words were true. Did Liz not say anything for the sake of the task force?
"No paternity tests were done at the time?"
"No, as I stated, we had no knowledge of the event, and she was no longer estranged from her husband when she found out, so it was logical to conclude it was his," Don said.
The lawyer nodded and walked away from him.
Another lawyer rose and walked toward him.
"Are you a drug addict Mr. Ressler?" the lawyer asked as he approached Don.
"Recovered," Don said.
"And were you a suspect in several internal investigations about your activities with this task force?"
"We all have been," Don said.
"And were you removed from duty on two occasions and arrested for questionable behavior of an agent?" the lawyer asked. "Did you not spend several days in jail one of those times?"
"Yes," Don said. He wasn't going to explain unless needed.
"So, you are not the boy scout that everyone says you are?" the lawyer said with a smile. "You have a history, before Elizabeth Keen became a fugitive, of less than ethical behavior."
Don said nothing and kept composed.
"If you were in communication with Ms. Keen while she was pregnant than you were in communication with a felon and fugitive while she was evading police, isn't that correct?"
"Yes," Don said simply.
"Care to elaborate?"
"Yes, I was," Don added. He knew he was being a prick but so was this guy. He was, after all, a hostile witness.
"Did you communicate via phone?"
"Yes," Don answered.
"Letter?"
"Yes," Don answered again.
"In person?" The lawyer asked.
Don hesitated. He knew the road this was going to go down once he answered truthfully.
"Yes," Don said.
The courtroom buzzed.
"So, you a federal agent, tasked with finding criminals, and this criminal in particular, had a phone number where she could be reached, an address where you could mail items, and met with her in person, and used none of these contacts to arrest her?"
"I did not," Don said, knowing there was more to it, but not wanting to explain.
"Why?" The lawyer asked.
"I loved her," Don said simply. "She was having my child."
The courtroom buzzed again.
"Were you planning to arrest her once the child was born?"
"No," Don said.
"You were just going to walk away from your son?"
"No," Don said.
"You were going to continue to meet with them covertly?"
"No," Don said.
"What were yours and Ms. Keen's plans Mr. Ressler?"
Don looked quickly at Aram who was sitting in the courtroom today.
"I was going to abandon my life and go into hiding with my family," Don said.
The courtroom buzzed with chatter and he saw the reporters type furiously on their devices.
"As fugitives?" The lawyer asked.
"Yes," Don nodded.
"And place your family in a continued precarious situation like the one in which Elizabeth Keen had your son?"
"No, I was going to protect them and keep them safe," Don said.
"As fugitives?" The lawyer laughed.
"We had a quiet life planned," Don explained. "She was no longer going to pursue…"
"Do you really expect the court to believe…"
"It's the truth," Don said forcefully.
"Yes, because you are so reliable," the lawyer said.
"I'm calling recess," the judge said. "We will convene again at 11am."
He banged his gavel and Don got up from the stand to have a word with the prosecution.
"You're just leaving me out to dry?" Don asked a lawyer as he approached the team.
"We will have the opportunity to revisit," he said as he drank some water.
"How about objecting a little more?" Don asked, angered.
"Mr. Ressler," another lawyer said as she looked at a file and then at her. "We will allow you to explain more on cross. It's better that way because we can allow more latitude for explanation whereas the defense will cut you off at every turn."
Don inhaled and nodded.
"It's going to be fine," the first lawyer said as he placed down his water. "Trust us. She killed Elizabeth and you have been a distraction from that fact, but have not changed that."
Don nodded and left their table walking past the reporters shouting questions at him and toward the one end of the long marble hallway where he saw Aram standing by a window.
"Hey," Don said as he walked toward his friend.
"Hey," Aram said. "You are holding up well."
"I'm making a mash of it," Don said as he ran a hand through his hair.
"No, you are holding up well," Aram said.
"Look," Don said. "I know hearing about me planning to leave with Liz, after Samar…"
"I was going to be completely alone," Aram said as he met his friend's eyes.
Don took a deep breath and stepped toward his friend.
"When Samar left, you were going to go, right?" Don asked.
Aram nodded.
"You loved your friends and family but were going to choose her over all else?" Don asked.
Aram nodded and gave Don a small sheepish smile.
"I was doing the same," Don said. "It was going to kill my ma, hurt everyone around me, but I was going to do it, just like you were."
Aram nodded and sat down on the window ledge looking at the gaggle of people filing stories and staring down at them.
"How can you stand this?" Aram asked.
Don sat on the ledge next to him and looked at what Aram was looking at.
"I try to ignore it," Don said, honestly.
"It's a good thing the kids are so young, I can't imagine being a teen and seeing this on the news," Aram said.
"Yeah," Don said as he looked at his hands. "One day they'll see it all, hear it all, but right now, I'm happy they are little."
Aram nodded.
"Did you want to talk about the paternity test, or not?" Aram asked.
Don sighed.
"I'm asking you this as a friend," Don said as he briefly met Aram's eyes and then leaned back a little more and turned sideways to look out the stained-glass window as he spoke. "Can you spend some time thinking back to that time, or any time since then, and let me know if you saw or heard or spoke with Liz about anything that would indicate she knew Agnes was mine?"
Aram turned and looked at Don surprised.
"You said you didn't think she knew," Aram said quietly.
"I can't say for sure," Don said quietly back. "There are things that are making me think she may have, but nothing I can nail down. Maybe if everyone who knew her thought back for clues it could help me put the pieces together."
"Liz couldn't have kept that from you," Aram said in disbelief.
Don looked at him and then looked away.
"I'm not sure," Don said. "Maybe she was doing it for a greater good, or because I was being an asshole, or because she suspected but didn't know…I don't know. All I know is that there are things that I think I missed and I'm thinking we all did."
Aram nodded.
They sat in silence for a while before Aram spoke again.
"I can't imagine Liz would do that," Aram said quietly.
"I wish she was here so I could ask her," Don said softly.
"Would you have been angry?" Aram asked.
Don looked at his friend and then looked down at his folded hands.
"At first? Yeah. I would have been more than pissed," Don said honestly. "But I would have come around."
Aram looked at him, asking him to continue.
"I love her Aram, even now, even if she knew," Don said as she shook his head. "Does that make me the biggest fool on the planet? Yeah, probably. But I love her, no matter what she did. And I've got to trust that, if she knew, she did this for a reason. A very good reason, to deny me my child for five years."
Aram nodded. "I hope so too."
Don saw everyone starting to head back into the courtroom and he hopped off the ledge and waited for his friend to do that same.
He went back onto the stand and waited. The lawyer who was last questioning him rose.
"Let's talk about the pregnancy," he said as he walked up to Don. "It was healthy to your knowledge, problem-free?"
"Yes," Don said.
"You attended doctors appointments with Ms. Keen throughout?"
"No," Don said.
"Attended sonograms?"
"No," Don said.
"Saw her medical charts?"
"No," Don said.
"And you know it was a healthy pregnancy, why exactly?"
"Liz said it was," Don offered.
"Right, Elizabeth Keen who was always so honest with you," he said.
"She was," Don said.
"How so?" the lawyer asked.
"Liz wouldn't lie about her health of our child," Don said. "If there were medical issues she would have said."
"But she didn't feel the need to call you when her water broke?" The lawyer asked.
"She was putting a plan in place for me to get down to Georgia to be there for the birth," Don said.
"You know, most women just call their partner when their water breaks," the lawyer quipped.
Don said nothing.
"And how was she when you arrived?"
"Laboring," Don said. "She was happy to see me."
"You met the doctor and nurse?"
"Briefly," Don said. "Liz needed my help so I didn't share talk with them much."
"What help from you did Elizabeth Keen need?"
"I supported her through her labor," Don said simply.
"How?"
"I helped her find her breath, was a person she could hold onto when the contraction hit, I encouraged her, I kept her calm, cooled her down…"
"Had Elizabeth delivered vaginally before?"
"No, Agnes was born via c-section," Don said.
"So, this was new to her and you?"
"Yes," Don said.
"You were totally unaware of what to expect or what was normal?"
"No, I had read some books when I found out she was pregnant," Don conceded. "I was not a medical expert, but I had some knowledge of what to expect."
"And was it what you expected?"
"No," Don said.
"Can you elaborate?"
Don was tempted to just add 'it wasn't' but knew he would be pushing his luck.
"She was stronger than I'd ever seen her," Don offered. "And Liz Keen was the strongest force I'd ever known. She was delivering our child, without any pain killers…if I was in that much pain, I wouldn't have had her fortitude."
The lawyer nodded and before he could ask his next question, Don continued.
"I have known and loved that woman for a long time," Don said. "But I saw a whole new side to her when she was laboring. It was beautiful."
The lawyer nodded to the bailiff who brought out a stand with an image on it that was covered. He placed it next to Don so everyone in the courtroom, judge, jury, spectators, could see it and walked away.
"How many hours was she active during labor?" The lawyer asked.
"About four," Don said. "Then she needed to lay down, she was exhausted."
"So, for four hours who was her primary caregiver?" The lawyer asked.
"Excuse me?" Don asked.
"Did Elizabeth not tell the nurse and the doctor on several occasions over those four hours that they were not needed?" The lawyer asked.
"Yeah," Don said.
"And were you alone with her for most of that time?" The lawyer asked.
Don, again, did not like where this was going.
"It's not like she went back into town, she was literally in the next room," Don said as he pointed to the doctor.
"Were you alone with Elizabeth Keen for much of those four hours when she was in active labor?"
"Yes," Don said.
"And what were you two doing?" The lawyer asked.
"I was helping her in any way I could," Don explained. "Walking her around, cooling her off, helping her brace, making her laugh, helping her breathe through the pain, talking to her…"
"Sounds very intimate," the lawyer said. "I know when my wife was in labor, we had a team; a doula, OB, nurses and myself taking care of her and helping her. But yet, it was just you and Elizabeth."
"Your honor, is there a question?" The prosecution lawyer said as he rose.
The defense lawyer walked over to the placard and pulled off the cover revealing a blown up image Don had seen a photocopy of before. He and Liz in the shower while she labored, she was naked with her breasts and ass were pixelized and he was wearing swim trunks, but it was incredibly revealing.
The courtroom erupted and the buzzing of people talking was loud.
"What the hell?!" Don yelled as he stood from his seat, angry.
"Is this you taking care of Ms. Keen?" The lawyer asked loudly.
"Objection!" The prosecution yelled.
"Bailiff, I order you to cover the image, and I want the defense and prosecution in my chambers!" The judge yelled. "Court adjourned until 2pm."
The gavel banged and Don looked at the image of him and Liz, she vulnerable and in pain, he holding her close in the shower, whispering into her ear… as it was covered by the bailiff and he started to take down the stand.
Don then looked at the gallery of people, many of whom were looking down a devices madly texting. Had one of them snapped an image? Was this going to be out in the world? This moment of private beauty that had now been shared with others? Don felt a lump form in his throat and his mind scrambled, he needed to get out of here, but he couldn't walk into the mess of people that were just waiting for him. He looked at the side exit door and then at the bailiff who was still placing the picture away and walked purposefully toward the door and out it, down some stairs and out a back door. He walked swiftly down a street, rounded a corner, and another, then saw a park in the distance and made a beeline for it. He had no idea where he was, or where he was going, he just knew he needed to leave.
To be continued…..