Chapter 14

Hey guys, here's another one, i hope you like. Cheers!

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"Life without liberty is like a body without spirit."

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The whole court case was turning into a full media circus as the Deputy Director of the CIA was finally brought out to answer for himself. The man had many skeletons, but he had hidden them well. The Authorities didn't have a whiff but one of his associates, for some reason, had unearthed the graves to give the dogs something to sniff. Once they caught the scent, they stayed on it. Most didn't lead anywhere. The guy was CIA, he knew how to cover his tracks well. But he had made one big mistake years ago, he had left a witness still breathing.

The Deputy Director stood before Judge Mason now, in a neat suit as usual, but his dignity was hanging by a thread. Someone had really done him in this time, he was not getting out of this one easy. But that arrogance still clung to him in his whole demeanor, the bigger they are the harder they fall. It had taken a lot to bring him here, and in his arrogance, he still didn't think he was going down. Even in his current situation, he still thought he had someone to kill. He had failed with Laura and he had failed with the Judge, but he will find whoever it was who had narced on him. One of his associates, no doubt. He still carried with him the authority of the Deputy Director of the CIA like an aroma around him. But he wouldn't be the Deputy Director anymore unless if he bombed the whole place and died along. Suits like these didn't like dying all that much, however killing was a whole different story.

A few months ago, a very real threat of a weaponized virus had just barely been averted and the weaponized virus successfully retrieved. The general citizenry had never known, until now, that is. But the Government had been arm-wrestled into releasing some international hostages who had been flagged and had been in holding for a week. No amount of investigation would have implicated the Deputy Director except if someone had leaked some evidence. And here it was, the evidence and a witness. The mass murderer ruse was now crumbling down as the whole conspiracy unraveled.

The Director and some of his associates, not mentioned or even implicated, had seized the virus that a genius, naïve, chemical engineer and her colleagues had created along with the antivirus at the State's command, or so they said. But the State had never assigned any such thing to anyone, or maybe they too just wanted deniability on this one. The working theory now was that the CIA Deputy Director had seen a way to make huge profits from selling the virus to the highest bidder. Working for the CIA, they knew powerful individuals and countries that would pay top dollar to graduate from real power to soft power, both killed just the same, but this was more efficient and effective. They had managed to sell it outside the country, wars were made and stopped using this little threat. It had been demonstrated once or twice, a few people had died but most had been quickly contained and cured if the opposition tapped out. It had so far only been used for leverage, then passed on to the next powerful hands for a lot more money. Unfortunately for the Deputy Director of the CIA, his little weapon came back home in the hands of an enemy. And his own fingerprints were all over it. Ambitious associates must have seen an opportunity and pressed the nail once the crisis had been averted and investigations began.

Dr Laura Mallory, the lose end they had been reluctant to snip because they might need her genius brain again, was the only nail that could really seal up his coffin. He should have killed her in prison. He had tried but somehow, the bitch always found a way to survive. His snipers had trapped her in the Jersey alleys, had nearly got her in the woods, but somehow, she had escaped. Now the little bitch stood on that stand, all earnest and innocent for a 'mass murderer', telling things that should never be heard. It was tantamount to being taboo to him. The opposing council was doing a lousy job of trying to mar that innocent looking face with mud once again. The Jury wasn't buying it. It may have worked ten years ago when they had all the power, it wasn't working all that well this time around. He would kill her even from beyond the grave!

Laura was shaking as she continued her story, facing the very man who had started all this. The man who had given her what she had thought was a golden opportunity in the science field ten years ago. The man who had given her her first and only job. Hearing the whole plot unravel as all the pieces of evidence came together, she wanted to scream. How could she have ever thought she was being used for the good of mankind, to study viruses and create cures? For money. Her friends had died because this man had wanted a bigger house and a yacht! She had spent ten years in the worst prison of all because some higher-ups had too much power that made them regard human life as some kind of pest they could just squash under their shiny crocodile skin loafers. She had been so nervous with excitement that morning, she couldn't wait to shake this man's hand as he presented her with some sort of award for her great find. Now, she'd much rather hold the snake that had bitten Steve to near death.

The Judge addressed her and told her she could leave the stand now. It was over, her testimony at least. As she stepped from the chair to the floor, her legs were not quite there with her, she held on to the stand and willed her legs not to melt. She looked up and looked straight into Steve's eyes, sitting on the second row with Danny, both looking sharp in neat suits. Steve nodded at her, as if he knew exactly what she was feeling and wanted to give her strength, all his support in his eyes. She stepped off that podium with makeshift confidence and settled in her chair between the two prosecutors. Her hands were still shaking, heart racing but she felt like a dead weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

The Judge finally addressed the court, it was time for a recess, they would come back in an hour with the Jury's decision.

…

The rest of the Five 0 team had managed to attend the second part of court, having missed the first one due to their flight being delayed. Now they took up the third row of benches, just behind Steve and Danny in support of their 'prisoner' now turned friend, and something a bit more to Steve if looks where anything to go by, Tani observed. As soon as they were dismissed from court for a recess, Steve and Danny took their places on either side of Laura, bodyguards. Guardian angels more like.

"You ok?" Steve asked, as they all filed out of the courtroom, his hand on her back, leading her out.

"A little shaky but I'm ok, thanks." She replied.

"You did great up there." Danny said.

"Yeah, you did really good in there." Tani seconded as they now stood in the lobby just outside the courtroom.

"Thank you." She smiled politely to everyone on the group.

"I completely understand why you didn't want to tell us your story. You feared we'd become collateral damage again." Steve said, a peculiar look in his eyes as he regarded her.

She just nodded and ducked her head down. Steve wanted to give her a hug, to hold her until the hurt went away, kiss away all the pain she had been through. But he resorted to just conveying what he felt in words. He had felt like crying as she finally told her story on that stand, his heart had hurt for her. The world had not been kind to her.

"I'm really sorry for all the pain you went through all these years." Steve said, catching her eyes again. "Not many people would have survived what you did. You're a very strong lady, Dr Mallory." He finished softly. They shared a look before she dropped her head back down again. But not before Steve glimpsed the response in her eyes, he was not alone in this. She was feeling it too.

Tani could see by the telling looks on her colleagues faces that she was not the only one getting the vibe from these two. The transformation of their 'mass murderer' since she had last seen her was beyond! An innocent and beautiful girl that had been hidden underneath that clock of murderess falsehood. She now wore a neat navy-blue outfit with a white silk top inside, a nice pair of black heals, and hair neatly tucked back into a professional bun. She looked like she was going for an interview, and she was, in a way.

They walked out of the courthouse to a restaurant just a few blocks away for some much-needed lunch and refreshments. There were Marshalls posted around them in spite of the fact that their witness was surrounded by the best of law enforcement. There was still a very real threat to Laura, but it would be stupid of them to make a move now that the case was already in court and the whole country had heard the story. It would be a dumb move but then, spite didn't know wisdom. Plus, Steve didn't think the Deputy Director was working alone. No way. But he was the only one standing trial, a sacrificial lamb. Lamb didn't quite fit with this guy but, sacrifice he was still. Steve will remain on high alert until this whole thing was over. Could it really be over? Especially when he could bet his life there was no way the number one didn't know what his number two was doing? But he would take the victories they could take and hope that Laura survived another day.

He couldn't help but notice that she was smiling more, a little tense as she responded to the questions of his colleagues, but she was smiling and engaging in polite conversation. Steve would be damned if he let anything else happen to her from now on.

Laura took in the free atmosphere outside the stuffy and tense courtroom, she breathed it in and stored it in her memory. She might need these memories in her prison cell in the next years to come. She wasn't that presumptuous to expecting that her slate would be wiped clean even after her story had been told. It was one thing to tell a story, it was another to have people believe it. Plus, she was not the one on trial here, she was just a witness. She didn't have that much hope but she would like to believe that she had friends now. Danny and Steve were so very protective of her and she was touched by that. They had heard her story and believed her, that's all that mattered to her right now. Somebody had heard her side of the and believed her, the whole world had heard her version now, unlike ten years ago when she had been forced to plead guilty to protect her parents. She didn't expect that she would suddenly go free from this, it was too much to hope for. The people they were going against were powerful and might just go scot free again, but she was glad for this moment. She observed them all as they talked animatedly at the table, she made a mental picture of all of their faces because after today she will be going back to prison, her place of residence. She had created a virus, didn't matter for what reason or that it had a cure, she had caused deaths still. She smiled at Tani and Junior's cute moments, Lou Grover's boisterous sense of humor and Danny's endless snarks, she smiled at that. She would laugh but she was still too flat inside, afraid to take too much. She looked at Steve and he was looking at her, their eyes collided, her heart lurched, and she quickly looked away. She will remember him most and she didn't want to explore the reason why. She would not allow herself to even think of it.

Lou Grover nudged Danny beside him and leaned to whisper. "Our boy is quite taken." He said with a smile as he observed Steve stealing glances at the good doctor.

"I tried to tell him that, but he only snaps my head off."

Lou laughed.

….

"All rise! Judge Ted Mason presiding!" The Bailiff bellowed, as the court session resumed.

Steve was as tense as if he were the one on trial, but this was the moment of reckoning. He promised himself, if this didn't go their way, he was making this his new case. His own little project until he got Laura out of this predicament. God only knew she had been punished enough and it just had to stop.

"Does the Jury have a verdict?" The Judge was asking. They had all taken their seats, but there was a tense atmosphere in the courtroom one could slice with a knife.

One of the Jurors stood up and with a little bit of drama, he read out the verdict.

"We find the defendant…guilty of treason, mass murder and an act of terrorism, among other things."

The court had varying reactions, relief, triumph and anger from defendant of course.

Laura took a relieved breath, it was done. After ten years her friends and colleagues would finally get justice. Her parents and Joe, the innocent helpers at the gas station would rest easy, hopefully. She was happy with this, even if she had to go back to prison, she would take this as a win.

The Juror remained standing, waiting for the courtroom to come to order.

"Your honor, with the testimonies provided, the Jury would like to move for the dismissal of Dr Laura Mallory's falsified conviction and imprisonment with immediate effect." The Juror said.

The court went into a roar, exclamations of agreement coming from the benches.

"Order!" The Judge said.

When the courtroom went quiet the Judge began to speak. The atmosphere grew even more tense in the courtroom.

"I would like to put in my own testimony before I make a ruling here." The Judge said. "I have full knowledge of how Dr Mallory was pursued by assassins ordered to kill her and the two Detectives from Hawaii, who against all odds managed to protect her so she would see this day, even as their own lives were put in danger." He smiled kindly at Laura from across his bench, and Laura could not breathe, afraid to see the hope.

"I was saved from the same would be killers only in the nick of time. For just as soon as the Marshalls extricated me from my house in the middle of the night, to protect me, I watched my house explode and go up in flames. The Fire Department ruled it as a gas leak." His mouth turned up and snorted.

"But I'm here, Dr Laura Mallory is here, and justice has been served at last. And now, with the powers vested in me by the Government of the United States, I hereby declare Dr Laura Mallory not guilty of all the criminal charges brought against her. Her time of imprisonment thus far served, will remain a blemish on our justice system as a whole and her imprisonment is terminated as of this moment."

Laura was no longer hearing him; her world was spinning, and she stretched out her hand to hold on to the desk in front of her.

"And Dr Mallory," The Judge was addressing her, "On behalf of the United States Government, I would like to extend a heartfelt apology for your wrongful conviction and imprisonment. I know it isn't much but for what it's worth, we are deeply sorry."

Laura just stared, couldn't answer.

"We thank you for your bravery ma'am." The Judge rose and they all stood up with him.

The Judge gave her a fatherly smile and she smiled back, but she was numb from the shock, still couldn't believe what had happened.

She swayed and immediately felt strong arms enveloping her, taking her in for a warm hug.

Steve held her, "It's ok, you did this. It's all over now. Take it in, It's real." Steve could see that she was still in shock, she still didn't believe it, was afraid to believe it, and he really wanted her too, needed her to let the chains go.

She held on to him, she couldn't think, couldn't breathe. If this was a dream, then it would be officially her worst nightmare. Because nothing could be crueler than to wake up in her cell after this.

Steve let her go, tried to coax a smile out of her, she just stared at him, she couldn't.

"Come here kid," Danny gave her a hug and a brotherly kiss on the forehead. "It's all over now. Congratulations."

"Yeah, congratulations." The others were saying, some giving her hugs too.

She didn't know if she responded to the well wishes, she didn't know how she managed to put one foot in front of the other as she was propelled forward between her two guardian angels. She still couldn't breathe, the flashes from the many cameras outside the courtroom blinding her, but no actual microphone made it close to her. She was adequately protected, quickly pushed into a black SUV, her two angels on either side of her, and quickly drove off.

She knew that she should be feeling something, but she just felt numb, in a haze. She should cry, with relief, with pain she had suffered for so long, with joy, but she couldn't. She hadn't shed a tear in ten years, and she didn't know if she ever will. She protected herself, at least when she woke up from this dream and find she was still in her cell at Springcreek, it wouldn't hurt too much to find it all gone.

….