"Meredith," Quinn's voice snaps the blonde back to the present. "We can go now."
She glances around the courtroom, seeing the judge and jury have already disappeared, as well as William. "That's it?"
"For today. You looked like you were in another world here for the majority of it."
"I...I was."
"I get that," Quinns smiles softly. "But for tomorrow and the next few days, it's really important that you be here. I know it's going to be tough, but the jury needs to see something from you."
Meredith nods, standing and grabbing her jacket, nearly falling over as she does so. Her legs are completely unsteady beneath her, and her heart is pounding in her throat. Quinn offers her a supporting arm, which Meredith quickly takes, swallowing hard and walking out of the courtroom. The catches Annalise Keating's eye from across the room, and Meredith searches for any hit of emotion in her face but finds none.
Annalise is cold, hardened. Probably what makes her so damn good at her job. There's not a trace of sympathy, remorse, or even anger in her eyes. There's nothing. Meredith returns her gaze forward, realizing he has no right to judge, with one look in the mirror she knows her eyes are the same. Empty.
They get out of the room and Meredith crosses the hall to the nearest large window. It's cracked, and she breaths in the smell of rain, bringing her back to the moment. Until, someone taps her shoulder. She jumps and spins around, bracing her rips with an arm. There's an older looking, dark-skinned couple in front of her. She steps away, her back hitting the wall.
"I'm so sorry, we didn't mean to scare you. I'm Valorie West, this is my husband, Nicolas. We're Angelica's parents. She was the second girl murdered." The woman introduces herself.
"I-I um..." Meredith stutters, her mind racing, still thinking it's in danger and unable to process what's happening.
"Hi, Special Agent Olivia Prenton, we've spoken before, remember?" Olivia cuts in out of nowhere, placing herself between Meredith and the couple. "Thank you for coming, it's greatly appreciated. I'm so sorry, but Dr. Grey isn't feeling her best right now and I think it's time she goes home."
Valorie looks a bit shocked, but nods and backs away, her husband by her side. When they're gone, Olivia turns back to Meredith.
"I-I'm okay...I just need a-a minute." The blonde breathes, still leaning against the wall for support. Olivia nods, a sense of protectiveness overtaking her as she steps in front of Meredith, blocking her from prying eyes and giving her a minute to collect herself.
It's past noon now, and a bunch of the FBI team members left the courthouse to go eat lunch. Derek remains, quietly talking to Quinn off to the side. Cristina and Alex come over to Meredith together, both of them concerned.
"Give her a minute," Olivia says softly, stopping the surgeons before they can bombard the blonde. After a few minutes of quiet, Meredith finally straightens and faces her friends.
"I'm fine," she answers before they can ask. "I couldn't look anywhere near him."
"I want to kill that son of a bitch with my own two hands," Alex growls.
Meredith snaps up, meeting Alex's eyes. "Don't joke about that."
A pang of guilt hits the peds surgeon as he realizes he should watch his mouth and be more careful with his word choice. "I'm sorry."
She just shakes her head and glances around the long halls. "How do we get out of here?"
xx
The next morning starts off pretty much the exact same way as the previous morning. Meredith doesn't even testify until tomorrow, so she has no idea why the thought of going to court makes her sick. The hearing begins at ten, giving her three hours to get ready.
After a good thirty minutes of sitting in the bathroom with Cristina at her side, she waves away her best friend. Meredith hauls herself to her feet, leaving her new favorite place- the floor right beside the toilet- and going to get ready for the hearing. She pulls out gray dress pants and a long-sleeved shirt, along with the same black flats as yesterday.
Her routine is the same, hair and makeup, trying to make it look like she's getting more than two hours of sleep every night. Today, only Cristina, Alex, and Derek are at the house, as the rest of the team is going to meet at the courthouse. With six testimonies planned, she knows it's going to be a lot longer than before, and she's actually going to have to be present in the moment.
A whirlwind of emotions hit her, both nervousness and fear because she has no idea how the day is going to play out, along with the usual guilt that comes every time she thinks about the other women who were murdered. Anger joins the mix, shocking Meredith a bit that she has any ambition at all. But she does. She wants William Dunn dead.
She heads downstairs, grabbing a banana to eat without saying a word to the other people in the house who are already awake and in the kitchen. Alex and Derek are in suits again, while Cristina wears a black dress.
The hours fly by, and before she knows it Meredith is walking into the courthouse once again. She holds a purse tightly in front of her, digging her nails into the leather provides some sort of anxiety release.
Quinn meets her in the hall outside the courtroom, beckoning to the people behind her to go take their seats. Once the two women are alone, she speaks. "How are you feeling?"
"Been better," she shrugs.
"I've got this, okay? I have spent hours finding every possible defense Annalise could bring up and getting solutions for them all. You're going to be fine. I want to you try and connect with the jury today. I don't mean give them pitiful looks, I mean..." Quinn trails off gesturing with her hands as she searches for the right words. "Get them to feel for you. You're a strong woman, the jury needs to hate William and love you as much as all your friends in there."
The blonde nods, not entirely sure what her lawyer is asking of her, but planning on trying her best anyway. In what seems like a matter of minutes, everyone is in the courtroom as Quinn stands and calls her first witness.
"The prosecution calls Dr. Cristina Yang to the stand."
Cristina leaves her seat and crosses the courtroom to be sworn in, then sits. Quinn begins asking her questions about Meredith, the medical side of things. When she's done, satisfied that she's proved her point, Annalise stands to begin her cross-examination. It's short, mostly just the lawyer trying to manipulate Cristina into saying things or twisting her words. They repeat the process with Alex, then Quinn calls their expert witness, Dr. Jennifer Stanley.
She was the Medical Examiner for every one of the victims. She describes the similarities in the injuries and types of women, along with the matching DNA that belongs to William. Quinn was right when she had said Dr. Stanley has done nothing of any interest her entire life, which leaves Annalise with nothing to use to discredit her.
After Dr. Stanley, they're granted an hour-long recess to eat and prepare for the next three testimonies. The FBI team, along with the surgeons and Quinn are all in their private room eating and making small talk.
"Everything is going well so far, it's clear Annalise underestimated us, and the defense is looking weak. If things keep going like this, we should have a verdict in a day or two." Quinn says. Everyone celebrates a bit, a pang of happiness hitting each person for the first time in weeks at the thought that they could actually put William away.
When there's a soft knock on the door, Olivia stands and opens it, revealing a tall, platinum blonde woman wearing a deep red shirt and black pants with cowboy boots.
"Oh, you're here!" Olivia exclaims, allowing the woman to enter.
"Is that any way to greet your girlfriend?" She responds, leaning in to kiss Olivia.
"Um, most of you already know, but for those of you who don't, this is Lindsey, my girlfriend." Olivia turns, introducing the woman next to her. Lindsey waves, giving them a warm smile.
"I've heard enough about this case from Liv that I could probably work it myself," Lindsey says, taking a seat next to Olivia.
"Liv?" Meredith catches the nickname and points it out, smirking at the blue-eyed agent who's blushing.
"Only she gets to call me that," Olivia says firmly, making everyone laugh.
"Anyway, your break is up in ten minutes and I'm just here for support," the blonde says, glancing at Olivia. The agent meets her gaze, holding it for a long minute as they seem to have their own conversation without speaking.
Lindsey was one of the only people Olivia told about her rape, and it has only strengthened their relationship. She also keeps Lindsey updated on the cases she's working on, which is how the FBI team knows her. Olivia knows that today her darkest secret might be let out for everyone to hear, and she figured she'd need all the support she can get.
Just like that, ten minutes pass and they're back in the courtroom. First, Quinn calls Jake to the stand going through working the case, and all the different leads they pursued to find William. Annalise still seems to be unsuccessful, during her cross-exam. Quinn repeats the process with Derek, making sure their stories align and portray William to be the worst man they've ever met. Until Annalise steps forward to question Derek.
"Would you say your line of work is dangerous?"
"Yes, very," Derek admits.
Annalise turns to the jury. "It's common knowledge that police officers carry guns, but it's only allowed when they use them for the right reasons. Police brutality is a major issue in society, especially when FBI agents with blown-up egos go around shooting people." She then turns back to Derek, who looks disgusted and confused by what she just said. "Sometimes, you have to shoot people?"
"We don't shoot people, bullets are a last resort, they're for self-defense."
"You shot my client." Annalise states.
"Your Honor, so many objections! Badgering-" Quinn stands.
"I'll rephrase-" Annalise cuts her off before the judge can say anything. "Was my client hurting you?"
"He wasn't hurting me specifically but-"
"But you shot him anyway?" She cuts him off again with her own question.
"To save-"
"Did you shoot him even though he wasn't hurting you?" Annalise demands.
Derek hesitates, glancing around the courtroom. "Yes, but-"
"Then it wasn't self-defense." The lawyer says to the jury. "No further questions."
"No, I only shot because he was-"
"Agent Shepherd, that's enough." The judge silences him. "Please leave the stand."
Derek wants to say more, but knows better than to argue with a judge, so he leaves the stand shooting Meredith and Quinn an apologetic look as he passes their table back to his seat. Meredith leans back in her chair, nervously running a hand through her hair. She glances at the jury, most of them looking deep in thought. Quinn shakes her head and takes a deep breath before standing once again.
"The prosecution calls Special Agent Olivia Prenton to the stand."
Olivia stands from her seat next to Lindsey, straightening her suit and walking to the front of the courtroom. She's sworn in and takes a seat on the stand. Quinn's questioning goes exactly as they planned. She highlight's Olivia's achievements, trying to show the jury how reliable she is, as well as going through the case and the night they found Meredith.
Everything is going smoothly until Annalise steps forward, smirking. It's her turn to question the witness, and one of her assistants has just brought her a valuable piece of information.