Thanks to Patty for beta reading this part. I hope you all enjoy. Char :-)
COURT MARTIAL Part 16:
Wally West grabbed the black computer chair in his quarters and hurled it toward the door in an attempt to release his pent up frustrations. An anguished groan escaped his lips.
"Whoa, dude, are you trying to start a war?" Roy asked with a roguish grin as he entered the private quarters. Wally glared at him and simply turned away. "Who pissed in your corn flakes, Fleet Feet?"
"He is upset about Dick's situation. We are all upset about Dick's current situation."
Roy turned in the direction of the familiar voice. "Gillhead? When'd you get here?" He started over toward his old friend.
Garth stood perfectly still, his face did not belie his anger. "Don't start with me, Harper. And don't call me Gillhead. I'm already mad at you, but I have more important things on my mind at the moment."
Roy stopped. He seemed confused. "Mad at me? What'd I do?"
"It's what you didn't do!" Garth exploded. "You didn't call me and you stopped him," Garth pointed at Wally who shrugged sheepishly, "from calling me. Don't you think I had a right to know about Dick from the start?"
"Well, Garth, I --"
"Don't interrupt me when I am yelling at you. I rarely yell, so let me finish. Don't you ever cut me out again. Not when it has to do with Dick or Wally or you. Do you understand me?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry dude, but ... I was only trying to help you out. I knew what all was going on with you in Atlantis and -- "
"I appreciate your concern Roy," Garth said, his composure returning. "I do, but, we've already lost Donna, I don't want to lose anyone else. I don't plan on losing anyone else if I can avoid it. So I would appreciate knowing things in advance, not having to hear it from Arthur after he's been placed on the panel that's going to try Dick."
"We aren't going to lose Dick," Roy said with conviction.
"Don't be so sure," Wally interjected. "You weren't at the hearing yesterday."
Roy ran his hand through his hair and turned toward Wally, a puzzled expression on his face. "What hearing?"
"The one we lost."
"Lost? What?"
Wally tossed a can of Zesti towards Roy. "Tell me you have good news. Tell me Cheshire and Tarantula planned everything to maneuver Dick into that stairwell and they were using a drug to control him which prevented him from stopping Tarantula from murdering Blockbuster."
Roy looked at his friends, then down at the Zesti. A sigh moved into his throat, but he refused to exhale. He shook his head and tossed the Zesti back at his friend. "I need a beer instead."
"So you don't have good news?" Garth questioned as Roy headed to the kitchenette.
Roy looked in the fridge, a disgusted look on his face. No beer. He grabbed another Zesti, popped the can and took a long gulp. "No." He turned back towards his friends and moved back to the sofa. He sat with a defeated slump in his shoulders. "Jade trained her and sent her to Bludhaven. But that's the extent of it. Nothing that'll help. Not enough to help, anyway."
"I don't understand Cheshire's involvement at all," Garth said sitting beside his friend.
"Oh you know me. I have to go sharing my screwups with my friends. Can't just screw up my own life."
Wally sat on the opposite side of Roy. "So it was about Lian. The fact Dick helped you take custody from her."
"Bingo. Jade holds a grudge." He leaned back sinking further into the leather sofa until his body settled in a comfortable V position. It hurt more than he would ever admit that his past contributed to Dick's current state, no matter how indirectly. "So, tell me about the hearing you were talking about. What happened? What'd you lose?"
Roy listened as Wally vented about Green Lantern and Blue Beetle; about the hearing and the Tribunal's vote, and about the restraints. The Justice League had placed Nightwing in restraints. Roy's anger rose in his chest, into his words. His friends' voices held the same righteous indignation as they agreed with his statements. His lips twisted into a half smile as he contemplated the incredulity of the situation. "Oh, this is a crock of crap."
Garth nodded, "That's a very articulate way to phrase it."
Wally sighed bending over, his elbows resting on his knees. "Yeah, but you know ... it's more than that. It ... I'm ... scared." He turned his green eyes toward his friends. "I'm really scared. When we lost that hearing it really hit me ... we could lose. We could actually lose this case and ... losing the case means we lose Dick. Forever."
Roy shook his head. "I've said this before and I will say it again ... we will NOT loose Dick." Roy stood and walked to the corner where the computer console was. He began tapping in a command.
Garth shared a confused look with Wally and then turned back to Roy. "What are --"
"How far are you willing to go? This has to be more than lip service. This is Titans Together for real." He paused as his words soaked into his mind as well. Until this moment, he hadn't really considered it how much he would lose. He looked at his silent companions and knew that like him, they would lose a lot. "Would you be willing to sacrifice EVERYTHING? Family? Friends? Hell, your day job?"
Wally rose and nodded slowly. "I understand and yes." He joined Roy at the terminal. "What are you doing?"
Garth shook his head. "Are you insane? What about Lian? What about Linda?"
Wally opened his mouth, but an angry outburst from Roy stilled Wally's comments. "Don't you think I know that! I do. It's hitting home, but the real bottom line is this: Is our happiness worth more than Dick's life? Dick would risk it all for us. Hell, he has. As I said, this is Titans Together and like always – we WILL make this work. Are you in or out? If you're in, get your fishy tail over here and help. If you're out, then leave. Now. You don't want to hear anymore of this."
"What are you doing?" Garth asked standing.
"What Nightwing taught us. Planning. It's time to get serious. In or out Garth?" Roy asked again.
Garth smiled and moved over, "Leave you two to plan? We'll be living on the run eating can cheese."
Wally shook his head. "Hey no dissing of the miracle food of can cheese."
Roy smiled and felt a weight lift off him. The decision was made ... together ... and together, they could and would succeed. As he pulled up the schematics for the teleporters, he mumbled under his breath, "Titans together."
"Indeed." Garth leaned over and they began planning "The Great Escape" - Titans style.
Jean scribbled on the yellow legal pad. Stopping, she thumped the pen then looked up at Ted Kord and Ralph Dibney who were busy studying the storyboard that they had put together mapping out the time line of the crime. "I think the two of you have a pretty good handle on what happened that night."
Ralph crossed his arms and sighed. "I'm trying to find a hole, something I missed. Something that proves ... I'm wrong."
"It's hard isn't it," Jean said. "Nightwing's someone we all like. Most of you watched him grow up. Of course you want to be wrong. No one wants to be right in this one because it adds up to something dirty and sully," Jean said. She stood and walked over to the two men. Placing her hand on Ted's arm, she looked at him sympathetically. "Have you thought about a compromise?"
"Compromise?" Ted asked puzzled.
"A deal. Have you or John considered offering Nightwing a deal?"
"A ... deal? When he committed murder? You think we should compromise our principals and slap him on the wrist?"
Jean rolled her eyes. "I didn't say you let him plead to jaywalking, Ted. But when John gets back from his meeting with the state Attorney General's assistants, let's talk about making NIghtwing a deal. Happens in real life everyday. I wouldn't be surprised if that's not what the AG's boys wanted to talk to John about."
"I don't know if John'll go for it but ... what kind of deal?" Ted asked moving to the table and sitting down. He pulled his laptop over and opened his word processor. Looking up at Jean, he queried, "What are you thinking?"
"Solicitation to commit murder. It's a class C felony. It's an easier sell than the first degree charge is going to be to the Tribunal. They do not want to find Nightwing guilty and there are problems with this case. He did not specifically do anything and I'm not convinced under the circumstances that his lack of action makes him guilty of murder. Now solicitation simply put means that he enticed, advised, counseled, incited or induced another to commit a crime with the intent that the other person commit the crime."
Ted listened intently before he started typing at his keyboard. "So looking at everything that happened, the state of mind of all the participants, by stepping away and not stopping Tarantula he enticed or incited her to kill Blockbuster. It was tacit approval. Tarantula felt she had his approval because of his moving away and was induced by that to actually pull the trigger. Pulling the trigger may not have been something she was truly willing to do. Maybe she wanted him to stop her, but because he didn't, he gave her the courage to commit murder."
"Exactly," Jean replied with a smile and a wink. "I could make a good lawyer out of you yet, Ted."
He grinned. "Thanks. So, tell me more?"
Barbara sorted through the witness statements spread out on the conference table. She looked across the table at the dark haired young man. She watched him thumb through one of the manila folders and could tell his mind was racing, working on the problem. Barbara had watched that look in his eyes and that furrow on his brow many times in the past when they'd be working on a case. It had always fascinated her watching his mind work. The last few days since the custody hearing had been a whirlwind of trial preparations. She smiled at his renewed interest in his case. "Any ideas?"
Dick looked up from his papers, his blue eyes staring sharply at her. "I dunno. I'm guessing they're going to call someone from the hotel that saw me fighting Desmond."
"Agreed. My best guess would be Elliott Brooks."
Dick nodded, looking to his left. He grabbed the third file in the stack. Without opening it, he rattled off, "Forty-two year old insurance salesman from Hoboken. Was in Bludhaven for a convention."
"That's the one. Middle aged, no criminal record. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Plus, he gave the best statement describing you and the fight of the lay witnesses."
Dick grinned. "It could backfire on them. He also stated that I was shouting at people to get down, trying to keep Desmond from shooting anyone else. That's got to count for something, right?"
She reached across taking her hand in her own. "Yes, it does. We can use Mr. Brooks to show that Desmond was, in fact, a threat to the lives of everyone in that hotel, including you."
He laced his fingers with hers, entwining their hands. His other hand sat the folder down. His eyes searched her face. Finally, he worked up the courage to ask one of the questions that had worn at his mind the last few days. "How far are you going to delve into my mental state that night, Babs?"
Her heart melted as she looked into his eyes, as she studied his face. The cut of his jaw, the chiseled cheekbones, that stray lock of black hair falling casually across his brow, he took her breath away. He could make it so hard to concentrate if she would let him, and he would not have to do anything. But she could not let him. She had to concentrate, to stay focused. His life ... their life ... depended upon it. Barbara wished she was anywhere but here. She had to mentally admonish herself to stay focused on the case, not on him ... not on what she had to lose. She had to lead with her head and not her heart. She had to stay emotionally detached. Who knew that the lessons she learned from Batman would be the ones she needed the most when the stakes were the highest.
Her fingers pushed her glasses up as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "As far as I have to." Her lips pursed as she watched his face. It was obvious he wanted more information than that. "Okay Dick, we've got to get the Tribunal into your head. They've got to know where you were that night. You're luckier than most defendants because you do have a jury of your "peers". Everyone on that panel has their own enemies. They know what it's like and just how far those enemies will go to destroy them. They can understand where you were at."
"But they didn't do what I did."
"Whoa on that thought. Ollie has and we both know it. We also know that's why Bruce put him there. Wonder Woman and Aquaman are both from warrior cultures and have had the need to use deadly force on occasion."
"So we tell them ... everything?"
"Yes."
Dick's jaw flexed. "Is there any way we can keep out --"
"No." Barbara sighed and looked down. She pulled a legal pad closer, grabbed a pen, and began to scribble to avoid his gaze. "We pull them in ... make them live what you lived, feel what you felt. We do it so that they understand. So that they get inside your head."
"You think understanding will help?" he asked her.
"Yes. It will. The prosecution has to prove intent. That you intended for Tarantula to kill Blockbuster."
His blue eyes stared at her. His tongue pushed against his teeth as he thought about her statement. "But didn't I?"
TO BE CONTINUED . . .
