A/N: Thank you all for the lovely reviews! I hope you enjoy this next chapter.
Chapter: I own nothing.
Chapter 20: Healing
~The next day~
An empty podium with several microphones attached to it stood at the front of the large conference room as dozens of reporters and photographers sat waiting for the press conference to begin. The whole place was filled with a low murmur of people talking, everyone buzzing and curious about what the Seattle police department had to say about this kidnapping case that had gripped everyone since last night. There were rumors circulating that it could have been connected with the Elena Lincoln murder case, though no one was quite sure how yet.
Finally, after several long minutes of waiting, Luke Sawyer stepped into the room and walked toward the front, several people trailing in after him. A hush sounded throughout the crowd as multiple cameras clicked and flashed, snapping his picture as he stepped in front of the podium, and the various men and women in uniform lined up behind him.
"Good morning everyone," Sawyer greeted the crowd as cameras around him continued to flash and click noisily. He pulled some notecards out of his back pocket and placed them on the podium, clearing his throat before reading. "I would like to thank you all for being here today. My name is Luke Sawyer, Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. These past few weeks I've been working alongside the Seattle Police Department in investigating the Elena Lincoln homicide case. Today, I am happy to report that the man we believe to have been behind that murder has been caught and is currently in police custody.
"The man's name is Jack Frederick Hyde, a 30-year-old male resident of Seattle, Washington, and our investigative team has compiled hard evidence tying him to the murder of Elena Lincoln.
"Unfortunately, our way of finding this man ended up coming at the expense of an innocent woman being kidnapped. Yesterday at around 5:02AM, a 22-year-old woman, who shall remain anonymous, was taken by Hyde in front of her apartment building. She was knocked out and taken to an abandoned barn off the 405 right outside of Kenmore, where she was held captive for over an hour before she was rescued. Hyde has since been apprehended, and the woman in question is thankfully now safe, not having sustained any major injuries from what occurred. Hyde ended up sustaining multiple gunshot wounds, one in his left knee and one in his left shoulder. He was transported to Seattle General Hospital where he was treated, and he is currently in stable condition. He is expected to be transported to King County Detention Center sometime later this afternoon."
"Much of this case is still under investigation, meaning a lot of information can't be made public quite yet. That being said, I'd now like to open the floor to any questions you may have."
Instantly, all the reporters got to their feet and began shouting questions at Sawyer, waving their hands to get noticed. Sawyer pointed at one woman standing in the front.
"Yes?" he asked her.
"What evidence do you have connecting this kidnapping to the murder of Elena Lincoln?" She asked the question clearly on everyone's mind.
"As I stated before, a lot of this case is still under investigation, and to protect the rights of the young woman in question, I can't say too much about what happened to her. However, I can reveal that she knew information about the Elena Lincoln murder case that could have implicated Hyde, and we believe the kidnapping was in direct relation to that."
Reporters began shouting questions again, and Sawyer pointed to a man in the back. "Yes?"
"Did the woman's information have to do with Christian Grey?"
"We can't reveal that at this moment," Sawyer said firmly. "As far as our investigators can tell, Christian Grey's involvement in the homicide is likely nonexistent."
Reporters all shouted their questions again when a young woman yelled above the ruckus: "Then how did Christian Grey's DNA end up at the scene of the crime?" she asked boldly.
"Details like that still can't be revealed to the public," Sawyer stated. "That being said, our team has speculated that Jack Hyde's intention was to frame Christian Grey for Elena Lincoln's murder, and he likely took measures to make it look like Mr. Grey was somehow involved."
That information seemed to set everyone off, as the volume in the room got much louder, reporters shouting over each other even more as cameras flashed and clicked with greater frequency.
"Did Jack Hyde work alone?" a male reporter shouted from the back.
"We believe he did not," Sawyer answered. "His accomplice was another resident of Seattle, a young woman named Eliza Karovsky, though she allegedly went by several false names as she and Hyde went about their plan. Karovsky is currently in police custody and has admitted to the crimes she and Hyde have committed."
"How was Eliza Karovsky able to hide her identity so well?" a female reporter piped up.
Sawyer hesitated a moment or two before answering. "Ms. Karovsky previously worked as a private investigator for the Seattle Police Department, but was let go several years ago."
This immediately piqued the crowd's interest, and everyone immediately began shouting questions over each other:
"Can you elaborate on that Mr. Sawyer?"
"Are you saying the police were involved in this?"
"Was this a cover-up by the police Mr. Sawyer?"
A man in a suit suddenly approached the podium, edging past Sawyer so he could speak into the microphones. "There'll be no further questions. Thank you all for coming."
The man ignored the continued shouting from the reporters and the flash of cameras as he ushered Sawyer toward a side door leading out of the room. The officers that were lined up behind him stepped forward to ensure the raucous crowd was kept at bay.
"I told you to keep that information quiet," the man muttered firmly.
"They had a right to know there was possible police corruption involved in this case, Merton," Sawyer muttered back. "Their taxes are paying your salary, after all."
"We weren't going to hide the information, but we were hoping to reveal it once we had a better handle on everything," Merton argued back. "Now those reporters are going to peddle all sorts of exaggerated stories about our department."
"Forgive me if I don't feel bad for you," Sawyer said coldly, stopping in the middle of the empty hallway to face Merton. "Elena Lincoln wouldn't have gotten murdered, Christian Grey wouldn't have gotten framed, and Anastasia Steele wouldn't have been kidnapped if you guys had been a bit more discerning about the cops you hired."
Merton tried to argue, but Sawyer had simply turned and walked away, not wanting to listen to whatever excuses he had.
Sure enough, over the next few days Seattle was inundated with news about Jack Hyde and the Elena Lincoln murder case. People were immediately shocked and skeptical about it, considering the fact that for weeks the evidence had pointed toward Christian Grey being the murderer. Every local journalist wrote about the press conference Sawyer held where he mentioned the possible police corruption in this case, and people were clearly starting to come around to the idea that Christian Grey had been set up. The one thing that really drove home his innocence in the eyes of the public, however, was the photo.
Within forty-eight hours, everybody in the Seattle area had seen the picture of Christian Grey embracing a pretty girl in an emergency room, his face buried in her neck while deep sadness and vulnerability wracked his whole body. The picture had been featured in a Seattle Nooz article and spread like wildfire to other outlets soon after - with Christian's guilt now under question, seeing this image of a clearly sad and tortured man made the public's sympathy for him immediately go up. The conversation soon shifted from Christian Grey being a murderer to how public hate mobs could have such harmful ramifications on innocent people.
Finally, it seemed as if Christian's reputation was coming back from the low point it had been at for weeks now.
Luckily, nobody was able to figure out who Ana was through the picture, though many people speculated Christian Grey had a secret girlfriend or something. The fact that she had been the one kidnapped by Jack Hyde was also kept from the public, so nobody drew any conclusions based on that information. The only people who knew the truth were the police and the upper-level managers over at SIP, who had to learn the hard way about Jack Hyde's depravity.
Ana was currently on paid leave, obviously not having a job to go back to anymore. Jerry Roach and the other SIP bosses were desperately trying to keep Ana from suing the company, which she knew she had every right to do. Christian's father Carrick was handling all the legal issues regarding SIP, which Ana was fine with. More than anything, she just wanted to be able to put this whole nightmare behind her.
Ana had been staying at Escala with Christian for the past few days, both of them just trying to heal and move on from what happened. Her dad Ray had actually come by to visit yesterday when he learned about what had happened; Ana was delighted to see her dad, but it was a bit awkward when he and Christian met for the first time. Ana and Christian hadn't really defined their relationship yet, and thankfully Ray didn't ask, but he and Christian were still able to make polite small talk with each other while he was here.
~/~
The next morning, Ana made her way downstairs to the kitchen. Christian was already up and working out in his fitness room, so Ana decided not to bother him as she went to go fix them both some breakfast. Ray had already left for Montesano last night, and Christian had given Gail and Taylor the week off, meaning Ana was all alone this morning.
Ana walked into the kitchen, and smiled in amusement when she noticed that Gail had already come by and baked some blueberry muffins, which she had been doing every morning for the past couple days now. Ana went over to the coffee machine and started to brew some coffee before picking up a muffin and making her way over to the breakfast counter where today's newspaper sat.
Unrolling it, Ana couldn't help but smile slightly when she saw the front page - it was the now-famous picture of her and Christian embracing at the hospital, with the headline:
AN INNOCENT MAN - HOW A SEATTLE BILLIONAIRE WAS FALSELY ACCUSED OF MURDER
Ana skimmed over the article, where it went in-depth about how Jack Hyde was able to frame Christian for Elena Lincoln's murder, and how easy it was for the public to believe Christian was guilty. Ana read the article for about five minutes before she heard Christian coming down the hallway toward the kitchen.
"Hey," Christian smiled when he saw Ana. He had clearly just showered, with his copper hair still damp, and he was looking good in jeans and a black long-sleeve t-shirt. "Something smells good. Did Gail bake muffins again?"
"Yup," Ana said, glancing over at the counter. "I'm brewing coffee too, if you want some."
"Sure, thank you," Christian said. He walked over to where Ana sat and noticed the article she was reading in the newspaper, obviously spotting the picture. His face fell. "Shit… I didn't realize the Seattle Times was doing a front-page article about me."
"Don't worry, the author of this article is defending you," Ana explained, her eyes skimming over the paper. "He's explaining the whole murder case and talking about the dangers of mob mentality. It really does feel like people are accepting the truth now: that you actually were framed by Jack Hyde."
"It feels strange," Christian admitted, moving over to sit on the stool beside Ana while looking down at the newspaper. "For weeks I thought the public would never see me as an innocent man again. Now the truth has finally come out, and I almost don't know how to feel."
"It's a blessing," Ana assured him. "Innocent people aren't always able to prove their innocence to the world, and the fact that you were able to prove it makes you very lucky. I really do feel that you can come back from this now."
"I wouldn't have been able to do it without you," Christian said, smiling up at Ana. "Not only did you bring me those emails implicating Hyde, but that picture of us at the hospital is what made everyone start realizing I was the victim in all of this. I don't know if I can ever repay you for everything you've done for me."
Ana looked into Christian's eyes, a soft smile on her lips as her heart thudded in her chest. "You don't have to repay me, Christian. I was happy to do it."
Christian gazed at her for a moment, clearly mulling over something in his mind. "I was thinking," he said slowly after a moment. "About what we should do after all this winds down…"
Ana's smile faded, suddenly feeling her heart lodge in her throat. She hadn't wanted to think about the future just yet, but deep down she knew she couldn't avoid the issue forever. "I understand. You don't want me hanging around here for too long…"
"No," Christian said quickly. "No, that's not what I mean at all. I love having you here Ana, really. I just… I want to make sure you're okay. Being here with me, that is."
Ana blinked, feeling confused. "What do you mean?"
Christian sighed. "What Hyde said to you about me… about my past in BDSM. I can understand if you're not comfortable associating with me anymore because of that."
"Christian, no," Ana said insistently. "What Jack said to me about you was a shock, of course, but I also knew he was extremely angry, and he was just trying to scare me with revealing that information about you. I admit I didn't want to believe it at first, but as I thought about it I realized it was true, and that you'd sort of been trying to tell me about your past for awhile now."
Christian grimaced before nodding. "Yes, and I was so nervous about your reaction I kept trying to put it off or avoid the subject. If I wasn't such a coward, you wouldn't have found out the way you did."
"It's okay Christian, but why would you be so nervous to tell me about your past?" Ana asked, gazing up into his eyes.
"Because I care a lot about what you think of me, Ana," Christian answered sincerely. "The very moment I met you, I knew that you were too good for me, and you deserve so much better than a fuck-up like me who used to participate in the BDSM lifestyle. I guess a part of me wished I could just forget my past and pretend to be normal with you, at least for a little while."
"Stop it Christian. You're not a fuck-up," Ana insisted, frowning at him. "And just because you used to participate in BDSM doesn't mean you're not 'normal'. You're an amazing man, inside and out, and I feel so lucky that I was able to find someone like you, despite the circumstances that brought us together."
Christian looked surprised at her sincerity, and in a moment he had gotten to his feet and captured Ana's lips in a deep kiss, cupping her face with his hands as he slowly pulled her to her feet. Ana smiled against him, placing her hands gently on his chest as she kissed him back.
After a few blissful moments, Christian slowly pulled away, still cradling Ana's face in his hands as he pressed his forehead against hers, a smile on his handsome face.
"Ana, I've never asked someone this question before," Christian spoke after a moment, and he pulled his hands away from her face so he could place them on her hips. "But I want to ask you… will you be my girlfriend?"
Ana couldn't fight the wide, happy smile blooming across her face. "Really?"
"Yes," Christian smiled. "You make me want to be a better person Ana. I never thought I'd meet someone who would make me want to change, but with all the shit I've been through in the past few weeks - and everything that's going to happen in the coming months with Hyde's trial - I know that I'll be able to get through it all with you by my side."
Ana's smile faded slightly as she remembered Jack, and that his trial was something they still had to deal with. She looked thoughtful for a moment before answering. "I will be your girlfriend, Christian. But on one condition."
"Anything," Christian insisted.
"I want you to tell me about your past," she said firmly. "All of it."
Christian didn't say anything, clearly surprised at her request, so she went on: "You've been pretty tight-lipped about your past, and I do understand why, but what I know about it only came from what Jack told me, and I don't want that to be the only information I have. I want to hear it from you, and I want you to trust that I won't run after you tell me."
Christian had an unreadable expression on his face before he finally nodded. "If that's what you want, Ana, then I'll tell you about my past. I suppose there's no point holding off anymore."
Ana smiled at him reassuringly. "I promise it'll be okay. And once you tell me everything, we can move on with our lives."
Christian took Ana's chin in his hand and lightly kissed her lips, smiling. "I'm holding you to that."
A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! The epilogue is coming up next - thank you all so much for reading :)
Please review and tell me what you think!