Thanks for your patience with this one guys! It's actually really hard to write the trial, and there's another chapter of it to go yet, and then the verdict, and then all of the stuff I wrote down in the plot base earlier that I probably won't stick to as usual. In the meantime, however, I have also started plotting the first chapters of the sequal, which will take place 14 years after this story. A long fast-forward I know, but it won't all be focused on the younger characters, like I originally thought, but it will still be a Jate story...mainly through flashbacks. Laura, you know why it's through flashbacks, but you keep your lips shut missy!
Angel.
Xxxx
As they all took their seats again, Kate felt her heart hammering in her chest. In fact, the sound of her own heart pulsated so strongly in her head that it was all she could hear, and it continued to speed up to the point where she thought that she might pass out. Brilliant, she thought, the last thing I need now is morning sickness. She swallowed the nervous feeling down, and held her head high, drinking some of the water that Ben had poured for her to try and occupy her hands - maybe that way they would stop shaking.
Judge Wilson spoke about Kate's offences, which she resented her children having to hear, but thankfully, they would not understand what the terms meant. She hoped that they wouldn't ask Jack to explain what they meant. Then, the old man with accusing eyes turned to the lawyer representing the state.
"You may call your first witness." He said simply.
Witnesses. This is where Kate started to worry. It had already been arranged by Ben that her witnesses be her father, Claire, and Sawyer. She had questioned his insistance at Sawyer, but he had assured her not to worry. She did worry, however, as if there was anyone to land her in it unintentionally, it would be Sawyer.
"Thank you, your honour." The man nodded, and stepped forward from his desk. "I'd like to call Rachel Brennon to the stand.
Kate heard her name, and let out a shaky breath as she looked backwards into the stands. A woman with mousy blonde hair and blue eyes revealed herself, leaving a fourteen year old boy in her place in the stands. A fourteen year old boy who looked so terribly familiar that once again she thought she might pass out. She realised then that this teenager was Connor Brennan - Tom's son whom she made fatherless.
She couldn't believe how much he looked like Tom. The hair - the eyes - the face - that nose for definate! She knew that if she had not known that Tom was dead, she could easily have mistaken this young man for her childhood friend.
Rachel walked past her, and gave her a glare for staring at her son, who didn't look up in Kate's direction.In fact, he kept his eyes everywhere in the room except for her, which is when Kate wondered what, exactly, Rachel had told him about her. Probably that she was a cold-blooded murderer who had stolen his father from him. That wasn't true. She might have been a murderer, but she wasn't cold-blooded.
Kate avoided Rachel's eyes, looking straight ahead of her instead, unable to cope with the hatred that stemmed from the woman who had married Tom. Would it ever have been different? If Kate hadn't gone on the run, would she and Rachel have got on well when Tom introduced her? Would Rachel have even gotten together with Tom? Maybe Kate would have stayed and settled down with Tom like they always thought they would. Once upon a time, when she was alone, not sure where she was sleeping, and with no idea what town she would end up in tomorrow, she had wanted that, because Tom was home. Now, she didn't want that, because she had Jack, and her family was home.
Rachel took the stand, and she cleared her throat as she did so. Kate finally looked at her, and saw the hurt in her eyes. Why wouldn't she be hurt? She was having to face her husbands death twelve years after it happened. She wanted to see Tom brought to justice. She wanted to see Kate torn from Jack as she was torn from Tom.
Kate bit her lip, focusing instead on drinking the water again to calm her. Beside her, Ben put a hand over hers, silently assuring her.
"Mrs Brennon..."
"Please, Rachel." She interrupted.
"Rachel," The lawyer, whom they know knew as Marcus, started again. "I understand that it was hard for you to do this today, with the loss of your late husband in your past now." Rachel simply nodded. "Have you ever met with Ms Austen before?"
Rachel looked at Kate, before shaking her head. "No...I've seen photographs."
"Photographs?" Marcus questioned.
"Tom...he had photographs of them both as children, taken before we met." She explained.
"Your husband and Ms Austen were close, I presume?"
"He said that they were best friends." She muttered weakly.
They were more than best friends...they were childhood sweathearts.
Kate couldn't bear to listen as Rachel retold the account of Tom's death. She only want to bury her head in her hands and block her ears as Rachel described her weekend visiting her family in Cita Rapids, only to come home and be told that her husband, and the father of her child, was dead. Shot in a police run-in because he had been in the car with a fugitive - in the car with her.
All those years that Jack had helped her to stop blaming herself for Tom's death were suddenly forgotten, and all of the guilt started to overwhelm her once again. She bit her lip so hard that she nearly drew blood, and fiddled with the engagement ring on her finger to stop her from thinking of the image of her dead best friend in her mind.
"Now, Rachel," Marcus continued, "You had a child with your husband, a son?"
Rachel nodded. "Yes."
"If I may, how old was your son at the time of your husband's death?"
22 months next week...Kate remembered Tom telling her that when she had looked at the photographs on the wall. She had said that Connor was a beautiful baby, and Tom had insisted that he got that from his mother, not from him, however, what Kate had seen in the boy a few minutes ago convinced her otherwise.
"He was 22 months old." Rachel told the lawyer sadly. "Just before his second birthday."
He would have been just six months younger than Curtis was now. Kate felt the need to pour her heart out on the table as she imagined Curtis loosing his father at that age. She wouldn't have been able to cope with out Jack, she wouldn't be able to live. If it hadn't been for Jack, she wouldn't even have her children. If she had lost him, then they would have been taken into care when she was arressted, and she would never see them again. If Jack hadn't been there, she wouldn't have ever seen Kaia again after Sarah had taken her...he wouldn't have caught her, and her beloved daughter would have fallen to her death...
Stop thinking like that, he's there, he's right behind you, so are the children. They're all there, and nothing's going to take them away.
Kate sat awkwardly through the next lot of questions that were directed at Rachel. How hard was it after Tom's death? Were you aware that he had been contacted by Ms Austen? Had Ms Austen ever tried to contact him before? What, exactly, did she remember Tom saying about Ms Austen? Was it hard when her son questioned where his father was? How long had it been before she was informed of his death?
Eventually, through half an hour of listening to the agony that Rachel had been through because of Kate, she was asked to step down, and Kate would have released a sigh of relief if it hadn't been for the fact that Rachel had started the case off very well against her. It wasn't exactly looking promising from their point of view. Even sat behind her, Jack was starting to worry whether there really would be too much evidence. Kaia shifted in her seat slightly beside him, and he put his arm around her shoulders, kissing the top of her head. Surely these children were enough evidence that Kate was a good person?
"Mr Leonard, do you have anything to say on this matter?" The judge asked, and Ben stood beside Kate.
"Yes, your honour." He said, before stepping infront of the table where Kate sat, leaving her alone with nothing but air beside her. "My client was not responsible for the death of Tom Brennan. There is no evidence to suggest that she was holding him hostage, as Mrs Brennon and her accusation suggests. From what I have come to understand, my client was, indeed, visiting her terminally ill mother in the hospital were Mr Brennan worked. Because of the media attention given to Ms Austen, Mrs Jansen became distressed in her weakened state, and police were called. Ms Austen asked for use of Tom's car, and he allowed it, but refused to get out of the car, even at my client's insistance." Rachel pulled a face at this, hardley believe that Tom refused to leave. "Is it not entirely probable that a man looking out for his childhood friend would want to disuade her from running?"
The judge gave a small nod, and Marcus began to look uncomfortable in his seat. Kate let out a tiny sigh. Ben had managed to convince them that she hadn't been responsible for Tom's death in one tenth of the time that Rachel had convinced them that she was. Jack was right - he was a brilliant lawyer.
"Mr Leonard, your witness please." The judge said, as the jury began scribbling down notes.
"Defence calls Claire Littleton to the stand."
Claire made her way from her seat, and up to the stand, giving Kate a gentle, reassuring smile as she passed her. Ben moved from infront of the table near Kate over to stand before Claire.
"Ms Littleton, Claire, may I?" He checked, and Claire nodded. "Claire, you were on the island with Kate when Oceanic Flight 815 crashed."
"Yes."
"Can you tell us, for the benefit of the court, what state you were in when the plane crashed?" The judge and the jury looked on curiously, wondering how Claire's health would do to help Kate.
"I was eight months pregnant." She told them, and there were murmers quietly before order was restored.
"Judging from the ten years that were spent on that island, I assume that your child was born there?"
"Yes, he was born six weeks after the crash." Claire confirmed.
"There was a doctor on the island, was there not?"
"Yes, Jack Shephard, he was a surgeon."
"But he wasn't the one who delivered your baby, was he?"
Claire shook her head. "No."
"Claire, if you would, could you please describe to the court the circumstances of your child's birth, including the persons present at delivery."
Kate looked up as Ben said that, and understood what he was meaning to do now. Claire wasn't just going to be the supportive friend singing her praises, she was going to tell the court about the night Aaron was born.
"I went into the jungle on my own, because I was scared." Claire began. "Kate found me there, and shouted for help when she knew I was going into labour. Jin arrived, and then Jin went to go and get Jack."
"What happened then?"
"Jin came back with Charlie, who told Kate that she would have to deliver the baby."
"And why wasn't the doctor able to come himself?"
"Because Boone, one of the other survivors, had been seriously injured when h-he fell of a cliff, and Jack was giving him a blood transfusion to save his life."
"If you could tell us one more time who delivered the baby?" Ben insisted.
"Kate did." Claire said.
There were more mumurs around the court, and the judge had to call for order.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury." Ben continued when the noise had died down. "If someone was still caught in their criminal ways, would it cause them to deliver a healthy baby, and take care of a new mother to her best efforts in the middle of a jungle?"
"Does the prosecution have any questions for the witness?" The judge asked, and Marcus nodded.
"Ms Littleton," He began, not taking on the informal manner that he had done with Rachel. "When Ms Austen delivered your baby, were you aware of her criminal background?" He asked.
"No." Claire answered. "It wasn't until after that."
"Surely you were worried to have seen your child around a criminal?"
"I was at first." She admitted. "But Kate isn't a bad person. I trusted her with my baby."
"Is there a reason why you felt you could trust someone wanted for murder with a newborn child?" Marcus questioned.
Claire frowned. "Kate might have been a criminal when she landed, but she wasn't afterwards. She changed. She looked after us all, more than she looked after herself."
Marcus stared Claire down for a moment, and then stepped down, defeated. "Prosecution rests." He mumbled.
"Thank you, Ms Littleton, you can step down." Ben said kindly, helping Claire down from the stand, and pacing back towards Kate in silence.
Kate watched as Claire smiled at her on her way back to her seat, and couldn't help but feel a little bit of hope.
