Caleb wasn't sure whether to feel ecstatic that the prosecution's witch-hunt of a case against him was over. Or dread with the knowledge that after Dawn was done presenting their case, it would go to the jury and they would have the burden of deciding whether or not he was capable of committing those horrible acts.

After Dawn was done cross-examining the caseworker from CPS, the state had officially rested, and the judge had dismissed court for the day to give Dawn time to prepare her first witness, and come up with a strategy plan for the remaining weeks of the trial that would be hers. Part of that, was to do the psychological testing and lie detector test that would come later.

"So what did you think of the State's case?" Caleb asked, as they sat across from each other in that same room they had long ago arranged to meet in. It was definitely nicer than staring at each other through a glass partition.

"They were good," she conceded, "but they didn't prove anything. They never proved conclusively that those marks came from you, and they didn't prove anything other than the fact that you were a good, loving guardian to those two kids."

"Yeah," Caleb said with a small laugh. "I don't think that was quite the effect they were going for."

"I don't think so, but even their own witnesses said that they had never seen anything to suggest abuse. Their case, where it concerns that, isn't as strong as they would like to believe, unfortunately."

"So what are you going to do with our chance, now?"

After the prosecution had officially rested in the case, it automatically went to Dawn. It was a relief to know that she would have more opportunities to defend him now, but it was also incredibly nerve-wracking for Caleb, who knew what would happen the second that she rested.

Jury deliberations, which would put him on edge the entire time they were in that room until they rendered a verdict. It was startling for him to realize that, no matter what their decision was, he would have no choice but to accept it, even if it was something completely horrible and unforeseeable.

Thinking those kinds of thoughts wasn't entirely in line with remaining as sane as possible throughout the remainder of the proceedings, so he tried not to go there as he scrubbed a hand over his face, trying to wipe away the tiredness as much as he tried to wipe away the horrific trial, and the memories that he associated with it.

"Well," she said, "the prosecution didn't necessarily prove abuse, but they didn't disprove it, either."

She knew that a jury would need concrete proof before they were expected to render an appropriate verdict, and she would need to insert as much doubt in their minds if they were to go into that deliberation room with as clear a conscience as possible, and that would be no small order.

"So what are we going to do?" Caleb asked, not able to keep a yawn concealed.

"Tired?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. I didn't get much sleep last night."

It had become the story of his life since his incarceration, but it was starting to show during the day, when he could hardly keep his eyes open during the court hearings, and was constantly having to hide a yawn whenever he tried to talk.

"I'm sorry. Too much on your mind?"

"You can say that."

He was relieved that he wouldn't have to sit through listening to the prosecutor, and wouldn't have to listen to their biased witnesses, but just the fact that the case was nearing its conclusion, was enough to make his insomnia worse, as he tried to imagine finally being able to be reunited with the boys.

"Well, it will be over pretty soon," she promised. "I don't know if that's comforting to you or not," she added with a small laugh.

"Hell no," he said, shaking his head. "It actually makes it worse, knowing that I won't have a choice but to accept whatever the jury comes up with."

"We still have some stuff to prove before that happens," she assured him. "The fact that the prosecution chose to put Diane Ward on the stand as their final witness, they were hoping to leave the jury with her testimony in their minds."

"Right," he said, nodding. "So how do you override that?"

"Well," she said, with a slight grimace. "I don't think I have any choice but to put Dean on the stand."

Caleb nodded; he had been afraid of that. Not because he wasn't confident that Dean could effectively pull off whatever questions Dawn would ask, but he didn't want Dean to be put in that position, to have to answer questions not only from Dawn, but from the prosecution, who would hammer him with their cross-exam, and he would hate for Dean to be faced with that.

"Do you absolutely have to?"

"If you don't want me to, I won't, but it's advisable right now. The jury will want to hear from him. If the victim of the alleged abuse goes on the stand and defends you, it will make a huge impact on them."

"I know.

Even though he hated to admit that she was right, he had no other choice. The jury would be more inclined to believe their side, if Dean blew apart the prosecutions story, and told them in no uncertain terms that he had never been abused by Caleb, or kidnapped.

"I'll go over to the house and talk to him, if you want me to."

"That's fine."

"It's fine if-"

"It's fine if you feel like you need him to blow apart what the prosecution is saying. What kind of questions will he have to answer?"

"My job will be to have him confirm everything that I've been saying all along, that you never abused he or Sam, and that he never went anywhere with you against his will."

"I'm sure the prosecution will jump on that," Caleb said, with a roll of his eyes.

"Probably, but I'll do what I can to make that part of it easy on him."

"Thank you."


Dean was on edge: the fact that the prosecution had rested their case, didn't make things easier on him. In fact, it made it slightly worse, knowing that they were one step closer to knowing what the jury's decision would be, and Dean knew for a fact he wasn't at all prepared for the outcome of the trial.

"Hey, kid," Bobby said, as he poked his head in Dean's room.

Lately, he had been shutting himself in his room whenever he could escape out from under the pressing, concerning gazes that he and Sam gave him. It was his own coping method, but it was one that Bobby was trying his hardest to dissuade him from.

"Hey," Dean said, as he looked up from his desk, where he had been writing something down. "What's up?"

"Not too much, but Dawn's here, though."

"She is?"

He hadn't seen Dawn in awhile, not since she first came over before the trial started to ask him whether or not he would be interested in testifying for her if she needed him to.

"Yeah, she wants to talk to the two of us."

"Okay," Dean said, sighing as he got up from the desk chair, stretching out the kinks in his back that had been products of having sat for so long. "Let's go."

Like Bobby had said, Dawn was downstairs in the living room, waiting for them to appear. Smiling warmly at Dean, he accepted the hug that she gave him, as they sat down together on the couch.

"So," Dean said, "what's up?"

"Not too much," Dawn said. "Did Bobby mention something to you about the prosecution resting their case the other day?"

Dean nodded, looking down to shield the irksome tears that he could feel coming. "Yeah," he said, finally feeling strong enough to look back up at her. "He did."

"Okay," she said softly. "The last witness they called, was the CPS worker who had interviewed you and your brother."

The woman that had, unintentionally, caused so much pain for he and Sam. Dean couldn't hide the look of anger and contempt that flashed across his face, as he tried to control the insane rush of anger that coursed through his body.

"Okay," he said, "and what crap did she come up with?"

"They played an audio recording of your interview with her."

"Seriously?"

Dean knew that Sam's comments to her had been the basis for her continuing her investigation, and of Caleb losing custody of them. Even though no one placed the blame on Sam, it had still been the smoking gun they had used in court.

"Seriously," Dawn said, nodding quietly. "The prosecution only played the worst parts of Sam's interview with her, the parts where he said he wasn't supposed to bring up certain things."

Dean nodded. "Yeah," he said softly.

He could remember the absolute horror that had passed through his soul when Sam told the woman that Caleb had told him not to talk about certain things. It had been the one comment that had blown the case wide open.

"After I had my chance to dispute it, I did play the parts of the interview where you both talked about how wonderful Caleb was, and how he would never do anything to harm you."

"Thank you."

At least Dawn had been at the top of her game, and had been able to play the portions of the interview that the prosecution had neglected to play for the jury.

"My only question is this: the jury will want to hear from the alleged victim of the crime if they're supposed to believe what I'm telling them. If you get up on the stand, and deny everything that the prosecution has spouted so far, it will make a huge impression on them. So would you be willing to testify?"

Dean nodded, trying to swallow back that part of him that would be nervous about getting up on the stand, and having all eyes on him. It would be his one chance to make this go away for Caleb, and he would have no idea if what he had to say, would actually make an impression or not.

"I want to," he said slowly, "and I will. I'm just worried that I'll freeze like Sam did, and mess things up even more than they already are."

"I'll make sure that won't happen," she assured him. "Most of these questions you should be able to answer without a problem."

"What kind of questions?"

"The ones that I'll be asking you, will be simple ones. What kind of guardian is Caleb? Has he ever hit you or punch you? Did he kidnap you? That sort of thing."

"Okay. What about the prosecution?"

"They'll do a cross-exam, but I'll do my best to deflect as many of their questions as I possibly can."

"Okay, thank you."

"So are you going to do it?"

"Yes."