Hi all. Sorry, its a bit over my one week preference, but school's just gone back. It's been hectic. Been choosing the subjects I want to drop or keep, bye bye to Physics. This chapter is the longest so far, who knows, maybe they'll get longer as I keep going, I'm not sure. Anyway, Remember you are to read and REVIEW!. Seriously, with the amount of people who've read this, I'd like to see some more of you review. Give me idea's if you want. Give me criticism, I take it all in, AND I respond to each review.
Kira: Did Cagali really think he did it?
Cagali: NO! I just said I wasn't sure.
Kira: Which implies you did.
Athrun: SHUT UP! I have a headache.
Athrun's Trial – Chapter 4: Revelations & Reckonings
The next morning, Cagali had been trying to rush through the mornings formalities, including signing papers with disinterest at light speed, (like a certain Colonel from Fullmetal Alchemist). She wanted to speak to Athrun as soon as possible about what had transpired in the prison, but while she had a backlog of paper work to complete, she couldn't leave her temporary office. When Kira walked in, he was astounded. His sister was signing papers and throwing things across the room at speeds he would of sworn were achievable only by the genetic manipulation that had created Coordinators. Kira saw something flying out of the corner of his eye, he ducked immediately, just in time to miss a stray stapler Cagali had thrown in her fury by bare millimetres. "Cagali," Kira sighed, "Perhaps you should slow up just a little bit, you're going to over work yourself. Athrun isn't awake yet anyway, so there isn't any big rush..."
"You idiot," Cagali cried, "Of course there is a rush. I want us to be the first people he sees when he wakes up. Not some Nurse or Doctor taking care of him."
"Yes," Kira answered, "But you may not be able to talk to him at all yet. The doctors found a strange substance in his blood earlier, they're testing it now."
"WHAT?" Cagali cried, "Why wasn't I informed of this?"
"I didn't want to overburden you Cagali," Kira informed her, "If I told you earlier, you'd have been by his bedside all day and your backlog of work would just get considerably larger. I want you to be able to spend time with him when he's alert, not be stuck in an office all day throwing things at any person who happens to pass by when you're frustrated."
Cagali appeared calm for a moment. Kira thought he'd gotten through to her, until he felt a pain in his stomach. Cagali had punched him, hard too. "Idiot, paperwork can wait," Cagali cried, "Friends and Families lives cannot."
"Cagali, anger isn't going to help Athrun through this ordeal now is it?" Kira asked. It had been deliberate, an attempt to rattle her and it had worked well.
"Finish your work Cagali," Kira sighed, "You know Athrun would want you to. Once you've finished it, then come and visit him. I'll be there waiting."
Athrun sat wearily in the hospital bed in the Orb Consulate in Aprilius. It had been revealed by his doctors when his wrists had been slashed, a possibly lethal toxin had entered his blood stream. This toxin, harmful only to coordinators had been invented by the Earth Alliance Forces. It could be used to simply render them incapable of moving, or in large doses, kill them. No one was sure what sort of a dosage Athrun had been given, but he'd been incapable of moving his limbs for over 12 hours. So the Consulate Nurse's were considerably worried about his condition. Consequently, Kira had made contact with Lacus and asked her to use her sources to try and track down an antidote for the poison. It had been found and was on its way, but until its arrival. Athrun had to make do with silence. No one spoke to him because they knew he was incapable of speaking back, they treated him like a fragile doll. He hated it.
Kira walked into Athrun's room several hours later with a vial held high in his hand. Lacus' antidote had arrived. He immediately took a syringe from the table beside Athrun and filled it with the antidote. Then after finding a vein, Kira carefully injected the liquid into Athrun's blood stream. After injecting the liquid, Kira disposed of the syringe and sat to wait for fifteen minutes to see if the antidote had an effect. Sure enough, it did, Athrun was able to move his jaw again and was slowly regaining control of his arms.
"How are you feeling?" Kira asked when he figured Athrun would be able to talk.
"Like crap." Athrun stated matter of factly, "Losing large quantities of blood and spending over a week in the toughest Isolation cells in the country do that do you."
"Do you know who cut your wrists?" Kira asked, "Or do you remember what happened?"
"I'm surprised, why aren't you asking if I tried to do it myself?" Athrun asked sceptically, "You know how I was at the end of the war."
"Because I know you better than that Athrun," Kira sighed, "You wouldn't deliberately harm yourself just to escape a prison cell, you'd sit there and prove to whoever had put you there that it was making no affect on you so that they'd move you someplace else."
"All I remember is some guy saying 'Sorry kid, I know you probably don't deserve this, but I've never failed a job before, and I won't start now.'" Athrun spoke in monotone, "Then I woke up in the hospital wing."
"Did you see a face?" Kira asked hopeful.
"No," Athrun sighed, "He was dressed in all black with a balaclava."
"What colour were his eyes?" Kira asked, "Did you see that?"
"His eyes were crimson red," Athrun sighed, "Definitely a coordinator. The sort of red you can't achieve without manipulation. Just like us..."
Kira sighed, so Athrun still remembered that conversation. It played back in his memory right then...
At the end of the war, a discussion between Kira and Athrun...
'Athrun,' Kira almost cried, 'What am I? A science project of some crazy freak of a father.'
'You're you,' Athrun sighed, 'No matter what has happened, you're you. You create your own identity, you shape your own destiny.'
'How can you say that?' Kira cried, 'Were you just another science project to your father? Just to see if something could be done?'
'As a matter of fact," Athrun sighed, 'Yes I was.'
'Huh?' Kira said dumbfounded.
'My father extracted me from my mother's womb when she was 1 week pregnant,' Athrun sighed, 'He then had lab technicians perform a number of procedures, those included, an even higher rate of physical strength than the average coordinator, a greater capacity to learn then anyone in the known socities, and he also did something else, barbaric would be a better way of describing it.'
'What did he do?' Kira wondered.
'He forced them to implant knowledge into my brain before I had even developed.' Athrun whispered, 'He even used that to try and make me a clone of himself in some ways. That wasn't all though, oh no, he then tried to have them make me look like him. They refused saying it would be like cloning. He then attempted to do it himself. That left more of a mark then you can possibly imagine.'
Athrun removed his shirt and showed Kira a series of long scars running down his back, 'These are the result of my father's failure to create a mirror image of himself. I was a project to him in so many ways Kira, I wasn't even allowed to have friends when I was younger and living in PLANT due to my father's fear that people would discover what he'd attempted to do to me. Not only his fear though, also his attempt to still make me more like him. Emotionless. Cold. Spiteful.'
'Then how did you become so rebellious?' Kira queried.
'I met you, you helped me to realise it Kira, one shapes their own path, their own destiny. They become who they want to be, not a person others want them to be.' Athrun spoke calmly.
End of Discussion Flashback
"Athrun," Kira asked quietly, "Does knowing what our father's did to make us who we are really scare you that much?"
"Yes it does," Athrun whispered, "Kira, I may not have suffered the front you did for many years being a First Generation Coordinator and living outside of PLANT, but I sure as hell suffered the hell of being my father's little Guinea Pig. It also makes me wonder what other kids may be forced to endure, should more fools like out father's chase their stupid dreams."
"It'll haunt me until the end of time knowing that our father's were willing to risk our lives just to make their projects come to fulfilment." Kira said, "We'll never be allowed to forget it, but we can attempt to move on from it. I agree, others might be forced to endure it, but the best we can do is try to stop it and then help them as best we're able to."
"I suppose you're right," Athrun sighed, "Wheres Cagali?"
"In her office finishing paper work," Kira answered, "Before you can see her though, I do have to remind you of something."
"Oh," Athrun enquired, "Whats that?"
"That Chairwoman Eileen Canaver has demanded you be psychiatrically evaluated," Kira answered in a low voice while he watched Athrun go pale, "For what it's worth, I think its bullshit, but Cagali and I agreed to it on the basis we believe you're fine. And it's what got you out of the prison."
"No," Athrun hissed, "I will not take part in a psychiatric evaluation."
"Athrun," Kira argued, "If you don't, they won't let you testify at your trial. There's a letter here stating that."
"They can't stop me," Athrun cried, "I have a constitutional right to speak on my own behalf at my trial."
"Providing you're not declared insane," Kira stated bluntly.
"Fine," Athrun shrugged, "Bring in the damn Psychiatrist already."
"How did you know that we had one ready?" Kira asked dumbfoundedly, "I never said it was right now."
"Kira," Athrun spoke clamly, "I've known you for a long time. I know when you've done something without consulting me first."
"Fair enough," Kira grinned and turned to the door, "You can come in now."
Athrun's eyes widened, the person who came in was none other than Sai Argyle. "Haha, I bet you're surprised to see me huh?" Sai asked, "I majored in Psychiatry and Programming, so, I'm here as a qualified psychiatrist and friend to help you Athrun."
"So Kira is avoiding the restriction of having a non-friendly psychiatrist hmm?" Athrun queried.
"Its better to have a friend than a foe," Kira answered, "At least we know he'll be honest about it."
"Fair enough," Athrun sighed.
"Kira, can I ask you to leave the room," Sai asked, "And also keep anyone else out until I'm done?"
"Sure." Kira said before walking out leaving Sai to Athrun.
"Alright Athrun, I'm detached from this situation," Sai said calmly, "I want to know what happened."
"Starting in the prison or when I was kidnapped?" Athrun asked calmly.
"Well, I believe starting with then you were kidnapped would be more beneficial," Sai encouraged.
"It was cold and dark." Athrun shivered, "I'd just gotten back from visiting Kira and Lacus at Reverend Malchio's Orphanage and playing with the kids. I parked my car out the front, I walked inside and went up to my mechanics room. I spent some time working on the original designs for Birdy and tweaking them for a new model. Then I went downstairs for a glass of water. When I entered the kitchen, a bomb went off somewhere and all the windows got blown out. I thought about what it could be and just to be safe, I dived for the nearest cupboard which I had a gun hidden in."
"Ok," Sai was surprised he remembered this much, most people forgot straight away. "Go on."
"I noticed people entering the house wearing dark uniforms." Athrun spoke in monotone, separating himself from the situation. "They started shooting, so I shot back. I didn't want to kill anymore, its why I moved to Orb and chose to settle down. Yet I took all those mens lives as soon as they got too close to me."
"You felt threatened," Sai answered, "You were in fear of your life. Its a human reaction to do anything you can to protect yourself."
"Well maybe you're right. After that, I ended up in a room with some evidence." Athrun spoke, "It was no good to me, so I took it and hid it for Kira and Cagali and left them a message where I knew they'd find it. Then when I moved back into the dining room, I killed 3 more as they approached me. I didn't notice a group approach from behind though. They knocked me out."
"Do you remember what happened when you woke up?" Sai queried.
"I had an aching head," Athrun stated, "I tried to rub it but I found my arms and legs were strapped down to a bed. I was then informed by a member of the Supreme Council that I was on a shuttle back to Aprilius to be put to trial. I was then escorted to the prison. They tried to make me wear prison uniform, I refused to the point that they didn't care and just put me in an isolation cell."
"Isolation?" Sai wanted to know, "They risked putting someone who had contemplated suicide in isolation?"
"Yeah," Athrun answered, "Canaver didn't care, she just wanted to drive me insane, or have me to do something to myself that would prove I didn't deserve to be at my trial."
"Did you do anything to harm yourself Athrun?" Sai asked, "I need to know."
"No I did not." Athrun stated slowly, "I sat in that cell for close to a week, wondering if anyone was going to help me. I stared at walls, I contemplated hitting things. Bashing my head against a wall, I held back from doing anything for that whole week and it took one underground operative team to make it look like I tried to kill myself."
He's depressed, Sai thought, But he's not insane. He's still in control of himself, its strange.
Sai left the room and approached Kira who was sitting outside waiting. "He's not insane," Sai spoke calmly, "But I definitely think he's depressed."
"The real question is whether or not he would kill himself?" Kira asked calmly.
"No, he wouldn't." Sai answered, "He has too much honour to quit on life."
"He was ready to when he went to blow up the Justice inside of GENESIS," Kira mumbled.
"Yes, but that was for something noble." Sai answered, "Killing himself now is just going to hurt more people. He's safe in that department. Trust me."
"Well that'll relieve Cagali," Kira sighed, "Thanks Sai, really. Can you get us a documented report for this evaluation?"
"Sure," Sai replied cheerfully, "It'll be done tomorrow."
"Thanks Sai," Kira answered, "Really, it was a lot to drag you out of Orb just for this."
"I don't mind Kira," Sai responded cheerfully, "He needs the help, he still needs to talk to someone more about his ordeal, I'd suggest you being his best friend, but he might also open up more to Cagali than you."
"Fair enough," Kira nodded, "I'll talk to her about it. I'll catch you later Sai."
"See you later," Sai answered cheerfully before walking down the hall.
Oh yay! Athrun isn't insane? Wow, thats nice to know isn't it? Its not like he coulda ever been declared insane anyway but still...
Ok, so you've read it if you made it this far, I now order you to review it. YOU HEAR ME REVIEW IT!
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