Thanks go out to my betas Patty, Em, Beth and Tammy. You girls are the best. Sorry for the long wait folks, Real Life tends to get hectic and then its a few months later. I hope you all enjoy this one. Char :-)
COURT MARTIAL: PART 29
"Nightwing did tell you don't touch me didn't he?" Barbara pressed, undeterred by Catalina's taunts.
"Yes, but -- "
"But you proceeded to have sex with Nightwing anyway, regardless of his wishes, just like you shot and killed Roland Desmond all on your own that night?"
Catalina stared at Oracle, her face a mask of confusion. Drawing her bottom lip in, she bit it as the meaning of the question washed over her. She turned her ire towards the defendant. "You insufferable bastard! Is that what you are trying? Bastardo estúpido! You want them," she said gesturing at the Justice League, "to think you didn't want it? That you weren't a part of it! You loved it! You know you did! The only thing that would've been better was if you had had the guts to kill him yourself. Then you could revel in it instead of wallowing around like this! We did it together! We stopped a horrible man together. You should be proud instead of all this foolish fake remorse.
"I didn't want you to kill him! I didn't want any of it!" Dick yelled at her. He felt Bruce's hands clamping down on his shoulders, keeping him in his seat.
"WE DID IT! Admit it!" Catalina screeched back, rising slightly.
"Stop it, Dick," Wally whispered harshly. "Just leave it to Babs."
Barbara's head had whipped around to glare at Dick. She understood his frustration, but she needed him to stay calm and let her handle it.
Catalina jerked back when the lasso attached to her wrist snapped taut and Captain Atom rose. Barbara's eyes narrowed as Catalina bounced slightly in the chair and sat back with a thump.
Barbara moved in front of Catalina again and spoke with a calm determined voice, "You killed Desmond?"
"Because he didn't have the balls to do it himself," Catalina spat at Nightwing, ignoring Barbara.
"That's enough of that language," Captain Marvel barked. He was quickly losing patience. This trial had taxed both Solomon's wisdom and Atlas' endurance.
Barbara glared at Tarantula. "I'll take that as a yes, you killed Desmond."
Captain Marvel swallowed the breath that he was holding. He looked around the room. He could feel the anxious energy that seemed to ripple around them all. "I think this is a good place to recess."
"What! He can't stop now --" Roy mouthed off in the back before Cyborg's elbow in his gut knocked the wind out of him.
Marvel glared at the audience, then turned to Firestorm. "Please take the prisoner back to the secure area."
Firestorm nodded and stood, then he looked at Captain Marvel. "Which one?"
Captain Marvel shook his head slightly. "Her," he said pointing to Tarantula. Turning to his right, he looked at the silver man and issued further instructions. "Captain Atom, please take charge of the Defendant."
Dick's jaw flexed. He watched Captain Atom coming toward him and then turned to see Catalina walking past. She blew him a kiss and he started to rise.
"No. Not here or now, son," Bruce's deep voice stopped Dick who sat back with a thud.
Dick felt a hand on his shoulder. The grip was like an iron vise. He didn't look up. He knew it was Captain Atom. "I need to stay in here," Dick said softly.
"Negative," Captain Atom responded.
Batman looked Captain Atom in the eye. "Let him stay. He doesn't need to be near Tarantula now."
Atom nodded. "I agree. That's why I'm going to secure him in the conference room next door."
"I don't want to go in there," Dick replied curtly.
"I'm sorry, but you're going."
Barbara looked up. "Why don't you just leave Dick here? You can stay and guard him and we can stay and talk to him and ..."
"I don't think that's a good idea, ma'am," Captain Atom replied. He looked up to see that the Tribunal had made its way out of the Hall of Justice. "I'm supposed to take charge of the prisoner. I think it would be better to secure him in another room."
Dick was grinding his teeth. "No. I'm not going in there. I'm staying here."
"No sir," Captain Atom replied as he clamped his hand around Dick's forearm pulling him out of his chair. "You're coming with me. Right now. Let's go."
Dick jerked his arm out of Captain Atom's grip. "Look, I'm not going in there. If I leave this room, I'm chained up. I'm not going to deal with that now. I need to talk to people."
"I'm sorry. You don't get a say in the matter. You lost that right when you kil-- when you were taken into custody." Captain Atom mentally slapped himself for his slip. His opinion was neither wanted or needed. He knew he should have kept it to himself. Retaking his hold on Nightwing's arm, he said, "Now let's go."
Feeling like he had been hit in the gut, Dick stared at Captain Atom. He didn't feel it when the man grabbed his arm in a silvery handhold, his world was constricting around him. How many others thought he was guilty? Dick knew that some of the superhero community had to think he was guilty. He heard it from the prosecution team on a daily basis, but he had never faced hearing it from a neutral party before. It hurt.
More than hurt. It scared him on a level he did not want to admit. Especially to himself.
Strong hands rested on his shoulders. "I'm going with him." The voice wasn't brokering any disagreements. Nothing was open for discussion.
Captain Atom looked down, not facing Batman, and nodded. He paused when they got to the conference room door, pushing buttons on the key pad. "I can ... monitor ... from this screen." He watched the door slide open, "If you want to speak to Nightwing privately Batman."
"Privately. Yes." Batman nodded. He watched his son, saw the rising tension in the younger man's shoulders, and moved steadying hands to comfort Dick.
Nightwing nodded slightly as he watched the door leading into the small conference room. He took a deep breath steeling himself for what he knew was coming. He'd been subjected to it for weeks now and he hated it each and every time. Exhaling the breath he was holding, he stepped into the room and stopped. Dick closed his eyes as he felt his arms pulling together by the now visible chains tethering him. He shook his head and shuffled over to the table.
Bruce was beside him every step of the way and pulled out a chair for Dick. "Sit."
Woodenly, Dick complied. He stared at the manicles and chains. "How many others think I'm guilty? I thought it was going well in there but he thinks I'm guilty. How many more? How many on the tribunal? I just ... I don't understand --"
Bruce shook his head. "They don't trust us." He wished he could tell the young man to forget it, to ignore Captain Atom's opinions, that they did not matter, but they both knew better.
Dick finally looked up. "Why? Why don't they trust us?"
"Because they don't understand us."
"We do our best ... we're not different from them ... but they ... how can I work with them? If I get out of this ... how can they work with me if they think I'm a murderer?"
Pulling off the cowl, Bruce faced Dick, his hand clasping the boy's arm. "Some will forgive, some will let go and remember who you are ... some will never get past it."
Dick studied his father's face. His mentor. The person who taught him, who always knew the right answers. "So what do I do? Assuming I get the option to do anything?"
Giving Dick a half-smile, Bruce replied, "Your best."
Dick responded with a sad smile of his own before he looked down. "I'll try. I've always tried to do my best ... for you. I messed up though ... but I won't do it again if they just give me the chance."
"You made a mistake ... everyone has. No one is perfect."
Dick shot Bruce a crooked little smile, "Except you."
Bruce shook his head. "I'm far from perfect. Although, I know someone who's close."
"Yeah? Who?"
"Alfred."
Dick grinned. "Yeah." Sighing, he continued, "I miss him, Bruce. I miss ... my life. I wanna go home. I just want to go home."
"I know ... that's where you belong."
Dick wanted to stand, pace the room, but the chains hampered his movements. His pent up energy needed a vent. He did not have one at the moment. Throwing his head back and closing his eyes, Dick continued. "Well ... if three people on the tribunal agree with you ... I guess that's where I'm coming when this is all over ... if you don't mind having me underfoot."
Bruce smiled. "I can make do. ... Always."
"Thanks. I think I need to be home ... ya' know? Get my bearings. See where I am and where I want to go."
"I think that is exactly what you need," Bruce replied.
Dick dipped his head, somewhat embarassed. "I think, Dick shrugged a little, "I think I want Alfred to spoil me a little. Fuss over me some ... BUT don't tell him that."
"Okay, Ted, when we get up to bat on this, you have to hammer Flores about her relationship with Nightwing," John said.
Ted shook his head. "I don't wanna do that. I don't like this sex thing. Can't we just focus on the murder. That's what we're really here about."
"But their having sex shows that they were in this thing together. Tied together in every dirty little --"
"Now hold on John," Jean's voice cut in. Pulling her dark glasses off and placing them on a law book, she looked up at the men. "Ted's right, but so are you. We need to pull back from the sex. Tarantula is obviously one card shy of a full deck. The sex can play either way. We need to focus on their relationship. We need to concentrate on the fact that they had been working together. What did they say to each other when they formed this alliance? What do we know about how much contact they had with each other? She had a tracer on him and followed Nightwing to the hotel. That hurts our case unless there's something else out there. That is what we need to find." Jean held two folders out to them. "Nightwing and Tarantula's statements. Start reading and see what we can find."
John smiled and moved for the leather chair. "Jean, are you sure you've never been in the military? You'd make a wonderful drill sergeant."
"I'm glad you think so because I'm not finished yet. Oracle is going to put Nightwing on the stand. She has to and this was her set up for it. John, you're cross examining him and I want you to hit him with everything you've got."
"Glad to."
Robin stared at the stars shining like brilliant diamonds in the velvety blackness of space. He was lost in his own thoughts and those thoughts were a jumble. The past, the present, and the oh so uncertain future. Uncertain for all of them. He caught a glimpse of his reflection bouncing back at him through the large window. The Robin uniform. It really wasn't his to wear anymore. Not really. Not since his father had forced him to quit. Yet, it was only as Robin that Tim Drake felt completely whole. He loved his father, he didn't want to disobey him; but he knew that he wouldn't be able to continue the farce of an existence that only being Tim Drake was.
Robin meant too much to him. Was a part of him. Made him belong to a family. A real family. His family. Robin meant so much to him because of Dick. His big brother in all but blood, in every way that mattered. Robin ... Dick ... was his hero from as far back as he could remember. What they were doing to Dick, to his brother, was wrong. It angered Tim, angered him to the core of his being. He wanted to lash out at someone but he knew he had better uses for his energies.
A slight smile crossed his face as an arm draped around his shoulder.
"Hiya Bat Tot."
"Roy."
"You okay?"
"Not really." Tim turned a solemn face to his friend. "Not much longer, you think?"
Roy shook his head, "No, I don't think so. Next day or two I think."
"Then we'll know what we're doing," Tim said. He sighed. "I hate all this waiting."
Roy leaned against the wall, crossed his legs at the ankles, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Yeah, I know. But ya' know kid, its not all waiting. It's planning."
Tim nodded. "Yeah. Speaking of," he looked around conspiratorially before he continued in a hushed tone, "Connor and Bart will be here when the verdict comes in. I spoke to Raven and she told me not to talk to Cassie about it."
Roy nodded. The new Wonder Girl would not want to be placed in a position to go against Wonder Woman, if it came to that. Raven had sensed it. Roy sighed. "Donna would be here ... if she was alive."
"The five of you ... you were always there for each other."
"Yeah," Roy nodded, "and we always will be."
Ted Kord stood and walked around his counsel table moving toward the witness stand. "Ms. Flores, you stated that you and Nightwing had been working together, is that correct?"
"Yes, we had," she replied. She watched the light blue clad hero as he approached her. Something about him relaxed her. He did not have the threatening demeanor of Green Lantern.
"When did you start working together?"
"Well, we had tried to work together when I first came to Bludhaven, but he ..." she pointed to the defense table, "Nightwing, didn't want to. He thought he was so much better than I was, that he knew so much more."
"He did have more experience than you, didn't he?"
"Sure, but it didn't mean he was better. Look at his track record in Bludhaven," she spewed.
Nightwing glared at her, shaking his head. He couldn't believe that she really believed everything she said. He worried that other people believed her. Dick looked up at the Tribunal and tried to read their faces. Green Arrow he knew he could count on, Dick didn't have to look. He felt the same about Aquaman, although he wasn't exactly sure why. Wonder Woman was like a Greek statue, completely unreadable. She worried him. Dick made a mental note to ask Batman if he could read anything from the enigmatic Amazon. Captain Marvel was another mystery to Dick. He seemed to vacillate between leaning towards the prosecution and then the defense. Dick hoped when the time come, Captain Marvel would lean in the defense's direction. The Martian Manhunter was another enigma. The Justice League's resident telepath, J'onn was famous for his stoicism. Dick turned his attention back to the prosecution at the sound of Blue Beetle's voice.
"When you and Nightwing decided to record a confession from Blockbuster, did you talk about it? About what you were going to do?"
"Sure we did."
"What exactly did the two of you discuss prior to going to Blockbuster?" Ted asked.
Catalina looked down as her memory took her back to that rainy night. "We ... we argued some."
"About?" Ted pushed.
"About how to handle Blockbuster. Nightwing was saying that he knew I was upset about John Law, which I was, but he was saying let ME handle Blockbuster."
"How did you respond?"
"I was livid. I told him you've been handling Blockbuster for years now. If I'd been Bludhaven's protector instead of you, none of those people in the building would have died. Then I told him It's your fault he's still lying awake at night planning how to kill people. It's your fault because you're too worried about getting blood on your own, precious hands to -- I was going to say to take care of business, but Nightwing interrupted me."
"How did he interrupt you?"
"Started yelling at me. Told me to Stop It! Just shut up a minute! SHUT UP! He was acting so angry, I thought he wanted to hit me. Then he calmed down you know, like took a breath." She watched as Blue Beetle nodded that he understood and then she continued. "The he said to me Listen you don't think I wanna kill him? I've thought of nothing else all week. But we -- then I stopped him. I knew what he was going to say."
Barbara looked at Dick. He had actually told Tarantula that he wanted to kill Blockbuster? That he had thought about it?
"Which was?" Ted asked.
"I told him that he couldn't. I said I get it. Don't worry. You don't gotta do nothing Papi. Just leave it to me. I'm gonna make him go away."
Beetle turned toward his table, his eyes locking with Jean. She mouthed to him to continue. Turning back, Blue Beetle questioned Tarantula, "How did Nightwing respond to that?"
Barbara leaned up, her elbows on the table as she waited, along with the rest of the room, for the witnesses response.
Tarantula leaned back in her chair. "He seemed okay with it," she smiled.
Dick shook his head; a derisive laugh escaped his lips. "Okay? I was not okay with it."
"What did he say, specifically, to your suggestion of making Blockbuster go away?" Beetle quiered.
"He said that he wished what I was saying didn't make sense. He knew he was responsible for all of those deaths. Responsible because he hadn't stopped Blockbuster. That he had to find a way to deal with Blockbuster. But he knew, knew there was only one way you can stop someone like that. And that's what we did."
"Did he say that?"
"No, but he knew. He didn't have to say it. I knew what he meant."
"Objection! Speculation," Barbara barked out. "Motion to strike."
"Sustained," Captain Marvel ruled. "Allowed. The computer will strike the witnesses last answer."
Blue Beetle nodded. He took a slip of paper Jean offered up and read it. Looking at the witness, he asked, "Did Nightwing, after you said you were going to make Blockbuster go away, ever tell you not to kill Blockbuster?"
"No. He never did," Tarantula replied.
"Dick, what the hell was that?" Barbara yelled before his cell door slid closed.
Dick threw his hands up, "I dunno, Babs. I'm sorry."
"Sorry! You're sorry! Why didn't I know about that?" she fumed. "I wouldn't have called Catalina if I knew about that little conversation. You didn't think it was important that you were conspiring to murder Blockbuster?"
Dick stared in Barbara's irate face. She was glowering at him. He could feel the heat of her anger emanating from her skin. If he hadn't known better, he would have expected her to start hurling starbolts at him. "We weren't conspiring. Look Babs, I'm sorry. I forgot to tell you about this conversation because I forgot about it. There was a lot going on."
"And I need to know everything, Dick. My God, do you know how potentially bad that was? And right out of the blue. Dick, you know how important it is that I not have surprises in there."
He plopped onto his bunk, dropping his head into his hand. "I'm sorry Babs. I forgot about it. But I wasn't talking about killing Blockbuster. That wasn't ... I dunno ... but I know that's not what I meant."
"Well that's just great. Too bad you didn't say what you meant." Barbara spat.
Dick turned to Barbara. "I ... damn ... I was angry. I was mad. I wasn't thinking but --"
"Well there's a shocker ... you weren't thinking."
"Hey, Barb, that's not fair. Lay off him, okay. He hasn't been thinking straight, remember. That's part of our defense," Wally interjected from his perch against the back wall. He hated getting in the middle of this for multiple reasons. One, Barbara was the real lawyer here. She knew what was good and bad for their case and Wally knew he didn't have the experience or education on the subject to contradict her opinion. Two, he hated being in between them because it had the feel of stepping between a couple. And wasn't it always the third party who ended up with the black eye when he stepped in where he wasn't wanted? Yet, Dick was his best friend, he needed him, and Wally wasn't going to let anyone beat up on his best friend ... if he could help it.
Dick looked at Wally and gave him a slight smile. "Thanks." Turning his attention back to Barbara, Dick started to explain. "Babs, what I meant was that yeah, I might've wanted him dead, but that we don't do that. I wasn't saying you do it for me."
Barbara rolled her eyes. "Yes, but you didn't say I don't want you to kill him, did you? You didn't tell her we can't kill him. We shouldn't kill him. It's wrong to kill him. I was brought up better than to kill. MY FAMILY KNOWS I WON'T KILL BECAUSE IT IS WRONG!"
Dick flinches at the force of venom coming from Barbara. "No," Dick said softly, dropping his chin to his chest. "I told her there had to be a right way to handle this. That there had to be. And that's when we tried to get Roland on the recording. I didn't mean ... I thought she knew that I didn't mean for her to kill him."
"You thought she knew? What lead you to believe that? Her sterling character references? The fact that she worked for Blockbuster?"
"All right Barbara, that's enough," Wally said stepping forward. "Calm down, okay. Let's stop beating Dick up and start thinking how to fix this."
"Fix it? I don't know if it can be fixed!"
Dick looked at Barbara, pain in his eyes. "So what now? Am I totally screwed? Am I gonna be convicted, Babs?"
Barbara looked into his dark blue eyes and sighed. Her anger dissipated as she saw the pain in those liquid pools. "I'm sorry, Dick. I shouldn't have yelled at you, I just ... I don't know if you'll be convicted. I think we just lost a lot of ground. I'd be lying if I said we were as good as we were before this came out."
To Be Continued ...
