OK, don't hold me to the court case, OK? I don't really know how it works, or what kind of question's they'd ask. I might have made Dan's lawyer ask some questions that probably wont be asked in real life. Anyway ...

Chapter 18 - Free

"Ready?" Leo asked. I nodded.

Today was the court case. I was going to have to give evidence, as was Leo and Phoebe, who had seen Dan shoot me.

Dan hadn't mentioned magic, thank god, but I had a feeling he was binding his time.

"What if he gets away with it?" I asked anxiously.

"He wont."

"What if he does? It happens all the time, people getting off on a technicality." I started to bite my lip.

"This is different. Phoebe and I can back you up."

I nodded, took a deep breath and stood up.

"Let's go."

"How you holding up?" Paige greeted me downstairs.

I just nodded. I thought if I opened my mouth I'd puke.

"OK, Patty's with Mrs. Robinson, next door." Prue told us, walking through the door. "Are we ready?"

She looked right a me, as though expecting me to fall apart.

Was I going to?

I caught sight of a photo on the table nearby, my sisters, Patty and I.

Patty.

I had to do this for her.

If Dan had missed when he shot me ...

I couldn't risk him being brought back into her life.

"Let's go." I said, briskly walking through the still-open door.

I couldn't see them, but I knew my sisters and Leo exchanged looks before following me.

"Ms. Halliwell, hi, I'm Cole Turner, your lawyer." The dark-haired guy smiled vaguely at me, then his eyes flipped straight to Phoebe, who smiled back.

"Hi, here, hello." I said, to get his attention. "Yeah, me. What exactly's gonna happen out there?"

"I'm not going to lie to you, ms. Halliwell. They're going to rip you to pieces. But all you have to do is tell the truth. The evidence is against him. This is just a formality." He smiled confidently.

"Hi, I'm Phoebe." Pheebs pushed past me, held her hand out. "Piper's sister. I'm going to be a witness, I saw what happened." She said breathlessly.

"Right." He nodded. "Well, you too, stick to the truth."

"Of course."

Wow. Phoebe can't even attend a court case without getting some guy.

"Ms. Halliwell, you say this - violence, started soon after you moved in with my client?" Dan's lawyer said to me.

"Yes."

"And yet you never mentioned it too your sisters? Why?"

"I ... was scared of him."

"Ah. And did my client ever threaten to hurt you if you told anyone?"

I thought back.

"No." I replied truthfully.

"So why were you scared of him?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Apparently not. "At first, I did - love him, I guess. And I stayed because we had a daughter together and I felt Patty would benefit from having both parents - my dad was never around when I was younger."

He's here now, though, by the way. Watching. Phoebe's apparently been in touch, and she told him all about it. Prue went crazy, but I'm kinda glad he's here.

"But then it got worse." I continued. "And yes, I was scared what he'd too if I tried to leave him. And I was ashamed. He'd convinced me it was my fault."

"So you'd say it wasn't his fault you stayed?"

"Objection, your honour." Mr. Turner said loudly. "This man is implying my client was at fault for the violence she experienced, which she isn't. The point is my client suffered violent domestic abuse at the hands of Mr. Gordon, which resulted in him trying to kill her."

"Agreed." The judge said.

"OK. Ms. Halliwell on the day of the shooting, where had you been?" Dan's lawyer said, recovering quickly.

"Out with my daughter and Leo. Wyatt."

"So my client witnessed you arriving home with his daughter and another man? Do you think this might have angered him, enough to temporarily want to harm you?"

"So that gives him the right to kill my sister!" Prue yelled angrily. "She nearly died -"

"Silence. If you continue to interrupt the court, I will have you removed." The judge said loudly.

"Dan and I were already separated, I have a right to take my daughter out, whenever and with whoever I want. And he was outside my house with a loaded gun. Are you trying to say he just happened to be there with a gun, with no intention of shooting me?" I said angrily, my voice shaking.

Amazingly, he had nothing more to say.

Phoebe described the night I left Dan, calling her, and the day he shot me. She even remembered to tell them about him mouthing 'surprise bitch'.

Leo told them about the night he took me from Dan's, the knife and everything, and me telling him about it in the first place.

Andy, and the woman who had taken my statement also gave evidence, and so did the doctor who treated me.

Eventually, it was almost over.

"Your honour," Dan's lawyer said, standing up. "My client was suffering from depression, due to losing his job, which lead to excessive drinking, which sometimes made him violent."

Sometimes? Hiya buddy, where you been?

"His partner had left him, taking his child, and he believe he had lost his daughter forever. When he went to the Halliwell's that afternoon, he had no intention of causing any harm to Ms. Halliwell, and he was no aware of picking up the gun. When he saw another man with his daughter, he believed he had been replaced in her life. The hurt and betrayal led him to shoot ms. Halliwell, almost subconsciously. I ask you to take pity on a man who believed he had lost everything, and acted out of desperation."

He sat down and smiled at Dan. They thought they'd won.

Sure.

"I ask the jury to consider what we have heard here today." Mr. Turner said loudly.

"This man subjected my client to violence, often, and did not care for her life, or his daughter's. It is my believe that he fully intended to kill my client that day. We have heard how he said 'surprise' to her, and he has shown no remorse. He would have left his daughter without a mother. He would have happily killed in cold-blood, all because my client had finally escaped him, and was trying to build her life up. Before she left him, he kept her in their daughter's room for three days, and told her he would kill them both. I plead with you to get this man off the streets, so he cannot do anything like this again."

Wow. He was a damn good lawyer.

The jury took half-an-hour to decide, during which I sat holding Leo's and Prue's hands. We sat in silence, apprehensively, waiting ...

"Foreman of the jury, have you reached a verdict you all agree on?" The judge asked when they filed back in.

"Yes."

"Have you found Mr. Daniel Gordon guilty or not guilty of attempted murder?"

"Guilty."

I never knew one word could make me so happy. I was free, for real. They acknowledged it, they agreed he was wrong, he should be locked up.

"Daniel Gordon, you are sentenced to 21 years imprisonment." The judge said.

"You can't do that!" Dan yelled, jumping up. "Why don't you ask her, ask her about the stuff that goes on that there place, how I was slammed into a wall, how he kept just appearing -"

Thankfully, no one paid any attention to his ramblings, and he was removed.

"21 years." I breathed.

It was amazing, fantastic. Patty would be 23 by then, he couldn't get to her.

He couldn't get to us.

I threw my arms around Leo's neck.

"Leo, let's get married. Soon." I whispered.

Yay! And it's not even the end! The wedding will probably be next chapter, so we're going to skip a few months ahead, I think.