Thanks to Patty, Beth O'K, and Tammy for the beta work. I hope you all enjoy this part. Char :-)
COURT MARTIAL: Part 21:
Stewart tried to pounce. "Yes or No. Didn't Nightwing confess that he was responsible for Roland Desmond's death, that he caused it, that he was glad he was dead. Didn't he?"
Batman stared at Green Lantern. He could feel his jaw flexing as the nerve twitched in his cheek. His face was hot as rage coursed through his body. Yet, he was determined not to lose his control. Steadfast in that resolve, Batman gripped the arms of the chair as he answered. "No."
Green Lantern knocked off balanced for a moment, paused. Genuine bewilderment and surprise played across his face as he approached the witness stand. "Excuse me, did you say no?" He asked as he attempted to recover.
Batman continued to look straight ahead. "Yes."
"I'm confused," Green Lantern said as he shuffled through his papers looking for a document.
"Obviously," Batman replied coolly.
Green Lantern stopped his shuffling, looked up, and glared at the witness on the stand. He glanced down, finding what he was looking for and again focused back on Batman. He motioned at the transcript in his hand and began questioning Batman again. "Didn't Nightwing say to you in his cell," Stewart paused and then locating the relevant passage, read from the paper, "Tarantula showed up and she said she could stop him. All I had to do was step aside?"
"Yes."
"And didn't he also say And I did. I stepped aside?"
Batman glanced at Nightwing sitting at the table in front of him. Their eyes did not meet. Nightwing's head was down, his eyes focused on the dark wooden table. "Yes," Batman growled.
Pressing on, Green Lantern proceeded in his interrogation. "When Nightwing described what had happened, he continued with: She killed him. We killed him. I killed him! Didn't he?"
"Yes," Batman replied through clenched teeth, his chin defiantly held high, his hands gripping the arms of the chair tighter than before.
"So how did you answer no earlier?" Lantern asked with a triumphant smile as he lowered the transcript. He ignored Jean's exasperated sigh and not so subtle slamming of her legal pad on the dark rectangle shaped table. He knew he was making points with the tribunal. He had Batman on the ropes.
The straight line that formed Batman's mouth twitched ever so slightly before he answered. Releasing the arms of the chair, he steepled his hands in front of him. "Because you asked me if Nightwing was glad that Desmond had been murdered. My answer to that was no. He was not glad. He was anything but glad. Nightwing was distraught."
John turned to Jean who rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. He watched her sit back in her chair, arms folded across his chest. "But Nightwing admitted to you that he stepped away so that Tarantula could murder Blockbuster?"
"No, I do not believe that was what he admitted to at all," Batman said in a calm demeanor. He kept his mouth in that rigid straight line. He would not allow himself to enjoy the flustered look on Stewart's face.
"Now you just said --" Green Lantern started, his voice loudly raised in exasperation.
"Objection! Asked and answered," Oracle said in an even tone. She did not even look up from her laptop where she was typing. "Green Lantern doesn't get to badger the witness just because he didn't like the answer he got."
John slammed the transcript on the table and turned toward Oracle. "He's not answering the question!"
"He did. You just didn't like it," Oracle countered as she turned her full attention to the prosecutor.
Captain Marvel held up a hand to silence the bickering that was beginning. He had not realized that presiding over a trial meant dealing with … all of this. "Sustained. When are we going to see the tape?" he inquired.
"I suppose very soon," Lantern replied.
"I still object to that ... for the record," Barbara stated pushing her glasses up on her nose. "He still needs to lay a proper foundation."
Green Lantern gave Oracle a sideways glance, somewhat irritated by her tone. "I'm aware of what I have to do. I'll try my case and you try yours."
"Considering you "Suppose" we'll see the tape soon, I merely thought that you weren't sure what had to be done to try your case. "Suppose" doesn't sound like you're very sure of anything." Oracle sniped back and Flash chuckled.
Green Lantern opened his mouth, but Captain Marvel interceded … again. "Stop. Green Lantern move on." He continued locking eyes with both Oracle and Green Lantern. "This bickering from BOTH of you resolves nothing and is only getting in the way. Keep the antics to yourself. Understood?"
"Yes, Your Honor." Oracle crisply responded.
Stewart followed, "Yes." Jean cleared her throat at the prosecution table, prompting Stewart to add, "I mean, yes, Your Honor." Turning his attention to the witness on the stand, he advanced. "You were the person who created and installed the security and surveillance system in the Watch Tower, correct?"
"Yes."
Lantern moved in front of his table pacing slightly. "And as such, you are aware of the audio and video recording capabilities of that system in the secure area of the Watch Tower?"
"Yes," Batman ground out through clenched teeth.
"And on the night of Nightwing's arrest, you were in the Monitor Womb and watched video surveillance of Nightwing in his cell, didn't you?"
"I did."
"You knew the security surveillance system was operating properly that night?"
"I did," Batman answered. His fingers rapped out a cadence on the chair arm.
"And you left the Monitor Womb and went directly to Nightwing's cell in the secure area where the two of you discussed the events surrounding Roland Desmond's murder, correct?"
"Yes."
"Knowing that conversation was being recorded?" Lantern sat on the corner of the prosecution table, his arms crossed over his broad chest, staring at Batman.
Batman glared back at him. He looked over toward Nightwing who looked up at him. "I did not think that it was --"
"But you should have known, correct?"
Batman drew a deep breath. His rage was all consuming. However, it was as much at himself as it was at Stewart. He should have known. He should have realized they would find the recording ... watch it ... use it. He had allowed his emotions to overrule his senses that night. Batman was disgusted with himself. "I should have," he finally answered, diverting his gaze from Nightwing, and speaking in a low voice.
Green Lantern smiled. "Thank you." Looking at the Tribunal, he said, "I'd like to offer the recording into evidence."
"Allowed," Captain Marvel replied.
Ted Kord clicked a few keys on his laptop and the large holographic video screens appeared over the center of the room. The screens had been manufactured by Kord Industries and had been installed in the Watch Tower after Oracle's induction into the Justice League. The screens allowed her virtual appearance along with access to the Watch Tower. Today, they would allow both sides of the makeshift courtroom to watch the recording of Batman and Nightwing.
Nightwing watched the green framed rectangle as it formed. His stomach knotted and cramped as he waited for the show to start. He noticed his breathing was faster than normal. His pulse pounded in his head, resounding in his ears. Nightwing felt sick. He looked down as Oracle took his hand in hers and gave him a reassuring squeeze.
The screen flickered to life. Nightwing watched himself sitting on the bunk in the gray cell wearing the green scrubs Flash had given him. He saw the panicky expression on his face as the heavy metal door slid open and his father entered the room. Nightwing exhaled the breath he had not realized he was holding and looked under the screen at Batman who sat stoically on the witness stand.
The audio played out the conversation between Batman and Nightwing as the video showed their every move. Arthur was uncomfortable as he watched the private moment between father and son playing out before his eyes. Nightwing looked so young sitting on that bunk in that cell. Arthur remembered him even younger, but there was nothing of that laughing young daredevil on the screen. He did not have to be an empath like J'onn to feel Dick's shame and fear in speaking to Bruce that night.
Green Arrow could not help but roll his eyes when Batman's gruff voice was heard ordering Nightwing to report. He shook his head. What was that saying about being all business ... it bites you in the ass. He understood Bruce's need to know what happened. He would have probably had Roy into the wall by the scruff of the neck yelling at him. Yet, Bruce's all Bat act somehow irritated him.
Diana shifted in her seat. This was more than an uncomfortable situation for her. Her mind and heart warred with the Amazon in conflicting thoughts and feelings. She had to admit, if only to herself, that her feelings for Batman were more than the feelings of friendship she had towards her other colleagues. Diana knew that nothing would ever come of those feelings, but try as she might, she did still have them. It hurt to watch the pain he was in on the recording she watched. Pain Nightwing had caused him. Anger flared at the younger man when she turned her attention to him at the defense table, his head bowed.
When she turned toward Batman, who sat on the witness stand to her right, she could still read the anguished look that crossed his face despite the three other Tribunal members who sat between them. The weight of the decision she knew she would soon have to make bore down upon her shoulders like an anvil. Her anger subsided into worry over Batman. If they convicted his son ... it was an untenable situation. She turned her attention to the screen and part of her warrior's heart melted as Nightwing told his father about the tortures Blockbuster had inflicted upon him. As an Amazon, she understood the need to 'slay the monsters' as she had said many times before. If only the laws that the World of Man recognized monsters needed to die promptly at the hands of those who protect, but they did not. Man's society reserved that right and enacted laws to handle these monsters. Laws that Batman held sacred and Nightwing was taught to uphold. Laws that bound heroes to the code, which Nightwing broke.
"Everyone died. Everyone. Just because ... they knew me."
Nightwing's voice made the Amazon turn her gaze away from the screen. Donna. Her sister. Her dead sister. Donna had been friends with Nightwing. They grew up together in the Titans, forming an unbreakable bond ... an almost unbreakable bond. But it did break when Donna died. Donna died saving Nightwing. Had he been weak that day as well? Had he failed then? Were his failure and his weakness responsible for the death of her sister as they were responsible for the death of Roland Desmond? Diana closed her eyes to the scene playing out on the screen before her.
Ollie's cheeks deepened in an angry red as he watched the scene. He could only imagine how he would feel if a private moment between him and Roy or Connor was on public display. He desperately wanted to look to his right, to look at Bruce who sat to his side, but he did not dare.
J'onn tried to concentrate on the recording before him. He had intentionally blocked psychic readings from the trial participants in the last few weeks, but he could not block their emotions today. They were too raw and painful to ignore. Pain, shame, rage and regret lashed out at him like a whip, assaulting his senses. Despite his best efforts, the Martian Manhunter could not help but empathize with Batman. Most of the League thought of Batman as cold and emotionless, but the Martian knew better. He knew that Bruce Wayne was a man of deep and strong emotions. Just because he was a master at hiding them from the public did not mean that he did not have them. J'onn knew that despite the stoic features of the man on the witness stand, Batman's emotions were screaming inside him, churning like a fire about to burn out of control. If those emotions were ever freed ... J'onn shuddered.
Before he could recover from the thought, Nightwing's tormented emotions washed across him like a tsunami. His sobs on the tape echoed the silent sobs in his head as he was forced to live through the horror of that night yet again. "Tarantula showed up and ... she said she could stop him. All I had to do was step aside. And ... I did. I stepped aside. She killed him. We killed him. I killed him!" J'onn heard the words Nightwing spoke to Batman. He also heard more than the mere words. The crack in his voice before Nightwing broke down expressed the pain of a breaking heart. J'onn watched the tears that cascaded down Nightwing's face as he dropped to his knees in that spartan cell.
The emotions were so raw, so real, J'onn almost became physically sick. His red eyes turned to the young man at the defense table flanked by Oracle and Flash. The youth was an accomplished hero. Prior to this incident, Nightwing was one of the most respected members of the hero community. He was someone looked to by all the teams as a leader, fighter, and champion admired by all. Perhaps that's why his perceived fall seemed to be ripping apart the fabric of that community they were all a part of. Despite all of Nightwing's accomplishments, he was human and like all humans, he was fallible. J'onn's mind went to an earth saying he had learned in his time living among these people -- to err is human, to forgive divine. Could the same people who respected Nightwing in his triumphs forgive him in his failings?
"I let him ... break me. Let him bring me to his level. I killed him. I wanted it to stop, and I made sure it stopped. I failed."
Captain Marvel sighed. There was nothing black and white about this case. Part of him felt that Nightwing was complicit in the murder of Roland Desmond, and yet, there were extenuating circumstances. Going into this trial, he had a picture in his mind of Nightwing -- so like Batman. Calm, cool, collected, and in control of his emotions. Someone who obviously intentionally allowed a murder. This playback of Nightwing on the night of the murder, however, showed a very different young man than the one he had envisioned.
"God forgive me, I failed myself. I betrayed my vow. I became what we fight against and I ... dammit ... it should've been me. I should've just ... I should've died. "
This was the distraught, despondent, and almost suicidal young man Superman had described in his testimony. Nightwing had endured emotional torture at the hands of Roland Desmond. People had died ... many people ... and Blockbuster had promised the deaths of many more. There was no reason for Nightwing not to believe the man. He knew their identities as well. Every hero whose secret identity associated with Nightwing's was in danger, especially Batman. Captain Marvel sighed again. Nightwing could have turned Blockbuster over to the authorities but his identity and those of all the Batclan would become public knowledge. But wasn't that motive to murder Desmond? Not to protect people, but to protect their identities. Yet, Nightwing said he was only concerned about stopping Desmond from killing anyone else. He wanted to stop the killing. Isn't that what heroes do? Save people? The needs of the man outweigh the needs of the few ran through Captain Marvel's mind. He was sure of only one thing now, he was going to need the wisdom of Solomon granted to him by the wizard Shazam to reach the right decision in this case.
Superman strode into his suite on the Watch Tower. He was almost a red and blue blur as he streaked into the bedroom area and streaked back out in his Clark Kent roving reporter wear. The glasses he casually placed on his face completed his transformation from the Man of Steel to the mild mannered Daily Planet reporter.
Clark stopped at the console and picked up the photograph of a lovely dark haired young woman in a blue tapered suit and a smile that dazzled even him. He missed Lois. He resolved to fly home after his broadcast, he needed a friendly face and there weren't any on the moon. He walked over to the desk and pressed the silver button, which activated the computer screen as it rose from the interior of the desk. Pressing a few more buttons with blinding speed, the computer interfaced with satellites and, in less than a minute, an assistant director for CourtWatch was staring him in the face.
"Mr. Kent, you're live in five."
Clark nodded and put on his game face. "This is Clark Kent, reporting Live from the Justice League's Watch Tower on the moon on the second day of the murder trial of Nightwing. Testimony is currently underway in the Hall of Justice where the Tribunal has closed the courtroom for what is sure to be ... " Clark turned his head slightly from the screen and his eyes looked through the walls and levels showing him Batman on the stand. His ears could not turn off the testimony despite the fact he wished he could. Sighing inwardly, he continued his report, " ... emotional testimony today."
Summer Gleason's face showed in a smiling close-up on his screen. "Who testified today and why was it so emotional?"
"Batman is currently on the stand being questioned by the prosecution about a statement Nightwing made to him in the early morning hours following his arrest," Clark Kent replied into the webcam that fed his broadcasts live from the Watch Tower to the news bureaus of the world. Clark had been "chosen" as the media liaison for the trial and, as far as the world was aware, he was staying in the Justice League's headquarters for the duration of the trial.
"Any chance of getting any photographs of Batman?" Summer asked, almost salivating. "Confirmation that the urban legend is indeed real?"
"He's real, Summer," Clark replied. "No cameras are allowed in the Watchtower, however, so there won't be any photographs."
"Which is part of the problem with this cover-up, don't you think Clark?" Jack Ryder asked.
Ryder irritated Clark on a good day. He was more than annoying now. "What cover-up are you talking about?"
"This trial. Does the Justice League, and I use the term loosely, think they're fooling anyone with this farce of a trial? I mean, if this was a real trial as opposed to the League going through the motions to satisfy the true authorities and other on-lookers, legitimate media outlets would be represented and people would be able to see for themselves."
Clark was fuming. "Last I looked; The Daily Planet is a legitimate news organization, Jack."
"I'm not attacking you Clark, but even you have to realize that the JLA hand-picked you because of your relationship with Superman. And you've written stories where Batman was a source as well."
"Yes, which only means they felt they could trust me and it would take less time to vet me. However, they knew I would and am doing my job as a reporter. Just as Batman and Superman indicated. I am a news reporter, first and foremost. The Justice League felt a need a to limit the press for a number of reasons Jack. One of their concerns was mere space. There isn't room for every news agency represented on a tower on the moon – indeed there is barely room for one. But more importantly, there are secrets that the League felt could be compromised by full public exposure. It's akin to a military Court Martial where state secrets are in evidence."
"But you can be trusted?" Jack asked. his voice dripping in sarcasm.
"I signed a confidentiality agreement, I'm staying on the Watchtower for the duration," as Clark Kent, he added silently. "And I have agreed to allow the Martian Manhunter to remove any information that would be harmful for me after the trial."
"Are they mind-wiping you during the trial?" Jack sneered.
"No Jack, not at all."
Summer stared into the camera with a plastered smile on her face. "Was any of yesterday's testimony damning for the defense?"
Clark inwardly breathed a sigh of relief as he continued to watch the screen and webcam. "I wouldn't say damning, although I would say that Nightwing's trial has been progressing rapidly. With no jury to pick, the prosecution started presenting evidence yesterday. They took testimony from a witness who was staying at the Haven Hotel the night of the murder, the medical examiner and Superman."
"Superman! Now we're cooking! Clark, tell us about his testimony?" Summer asked excitedly.
"Before we get there Summer," Jack interrupted, "let's go back to this confession Batman is testifying to."
"I didn't call it a confession," Clark corrected Ryder.
"No, you called it a statement that Nightwing gave to Batman after he was arrested that the JLA is taking testimony of in a closed courtroom. We know we're talking about a confession. Being on the Watch Tower, you have to have heard something as to what is being disclosed in their so-called Hall of Justice."
Ryder had a way of vexing Clark that made him seriously consider frying something with his heat vision. Instead of using Krypto next time he needed a super dog, Clark mused he should just call in Ryder since he was like a dog with a bone. Lois would say it was just being a good reporter. But it wasn't as irritating when Lois did it. He looked up from the webcam ever so slightly and his eyes peered through the walls again to the courtroom and Batman's testimony.
"No further questions at this time," John Stewart stated to the Tribunal as he walked around the dark wood table to take his seat. He leaned slightly back in the leather chair and twisted to watch Oracle begin her cross examination.
Jean Loring noticed the muscles in Barbara's cheek working in an effort to not smile. Jean pushed her small, black rimmed glasses back on her nose and braced for the storm she knew was coming.
"What is your relationship to Nightwing?" Barbara asked casually.
"Relationship?" Batman looked at her, uncertain as to what she wanted him to say.
"How do you know Nightwing?" she attempted to clarify.
"He was my first Robin. He is my partner."
"And?" She laid her pen on her legal pad, and simply waited.
Batman watched her, he watched her mannerisms and almost imperceptibly, he nodded. "I am his ... father."
Nightwing's head jerked up from the pad he had been doodling on to avoid looking up during the majority of the testimony. His eyes locked with Batman's. Batman had called him his son. Nightwing knew that everyone in the room knew that fact, but actually hearing the words in front of these people, he wanted to smile. He wanted to enjoy the words. Unfortunately, the circumstances took any pleasure out of it. Nightwing shook his head before looking down yet again. He could not continue to look Batman in the eye. He felt he did not deserve to be called this man's son.
"Thank you," Oracle replied. She felt Nightwing's ill ease at the line of questioning, but this was too important to worry about Dick's comfort level. "As his father, is it fair to say that you know him as well, if not better, than anyone else?"
"Absolutely."
"Was Nightwing himself when he talked to you and made the statements we just watched?"
"Objection!" John Stewart jumped to his feet. "Batman is not an expert in Nightwing's state of mind."
"But I am an expert on Nightwing," Batman growled. He stood from the chair. He'd had enough of Lantern's accusations and games.
"Exactly," Barbara added to the witnesses statement of fact. She spoke fast, but calmly, ignoring the fact that The Batman had risen from the witness stand with what she was certain was an intent to do great bodily harm to the prosecutor. "I'm not asking for an expert opinion, but as someone ... no as the one person who knows Nightwing better than anyone else on the planet, Batman is certainly qualified to testify to whether or not this was the way Nightwing normally acted. He is qualified to give his lay opinion on whether his son was upset or not. I imagine that the members of the panel could also answer this question after watching the recording."
"Agreed," Captain Marvel reasoned. "Batman may answer the question." His eyes were upon the black garbed bat who continued to stand and glare at the Green Lantern. The room settled back into an uneasy, eerie eye of the hurricane calm.
John Stewart stood ready for an attack. As Batman drew his cape around him and retook his seat, Green Lantern sat at his table with a grunt.
"No. Nightwing was not himself," Batman answered. "I have never seen him like that. Never that ... despondent, that ... hopeless, that --" What was the word he needed? How did he tell them what the difference was, how starkly Dick was not himself, how he was "-- lost. Nightwing is not a killer. The thought that this ... that Desmond had ... died ... and he was unable to stop it was eating away at him."
"Thank you," Barbara said curtly, made a quick note on her pad and looked at Green Lantern. "I'm done."
Lantern gave her a quick glance before he stood. "I have a few redirect questions." Standing behind his table, he asked, "You said that Nightwing was despondent, hopeless and lost?"
"Yes."
"But that was after he had been arrested for murder, wasn't it?"
"When I spoke to him was after. At the time of the murder --"
"At the time of the murder, you weren't present, were you?"
Batman gripped the chair arm as he stared at his inquisitor. Seven different ways to disarm and take down this particular Green Lantern flashed through his mind. "I was not there ... to help him. That is true. That is ... my fault. I'm guilty of that. I should have realized ... what was happening to Di--Nightwing. I should have known. His world was being systematically destroyed and I ... sent ... a friend to take him clothes rather than going to help him against Blockbuster. Yes, I am guilty of that."
Lantern nodded, "I understand how you like to take all responsibility upon yourself, Batman, but my question was that you were not present when Roland Desmond was murdered. You have no way of knowing how Nightwing was in that stairwell that night, do you?"
"I know because I know Nightwing."
"You weren't there so how do you know?"
Batman glared at Green Lantern. "He was distraught."
Stewart snorted. "So you want to believe. Now, in all of Nightwing's crying and pleas for forgiveness and not being in his normal state of mind, Nightwing didn't tell you he had sex with the woman who pulled the trigger immediately after the murder, did he?"
"Objection!" Barbara shouted. It was hard to keep focused on the trial when Dick had lain his head over on the table. She knew that the thought of the intercourse that had happened on the roof coming into evidence had been his worst fear. To have it brought in through Batman must have been a living nightmare. But again, Oracle did not have time to sympathize with his pain now. She could sympathize later.
"Overruled," Captain Marvel responded to Oracle's attempt to keep the evidence out.
"No. He did not have sex with Tarantula."
"No?" Lantern questioned as he walked from around the table.
Nightwing's head jerked up and he rose to his feet. "NO! It wasn't like that! It wasn't ... you don't understand!" Barbara grabbed his hand as Flash stood behind pushing him back in his chair. All eyes were upon him as he rested his shaking head in the palms of his hands, his elbows resting on the table top. "This doesn't have anything to do with this," he muttered.
"Oh, but it does," Stewart retorted then turned his attention back to Batman. "You said he didn't have sex with Tarantula? Have you looked at Elongated Man's complete report? OR is it that he just neglected to tell you about it?"
Batman did not turn toward the questioner, his gaze was fixed on Nightwing. The shake in his shoulders, the slightly shaking hand ruffling through his thick black hair, it was so apparent to him. Couldn't they see? "That ... was not ... he had ... nonconsensual ... sex with her."
Oliver Queen jerked at the table. His head turned from the boy to the man who sat to his right then back again. His mind went unbidden to Dinah, the woman he loved. She had been ... by a villain ... and now Nightwing ... Desmond wasn't the only one who deserved to die at the Haven Hotel that night. Anger began to swell in the Emerald Archer's chest.
"Nonconsensual?" Green Lantern laughed a booming laugh. "Oh come on. How late in the game did he decide that? When he found out he was going to prison?"
Batman's eyes narrow. "He decided that when she pushed him down and he told her no and to get off. When his body and mind were shutting down and he couldn't breath. Unless no doesn't mean no in your book."
Throwing his head back and rolling his eyes, Lantern bantered, "Oh please. Batman, if you really believe that you're naive."
"THAT'S ENOUGH LANTERN!" Green Arrow's voice exploded in the room. "That is enough!"
Batman clutched the chair so hard it creaks as his tone drops to a deadly octave. "I am not naive, nor am I a moron. You will not speak to me in this manner. What is it you believe Stewart? You believe that he was so happy Blockbuster was dead, he dropped his pants?"
"That's what the evidence shows," Stewart retorted as Jean shook her head and started looking for a bottle of aspirin in her briefcase.
"I'm not the naive one," Batman countered. "The evidence shows there was sex, not whether it was consensual. It also shows he turned himself in and waited for Superman after Tarantula had left."
"So you want this Court to believe that your hand trained successor couldn't stop an amateur from raping him."
"Yes ... he couldn't. That's the point. Nightwing, physically and mentally, was in such a state that he could barely breathe much less stop her."
Green Lantern held up his hands waving them disgustedly. "I think I'm done with this fairy tale." He turned his back on the witness and headed around his table.
"Well I'm not done," Batman growled. "You started this. I'll finish it. If my successor, as you called him, is trained as highly as everyone knows he is, then why couldn't he stop her? He couldn't because he wasn't acting in a rational state. Nightwing is trained to react quickly without hesitation, because hesitation is fatal in the nonpowered arena."
Stewart turned back. "He didn't react because he didn't want to. He wanted Tarantula to do his dirty work for him."
"You don't understand. You may have the luxury to observe your fights from afar he does not."
"Oh, enlighten me."
Batman continued. His voice was an even keel not betraying the sheer utter rage that welled within him. "The fact he didn't leap away, leap in between, knock Blockbuster back, or even say anything," Batman began as J'onn focused on Nightwing, "is against everything in his normal activities."
Arthur nodded as Batman's testimony continued. He had watched Nightwing from the time he was a very young Robin. He had seen him training Garth and the other Titans, had fought along side the Titans countless times. He knew well what Batman was saying.
Batman continued. "In the hundreds of hours of recorded footage of Nightwing training and battle, he does not just walk away or not speak. To be honest, he talks so much it is annoying."
Barbara bit her lip to keep from smiling, her eyes focused on the Tribunal who were focused on Nightwing who sat beside her. Beneath the table, Barbara placed a comforting hand on his thigh. Flash was nodding in agreement with Batman's assessment of his best friend.
Undeterred, Batman continued. "Nightwing didn't, he just walked away and collapsed. That is exactly how I know that he was so broken, he was not in a rational state. And yes Lantern, I would deem myself an expert on Nightwing. I have trained someone who has killed ... I know the difference. Without physical and mental duress ... Nightwing could not have walked away."
Jean popped back four aspirins and followed it with a big swig of water from her plastic cup. "I knew this was a bad idea," she whispered.
"I want out!" Catalina Flores shouted at the top of her lungs. She punched the walls of the gray cell that held her in the Justice League's detention area.
"I know you do. However, that's not going to happen any time soon," the gray haired man in the black suit said pulling files out of his briefcase. He looked at the dark haired young woman wearing green scrubs before him. "You're staying in the custody of the Justice League until Nightwing's trial is concluded then you're going to be turned over to Bludhaven authorities for trial."
"ARGH!" she screamed, her head closed back. "Madre de Dios! Mateo can't you do something?" Catalina queried her brother as she turned toward the younger man in her cell.
"Do what, Cat? I can't get you off again! Hell, I'm going to lose my law license for what I did to help you when you killed Redhorn. I could go to jail for that and working for Desmond. I can't help you. I can't even help myself." Mateo ran an exasperated hand through his dark brown hair as he sat on the bunk in her cell. "Listen to Mr. Terry, Cat. He's your lawyer, he can help you."
"Can you get me out?" she asked turning back to the gray haired man.
The man was in his mid-fifties. He wore black rimmed glasses that matched his suit and conservative gray tie. He shook his head as he answered, "No."
"Then what good are you?" she screeched.
"I can save your life, Catalina, if you let me," he stated in a soft, calm voice. "You're charged with two counts of first degree murder amongst a host of numerous other charges. You're looking at the death penalty because Chief Redhorn was a police office ... dirty though he may have been, he was a still a police officer killed in his office while on duty. That is special circumstances."
Mateo stood and pulled Catalina into his arms. "Hermana, por favor, do what he tells you to do. I don't want to see you die."
"I don't want to go to prison, Mateo. I don't deserve that. We did nothing wrong," she said leaning into his arms.
Her attorney looked up at them. "Twenty years is better than the death penalty. If you behave yourself, you could be out in eighteen. You're young Ms. Flores, you'll still be relatively young in eighteen years."
"I'll be forty-one!" she yelled at him. She paced the back of the small cell. Catalina felt like she was caught in a spider's web with no way to save herself.
"Yes, and you'll be alive and able to have many years of freedom, if you don't break the law again. The plea deal the attorney general's office offered you is a fair and good deal. The other charges against you would be dismissed." The older man watched and waited for her answer. He already knew what it would be. He had practiced criminal law in Bludhaven for thirty years, he knew well how defendants responded to certain situations, certain stimuli. She would cry, scream, rationalize, try to find another way, but in the end, she would take the deal.
"What do I have to do?" she asked as she walked over and sat on the bunk across from the man who sat on the only metal stool in the cell.
"Testify against Nightwing," Terry replied. "Testify truthfully at his trial." The lawyer opened his black briefcase and pulled the plea transcript out. He sat the papers on the metal desktop and moved his briefcase to the floor. "It's all in here."
"And if they don't call me?" she asked, her voice quivering ever so slightly.
Mateo sat beside his sister taking her hand in his. "It doesn't matter, Catalina. As long as you agree to testify against Nightwing, as long as you accept the offer they have made you, the State will have to honor that."
She looked from her brother to her attorney then back again. Her brown eyes hardened. "Where do I sign?"
TO BE CONTINUED ...
