Law & Order: Leanbox

Guilt Tripped

by Derald Snyder

Part 7- Reconciliation

DISTRICT COURT

TRIAL PART 34

MARCH 21, 10:11 AM

"Has the jury reached a unanimous verdict?" the judge asked the group of 12.

"We have, Your Honor," the foreman replied.

The judge nodded at this. "The defendant will rise." The madam and her lawyer promptly stood up. "What is your verdict?"

"On the count of facilitating human trafficking, we the jury find the defendant, Maria Busser…"

GUILTY

The madam had the look of a deer caught in the headlights, while Huntsman simply frowned. "The defendant is hereby remanded to custody, pending sentencing," declared the judge, before banging his gavel to adjourn the courtroom.

Jared and Rizzoli watched as Huntsman and Busser exchanged a few harsh whispers, before the latter was pulled away by the bailiff. Heaving a sigh, Huntsman turned to the prosecution's bench… "Congratulations, McCoy. Looks like you won this round."

"It's not about winning or losing, Mr. Huntsman," McCoy said firmly. "It's about seeing justice done."

"Of course it is," Ian chuckled as he gathered his papers. "But, even the guilty deserve a fair trial. Isn't that right, Lady Plutia?" he called to the gallery behind him, where Plutia, Vert and Alicia were sitting.

"I guess," Plutia allowed. "But I still don't like you, Mr. Huntsman. You lied by omission, as Vert would put it."

"Well, join the club," Ian shrugged as he closed his briefcase, making his way out of the courtroom…

*Outside the courtroom…*

Alicia and the two CPUs walked down the hallway, soon meeting up with Terrence, who was being escorted by a guard. "Mama…" Terrence began. "Oh Mama, I'm so sorry…"

"No, I'm sorry, son," Alicia shook her head. "If it hadn't been for me, you never woulda ended up like this to begin with…"

"They… they said my sentence would be reduced since I cooperated," Terrence then said. "So maybe you and I'll be back together again soon…"

"I promise I'll be there when they let you out," Alicia nodded, before giving her son a big hug.

"Alright, let's go," said the guard, who promptly escorted Terrence away.

"Um... Miss Alicia?" Plutia spoke up. "I dunno if I said this before, but I'm really sorry about what I did to your son..."

The black woman stared at her for a moment, before heaving a sigh. "Well, I understand why you went after my boy, for bein' involved in that trafficking gang ta begin with... I just hope you've learned a valuable lesson from this, not to be excessive when bringing down a criminal..."

"I... I'll try," Plutia looked down. "It's really hard for me to control myself in HDD sometimes..."

"Don't worry, I and the other CPUs will do our best to try and rein her in if this happens again," Vert assured Alicia.

"Well, see that you do, Lady Vert," Alicia nodded, before turning and going on her way...

LEANBOX BASILICOM

MARCH 21, 1:07 PM

"So she's still depressed after all that?" said Vert's Oracle, Chika Hakozaki, who was watching Plutia sitting on a chair and staring at the floor.

"Yes, but help is on the way... I got a call early this morning," Vert assured her. As if on cue, the door opened, revealing a familiar face...

"I'm back, Ploot!" Peach Macintosh called as she walked in. "I heard about the verdict... I'm glad you were acquitted."

"Thanks, Big Peashy..." Plutia nodded slightly. "I still feel guilty, though..."

"Well, I brought along someone to cheer you up!" Peach exclaimed, another familiar face suddenly running through the door and grabbing the CPU in a hug!

"Plutie!" the new arrival cried, "Why didn't you tell me you were feeling bad 'cause you tortured the wrong guy in HDD?!"

"Neppy?!" Plutia gasped in shock.

"Well, yeah! If you were feeling bad, you should've called me!" Neptune insisted, tears threatening her eyes. "You didn't have to put yourself on trial and whatnot!"

"If it's any consolation, she was acquitted," Vert spoke up. "Also, the madam who ran the trafficking ring was arrested and convicted, which means several children will be spared from horrible fates..."

"Yeah, see? You gotta focus on the positive, Plutie!" Neptune said, loosening her embrace to look her fellow CPU in the eye. "Okay, so the guy you tortured had a bad childhood... But that doesn't exactly excuse what he was doing, right?!"

"Well, no... he went to jail, too..." Plutia agreed. "At least he finally saw his mommy again..."

"So he can get back on the straight and narrow once he's served his time," Chika nodded. "Good for him."

"See? It all worked out in the end, Plutie," Neptune nodded and smiled. "This's probably as good an ending as you can hope for with a semi-serious story like this!"

"Neptuna!" Peach complained. "You know I hate it when you go all meta! You traumatized me enough when you showed me the fourth wall for the first time, dang it!"

Plutia couldn't help but giggle at this. "Big Peashy, you hate the fourth wall? You never told me that... you're funny~"

"She's laughing!" Neptune declared happily. "Now there's the Plutie I know! Figures it'd take a good laugh to snap you outta your funk!"

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't reflect on your actions," Vert cut in. "I know it's hard for you to restrain yourself when you transform, Plutia, but hopefully keeping this incident in mind will preclude you from going too far next time, when you're punishing someone who does deserve it..."

"Who does deserve it..." Plutia's face turned contemplative. "Reminds me of the time I went after that old hag for kidnapping little Iffy... I... went way too far that time, didn't I?"

"You sure did. And traumatized poor Iffy in the process," Neptune muttered. "And the rest of us were too scared to stop you..."

"Iffy..." Plutia frowned at this. "...Neppy, can we go home now?"

Both Peach and Vert couldn't help but smile at the implications...

ULTRADIMENSION

PLANEPTUNE BASILICOM

MARCH 22, 11:16 AM

"You wanted to see me, Nep-ko?" IF asked as she entered the kitchen... only to stop short when she saw Plutia standing there was well, albeit with her back turned. "O-oh, Lady Plutia's here as well?"

"Yeah, Plutie's got something she wants to say to ya," Neptune nodded with a neutral expression.

Plutia slowly turned to face her adopted daughter, with a sad look on her face. "Iffy... I'm sorry for what I did to you back when you were five. Even if that old hag deserved it, I shouldn't have gone that far with you watching..."

IF blinked several times at this. "I... why? Why now, so many years after the fact, Lady Plutia?"

"She went after a member of a trafficking ring in Hyperdimension's Leanbox, but he turned out to be a trafficking victim himself," Neptune explained. "Plutie's been all torn up ever since... she even waived her diplomatic immunity and went on trial for excessive force, though the jury ended up acquitting her."

"...Oh." IF said after a moment. "So, she's finally seeing the error of her ways as Iris Heart, then?"

"Something like that..." Plutia sighed. "But, I have a reaaaaally hard time restraining myself when I transform... Even when I'm just Plutia, I can have a sadistic streak sometimes... I'm trying to be better about it, but it's really hard... Can you ever forgive me, Iffy...?"

"..." IF's face was unreadable as she slowly walked up to her estranged mother. "...Well, as long as you're making an honest effort to restrain yourself, even if you fail sometimes... then, I think I can accept your apology, Lady Plutia. Nep-ko will always be number one in my book, though."

"I'm okay with that," Plutia nodded. "After all... Neppy's my number one, too~"

"Aw, guys, you're making me blush here!" Neptune stammered, her face coloring a bit. "Hey, I know! How about a group hug, the three of us?"

"Okay!" Plutia agreed.

"..Sure, why not," IF finally gave a small smile.

And so the three women came together, wrapping their arms around each other, sighing in contentment and happiness...

Executive Producer

DICK WOLF

~*Fin*~