Chapter #21 – Trials. Feelings. Truths.

Court –

With no success obtaining a lawyer, one was given to "Jasmine Cassadine" by the court.

The prosecutor was District Attorney Scott Baldwin.

Jasmine and her lawyer was the defense.

She watched her lawyer walk over to Scott Baldwin, as he presented the attorney with the evidence. She saw her attorney shake his head.

As he slowly came back, Jasmine asked him what the evidence was.

"Pictures." He simply but quietly said.

"Pictures? That's it? What kind of pictures?"

"Pictures that I can't defend against, so you might as well fess up and tell them you're guilty." The lawyer said.

"What?" Jasmine whispered in disbelief.

She turned to Elizabeth, tears clearly threatening to fall as her face paled just trying to figure out what kind of pictures they were.

"Breathe Jasmine, you have to breathe. Try and stay calm." Elizabeth said not hearing the conversation.

Greece –

Nikolas, Lucky, and Luke stayed in a hotel, close to the castle where Nik and Jasmine spent 3 years (and for Jasmine 6 years) of hell.

They were trying to strategize the best way to get Alexis free. They knew it wasn't going to be as easy as waltzing in there and taking Alexis, then going back home to the States. Any idiot could figure that out.

"So what do we do?" Lucky asked.

"Easy, we just go in there –" Luke started.

"Luke! This isn't like last time okay! Remember the phone call we got? Do you really want to know what Stavros actually said to my wife? It's not easy, it never was, and it's not going to be now."

Nikolas took a deep breath before he continued.

"Look Luke, I admire your simplicity in this situation, but really. Please. We have to think of a better way. We all know Stavros is going to want to talk and to see me. We have to figure out a second plan because knowing Stavros, he's just not going to hand Alexis over. He's probably going to throw the wool over our eyes, or bargain for her. We have to have a second plan and a third as a backup. The second plan has to be incase he decides to bargain. That's when I distract him, and Lucky it's probably best if you find Alexis and take her that way." Nik said, rubbing his face in frustration.

"Well that's definitely a plan. Good thinking Cassadine." Luke quipped.

Nikolas stared out the window.

'I don't want to be a Cassadine anymore. Not in any way, shape, or form.' Nikolas thought to himself.

With a headache forming, Nikolas was tired of strategizing, although it was extremely important.

"How do you think the girls and twins are back home?" Nik asked.

Lucky smiled. "I think they're fine. How did she sound last night?" He asked referring to Jas.

"She sounded tired. This pregnancy has not been easy for her, and considering Mom isn't getting along with her…I just hope she's a little less stressed. But I don't think its helping with me gone…"

"She'll be fine Nikolas. She's strong. If anyone has proved that it's your wife." Luke said with a smile.

"Thanks Luke."

Nik believed Luke, but nonetheless Nikolas still worried very deeply about the woman he left back home.

Court (Already in Progress)–

"So it is to my understanding that the prosecutor has evidence against the defendant which will prove her absolutely unfit to continue parenting her two sons, and the child she carries currently?" The judge asked.

"Yes your Honor. I do." Scott Baldwin said a slick smile on his face.

"And what evidence is that?"

"Pictures your Honor. Pictures. Now yes, what kind of pictures? Pictures of her sons."

"And those pictures would be…?" The judge asked, getting impatient at the DA's dramatics.

"Pictures of her children, black and blue." He said simply.

"NO!" Jasmine cried out.

"Order! Council, what do you have in your defense?"

"You're Honor I have no defense. I've seen the pictures, and must say I don't think there is a defense. I believe my client is in fact guilty."

Eyes wide, Jasmine whipped her head toward her best friend. Tears now falling as she vehemently shook her head.

"Well in that case, Mrs. Cassadine, do you have any last words?"

Jasmine froze for a second before looking at the Judge.

"Yes your Honor. I'd like to act as my own lawyer."

"Are you sure? This is not generally done." The Judge asked.

"Yes, I am sure." Jasmine said, willing her voice not to waver.

"Well then, please take the stand in your defense."

"Do you, Jasmine Cassadine swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?"

"I do."

"Mrs. Cassadine, what do you have to say in your defense?" Asked the Judge.

"Your Honor, I love my sons dearly. I would never harm a hair on their heads! I could never hurt them! I'd rather sever my hands off than to hurt my children. Please, I didn't even know those pictures were taken! I had no clue! Please! I know those pictures look real, but it's not true."

"Why should we believe you? The proof is right here!" Scott Baldwin snapped.

Ignoring Scott, Jasmine continued to look at the judge and jury.

"No, that's not proof. That's being framed. I'm telling you the truth your Honor. The bruises are fake; are makeup. I did not hurt my sons. Besides, who gave the DA those pictures anyway? I've never seen them before, and as I've said I didn't even know they were taken."

"Any more questions DA Baldwin?"

"Not at this time."

"Mrs. Cassadine, you may step down." The Judge said.

"Your Honor, I wish to ask again, who presented those pictures to the DA?" Jasmine asked.

"Your Honor, the name of the person who gave me these pictures wishes to remain anonymous."

"Why? What are they afraid of?" Jasmine asked.

"You probably." Scott replied.

Jasmine rolled her eyes.

"Your Honor, you asked me to bring my sons with me today. They are currently not in the courtroom due to the topic of this trial. Why don't we ask them?"

"I agree. Your Honor. Let's bring them in here…" Scott said with a mischievous smile.

"Bailiff, please get the two boys." The judge said.

"It is my decision to try these boys together." The judge said.

"Boys, do you know the difference between the truth and a lie?" The Judge asked.

"Yes, your Honor. We do."

The bailiff told the boys to raise their right hands.

"Do you, Anthony and Darien Cassadine swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?"

"I do." The boys chorused.

"Defense you may begin." The Judge said.

"Anthony, Darien, has your parents ever hurt you?" Jasmine asked.

"No Mom, you or Dad never have, or ever would." Anthony stated.

Jasmine cleared her throat, before continuing "Uh, boys do me a favor? Please call me Mrs. Cassadine okay?"

"Okay, sorry."

"No problem" Jasmine replied with a quick glance, and small embarrassing smile at the judge.

"Have either of your parents ever yelled at you?"

"No, Mrs. Cassadine. Our mom or dad never yell at us."

"The pictures that are here, do you know who did that to you?"

"Objection your Honor! She's leading the witness!" Baldwin spat.

"How? I simply asked them a non-biased, non-leading question. If I were to lead the question, I'd have put an implication in there. I didn't."

"Objection overruled Mr. Baldwin. Continue Mrs. Cassadine." The Judge said.

"Thank you, your Honor. Boys, do you know who did this to you in those pictures?"

"The bad man." Anthony said.

"Who's the bad man?" Jasmine asked.

"The bad man that wouldn't let any of us leave the castle. He wouldn't let any of us go." Darien said.

"Could you tell me how you got those bruises on you?"

"It's fake, it's makeup." Darien replied.

"Your Honor! I object! She spoke to them prior to the trial!"

"You don't know that Mr. Baldwin. Did you see that Mr. Baldwin?" The Judge asked.

"Well…no."

"Well then, you have to wait."

"Your Honor if I may, Jasmine Cassadine just said the same thing! She said herself that her sons were covered in makeup, she had to have spoken to them prior to the trial!"

"Mr. Baldwin that is enough! I would like to hear what these two young boys have to say!"

"Yes your Honor."

"Boys, you may continue." The judge said.

"Like I said, it's fake. Its makeup, it's not real." Darien said.

"Could you explain it more for us please?" Jasmine asked.

"Okay…The bad man came into our room—" Anthony started.

"Who's 'our room' Anthony?" Scott interrupted.

"Mine and my brother's room of course." Anthony said with a roll of his eyes. After all it should have been common sense to the man.

"Anyway, the bad man came into our room and told us he wanted our help looking for something. He never said what it was. He said that it was in our parent's room and we had to look in there. We told him that we couldn't go in there without one of our parent's permission. He said he already asked both our parents and they both said yes. We thought about asking our mom ourselves, but we didn't." Anthony finished and let his brother speak.

"He also said that because we're small we can look in places he couldn't. Our final question was if our mom was going to get in trouble. The bad man never liked our mom, and was always mean to her. We wanted to make sure we weren't doing anything to get her in trouble either. He promised us that our mother would not get in trouble...When we found the makeup, we knew it was something the bad man shouldn't see. We tried to put it back, but it was too late. The bad man caught us with it and took it from us."

Anthony started again.

"He asked us to put it on. We said no because we thought makeup was for girls. He said that people in plays use it all the time. He said that we could put on a play for our parents."

"And when we thought about it, we wanted to. We didn't have anything ready, but we thought we would be able to think of something between then and the time that we'd put on the play." Darien finished.

"But then you…sorry…our mother came in because I guess she was tired, and caught us with the makeup. It ended up all over the floor too because we dropped it once. But when our mother found us, she wasn't happy, but she wasn't angry, and she seemed surprised to see us. She doesn't get angry at us. So we tried to tell her what was going on when she started to cry. Then we realized that she never knew we were in there and when we tried to continue our explanation of why we were there, the bad man came in and said that keeping the makeup from him was a very bad thing. He said she needed to be punished." Anthony continued.

"We then told him that he promised that our mom wouldn't get in trouble, and our mom realized we were tricked. Our mom then was going to take us to get cleaned up. The bad man then yelled at us to get cleaned up in the other bathroom by ourselves. Our mom wouldn't let him order us around, but he just gave us a look and we said we were sorry to our mother and ran away." Darien said.

"We didn't stay to protect her. She got hurt really bad because of us. It's our fault…" Darien continued.

"But both our parents came into our room that night and told us it wasn't our fault at all. But we still can't help but feel guilty."

Jasmine tried her best not to cry at the memory of that day.

"I object to their testimony your honor! They were brainwashed!" Scott yelled.

"No they weren't!" Jasmine said back.

"Anthony and Darien, were you brainwashed?" Scott asked.

"What's 'brainwashed' mean?" Anthony whispered to his brother, who shrugged in response.

"We can't answer that." Anthony replied.

"See! They cannot answer the question your Honor" Scott said satisfied.

"Excuse me, but your Honor?" Darien asked.

"Yes?" The Judge replied.

"We can't answer the question because we don't know what 'brainwashed' means."

"Your Honor, I'll rephrase the question. Boys, is it true that your mother told you to say everything you've said here today?"

"Objection! Your Honor, he's leading the witnesses now."

"You can't object!" Scott hissed.

"Why not? If you can object, so can I."

"Order! Both of you! Mrs. Cassadine, objection sustained. Non-biased and non-leading questions Mr. Baldwin." The Judge ordered.

"Yes, your Honor. Boys, did anyone tell you what to say today?" Scott asked.

"No. No one told us to say anything." Anthony replied.

"Darien, how about you?"

"Nope. No one told me to say anything either."

"No further questions your Honor." Scott said.

"Mrs. Cassadine? Any further questions?" The Judge asked.

"No your Honor. The defense rests." Jasmine said quietly.

"Boys, you may step down now." The Judge replied kindly.

With a nod of their heads, the boys walked quietly past their mother, giving her smile that said "we hope we did good" and sat in the back of the courtroom.

"Prosecution, your witness." The Judge said.

"Your Honor, I call Elizabeth Webber to the stand." Scott Baldwin said.

After Jasmine asked the Judge to take the boys out of the courtroom (which was granted) and going through the usual procedure, Scott began his questioning.

"Ms. Webber. Have you ever witnessed the defendant hurting her sons?"

"No I have not."

"And how long have you known the defendant?"

'Years.' Elizabeth thought. "I've known the defendant only a few months."

"Only a few months…and how do you know that she never hurt her children?"

"Because I can see the love she has for them. The defendant would never harm her children. That's clearly displayed."

"Is it? How so, if you've never seen her harm her children? What evidence do you have to prove otherwise?"

"Nothing physical, Mr. Baldwin. But I have seen her interacting with her children with my own eyes."

"Really? And what happened?"

"Well, the defendant, and her husband's mother were in an argument initiated by the mother. The defendant, the defendant's husband, and the husband's mother ended up having raised voices when the boys came into the room, a bit shocked because they weren't used to either of the parents raising their voices. When the defendant realized her sons were present, she immediately lowered her voice, and softened her tone as to not frighten her sons. They asked why their parents were yelling, and she calmly and quietly explained that sometimes when people are upset, they yell. They further explained that they didn't mean to yell or scare the boys, and yelling isn't the answer to solving problems."

"Has the defendant ever yelled at her children Ms. Webber?"

"No never. She also she explained to her boys that she doesn't like to yell, nor does she like being yelled at."

Scott shook his head in frustration.

"No further questions your Honor."

"The Defense?" The Judge asked.
"No questions, your Honor."

"Mrs. Cassadine, do you have anymore witnesses?" The Judge asked.

"No, your Honor. I do not." Jasmine said bleakly.

"DA Baldwin, do you?"

Scott themed to think for a minute.

"Yes, your Honor. I do."

Jasmine looked at Scott shocked.

'Who else could he call on? I already testified, Elizabeth has, my own sons have…No one else is here.' Jasmine thought.

"The Prosecution calls Laura Spencer to the stand."

"Tell me Laura. Please. Tell me it wasn't you. Please." Jasmine said.

(Author's Note- I hope you enjoyed! Please Review! Thanks! -E.B.F.R.)