Title: Blue-eyed Angel, 5/?
Author: Goddess Evie
Date: April 1, 2012
Category: JJHR, Angst
Summary: Jessie can't sleep and Jonny finally attends his bail hearing.
Disclaimer: I do not own JQ. I make no money off this story. I am only using the characters for my own unique story. I also do not own "Jekyll and Hyde", the extremely talented and underappreciated Plumb does. I merely use the lyrics to enhance my humble writing and pay a little homage to such talented musicians.
Author's Notes: Well, with a little nudging from a certain JQ fic author and a needed break from my original fiction, I managed to crank out chapter 5 for you guys. Sorry it took a few months. Life is busy. I hope this inspires some chapters from some other fic writers. You know who you are. *pointed look*
I want to make a note that despite all the research I did into how a bail hearing works, I know this isn't perfect. I did the best I could and tried to at least get the spirit of the proceedings. It's a close as I could get it, so please excuse any glaring mistakes.
Chapter 5: You remind me of a cigarette. You burn up slowly and then go out like that. You make it harder for me to breathe. You make my head hurt you make my skin stink. So why don't you leave me alone?
Jessie stood in the middle of her room staring at her bed. Her door stood partly open. She didn't feel comfortable closing it all the way. Like she needed an escape route, just in case. Or to be sure someone would hear her and be able to get to her if... If what? If he attacked again? That wouldn't happen. It was impossible. And yet Jessie couldn't stop looking over her shoulder.
Jessie had changed into her pajamas after her father's suggestion that they both try to rest. Now she was trying to convince herself to climb into her bed.
Whenever she told herself that nothing would happen and she almost had her body persuaded to take the steps forward, her mind would assault her with the image of him looming over her. She'd feel the ropes digging into her wrists, the cold knife blade along her stomach. Her skin would start to crawl all over again and it took her every effort to keep herself from breaking down into uncontrollable sobs again.
She wouldn't cry. She'd done enough of that already.
And she wasn't going to let him win. This was her room. She was safe here. She didn't have to be afraid of her own bed.
Her mind created an image for her of herself tied up on her bed right here in her own room. Trapped, with him touching her, forcing himself upon her. And nobody around to help her.
Jessie gasped for breath and when she finally managed to push the scene from her mind, she found herself on her hands and knees on the carpet, shaking her head back and forth.
She couldn't do it. She couldn't sleep in her own room. She could barely stand to be here long enough to change clothes. It wasn't fair. She shouldn't be afraid in her own home. She shouldn't be afraid in her own bedroom.
Jessie climbed to her feet even as her body still shook. She forced herself to approach her bed only long enough to grab the comforter and a pillow from it.
And Jonny's shirt. She hugged it to her chest with one hand while she dragged the pillow and blanket on the ground behind her.
Before she stepped into the hall, Jessie peeked out to check that the coast was clear. She didn't want to run into her dad. She couldn't look at him without seeing red. The way he'd just let Jonny be arrested like that. When Jonny had needed him most.
Jessie squeezed her eyes shut and pressed Jonny's shirt to her face. Tomorrow. He'd be home tomorrow. Dad had promised.
The hall was empty and the house dark. Jessie shuffled out of her room and to the stairs. IRIS sensed her movement and turned on the lights to night time levels, which meant just enough light to see by and leaving plenty of shadows. Shadows that had never given her cause to worry before. Jessie tried to look everywhere at once even as she reminded herself that the only other person in the house was her father. And that the person who had made her this way was dead.
Don't think about him. Don't think about that.
Those thoughts became Jessie's mantra as she descended the stairs to the ground floor and turned into the rec room. She sat down on the couch and looked around to either side. Last night she'd fallen asleep here all tangled up with Jonny and Hadji. She tried to recall the feeling of security that she'd taken for granted. That feeling was so foreign now.
Jessie sat up straight when she heard a clicking sound in the hall. She clutched at her bedding as if it could protect her. The clicking sound didn't match her father's footsteps at all. Jessie curled into the couch wishing it would swallow her up as the clicks drew closer to her. She tried to cry out but terror stilled the sound in her throat and all she could do was gasp.
Bandit trotted into the doorway and stood there panting for a moment before he woofed and scampered over to Jessie. He jumped up on the couch and tried to lick Jessie's face. Jessie let him, hugging him to her as she wiped away the tears from her lower lashes.
"Don't scare me like that," she scolded the dog.
Bandit seemed to sense her mood. He lay down with his head and front paws in her lap. Jessie petted his head.
"I bet you miss Jonny too."
Bandit emitted another soft bark as if to confirm what she'd said.
Jessie gave him a few more strokes, then stuffed her pillow at one end of the couch and lay down. Bandit jumped to the floor and curled up next to the couch. Jessie pulled her comforter over herself and hugged Jonny's shirt. She ordered IRIS to turn the lights off and pulled the blanket over her head. Then she refused to think of the events of the day. She couldn't dwell on them anymore. Not today. They exhausted her.
Sleep. She just needed sleep. A reprieve from the memories of what had happened. She couldn't relive them one more time. She prayed for blissful unconsciousness.
Her prayers were not answered. She relived her abduction more vividly in her sleep. Zach was larger; he was everywhere. No matter where she turned or looked, he waited for her. His face distorted grotesquely with an expression of delight for the things he would do to her. Sick things he described to her in a raspy whisper dripping with anticipation even as he began to do them to her.
She couldn't stop him. She couldn't even scream out for help. Her clothes melted off of her. Or had she been wearing any in the first place? She felt his hands on her body and the knife on her skin. Although she knew it was impossible, she swore she could feel him on every centimeter of her body. Nothing else seemed to exist but him all over her. Inside her.
Until Jonny suddenly appeared. Jessie screamed at him to run away. Save himself. Her efforts were in vain. She still could not make any sound. He wasn't paying attention to her anyway. He had eyes only for Zach and his glittering knife.
In one graceful motion, Zach lunged forward, the knife held in front of him. The blade slipped into Jonny's gut before he could move to stop Zach.
Jessie woke up screaming.
Race awakened instantly at the sound of Jessie's screaming. He could hear Bandit barking madly as well. Working for Intelligence One had made Race a light sleeper and he always would be after those experiences. But nothing brought him more awake out of slumber than his daughter's screams.
Race burst from his room and raced down the hall. He slammed Jessie's door open. His eyes searched the room for her. When he realized the room was empty, Race felt real panic over take him.
Jessie's room spun around him, and he reeled around and stumbled out the door.
"Jessie!"
She only continued to scream in response. Race followed the sound of his daughter's terrified shrieking. Never in his life could he remember her sounding so afraid. He had to get to her. He would kill whoever was hurting her.
He took the stairs three at a time and more by instinct than anything else followed the screaming into the rec room. Jessie sat on the couch tangled up in the comforter from her bedroom screaming and flailing her limbs around like she was trying to fight someone off. Bandit jumped around on the floor next to her, barking still.
Race approached her but stopped short of actually touching her.
"Jessie. You're okay," he chanted to her, but she didn't hear him.
Bandit kept barking and jumping around and Race yelled sharply for the dog to be quiet. Bandit at least listened, crouching away from Race's angry tone but not retreating. He looked back and forth between Race and Jessie. Race ignored him once more to focus on his daughter.
She wouldn't calm down no matter what he said. Finally he grabbed her wrists to stop her flailing arms. He knew she wouldn't want him to, and he tried to be gentle, but he had to get her attention.
"Jessie, look at me. You're safe. No one here but you and me. He can't get you. You're safe."
Slowly Jessie focused on her father. Race watched her as his words registered with her. She gradually calmed down, took in her surroundings and then finally seemed to actually see Race when she looked at him. She blinked away the remainder of the tears in her eyes and then suddenly realized Race held onto her wrists. When he felt her tense, Race let go of her.
"I'm sorry. I just needed to calm you down."
Jessie didn't react. She looked at her hands in her lap as she rubbed her wrists. Race noted the strands of hair stuck to the sweat on Jessie's forehead and neck. Any other time he would have reached forward and brushed them back in place, but now he didn't dare and it killed him. Would his relationship with his daughter always be changed? The thought scared him. Enough for him to wish that Zach Ellis were alive so Race could personally kill him.
Race also noticed Jonny's black shirt balled up in Jessie's lap. As before, he made no mention of it.
"What happened?" he asked, keeping his voice gentle.
"Just a dream."
No need for Jessie to elaborate. Race could easily imagine the kinds of dreams Jessie would have to awaken her so violently. And he could do nothing to protect her from them.
"Why aren't you sleeping in your room?"
Jessie looked to the entrance to the rec room. Her eyes shimmered with fear. "I…just…couldn't…"
Race could see her struggle to explain. "It's okay, Jess."
Jessie's gaze returned to her lap. Race chewed his lip as he considered her.
"Do you want me to stay here with you?"
Jessie looked at him like his question surprised her. She studied her father for a moment, then her eyes darkened and she looked down again.
"I don't care."
Race held in a sigh at his daughter's flippant tone. He looked around the rec room. Bandit still crouched next to him on the ground. Race reached a hand out to the dog and Bandit allowed Race to pet him.
"I'll be right back," Race said.
As he walked from the room he heard Bandit whimper. He turned back to look at the dog. Bandit looked between Race leaving and Jessie wearing an unsure, concerned expression.
"Stay, Bandit. I won't be long."
Bandit sat with his back to Jessie looking ready to guard her from the worst monsters this world could dream up.
Just as willing to protect her as his master.
Race shook his head at the thought and padded to the nearest closet. He pulled out spare blankets and pillows and returned to the rec room. Neither Jessie nor Bandit had moved. Race spread the blankets out on the floor next to the couch. Bandit trotted between Race and Jessie as if he couldn't decide who to stick by. Race stretched out on his makeshift bed. Jessie soon followed his example, pulling her blanket over her.
"Do you want to keep the lights on?" Race asked.
There was a slight pause before Jessie answered, her voice muffled under the blanket, "It doesn't matter."
Her tone of voice wasn't flippant as before. Just matter of fact. Race pressed his lips together. He shifted to find the most comfortable position and then settled in for what would prove to be a restless for them both.
After a long night spent in the Rockport police station, Benton was ready to take his sons and go home. At the moment he was running on coffee, adrenaline and parental concern. Hadji had to be going on adrenaline and concern alone, because he'd declined all offers for coffee. Thankfully, because Jonny was still a minor, Benton had been allowed to stay with him the entire night. Of the three of them, Jonny had gotten the most sleep, though Benton guessed it hadn't been very restful. The longest amount of time he'd stay asleep was fifteen minutes before he'd suddenly jerk awake with a look in his blue eyes that scared Benton.
Liam Fitzmichael had shown up bright and early to review the proceedings of the bail hearing and his strategy for convincing the judge to allow Jonny to be released on bail. Benton was frustrated that he'd have to sit as a mostly silent observer and not at the defense table with Mr. Fitzmichael and Jonny. At least he'd have Hadji with him.
"You'll have a chance to speak," Mr. Fitzmichael had promised Benton. "You'll be the main testimony, you and Hadji, on behalf of Jonny's responsibility and citizenship. Things that will convince the judge to allow your son to be released."
Shortly before entering the court room, Benton called to check in with Race. He'd never known his bodyguard to sound so tired.
"Jessie didn't sleep well and so neither did I," Race explained. "Nightmares every time she tried to sleep. And woke up screaming every time."
"I don't know how long we'll have to wait until Jonny gets in front of the judge, but as soon as we're finished here we'll be on our way home." Benton spoke as if the judge granting Jonny bail was a certainty. He couldn't entertain any other possibilities.
"Good. Jonny needs to come home."
"We all do."
Now finally they sat in the courtroom waiting for Jonny's case to be called. Even Hadji fidgeted on the hard bench. Together Hadji and Benton sat in the front row and watched as Jonny and Mr. Fitzmichael entered the court room.
"The court calls Jonathon Blaine Quest," the bailiff called. He read off the docket number for the case as Jonathon stood next to Mr. Fitzmichael at the defense table and a state appointed prosecutor stood at the table across the way.
"What's the charge?" the judge asked as he looked through piles of papers on his desk.
The corner of Benton's mouth twitched. Pay attention! he wanted to yell at the man. This is my son! This is important! Can't you see the condition he's in?
"Murder."
The judge barely glanced up at the word. Jonny shook visibly and Benton feared his for his son. Mr. Fitzmichael spoke to Jonny, Benton couldn't hear what, but the lawyer's words had no effect.
"What does the defendant plead?" the judge asked next, still more interested in his files than Jonny.
Mr. Fitzmichael looked at Jonny again, waiting to see if he would answer. Benton's entire body tensed up and he sensed Hadji was just as anxious sitting next to him. From behind, Benton couldn't see Jonny's face. Was he trying to answer and failing to form words or just standing there with a blank face.
Finally Mr. Fitzmichael addressed the judge himself. "Your honor, since my client has not spoken due to trauma since the incident, I will speak for him. He pleads not guilty."
"On what grounds?"
"Self-defense."
"Very well," the judge responded as if an unresponsive teenager was an everyday occurrence. "Please be seated. Mr. Daniels, please tell me why Mr. Quest should not be granted bail."
Mr. Daniels didn't even look at the file he had open on the prosecutor's table as he addressed the judge and explained the state's reason for wanting to keep Jonny detained. The prosecutor was confident and obviously well practiced in these hearings. Benton couldn't imagine anyone could have very solid reasons for keeping Jonny detained, but as he listened to Mr. Daniels, he began to seriously worry that Mr. Fitzmichael would not be able to convince the judge to release Jonny.
"Please breathe father," Hadji whispered to Benton, placing his hand on his father's arm.
Benton nodded and forced himself to take a breath. How Hadji could remain so calm at a time like this Benton could not explain except to chalk it up to the yogi training Hadji put himself through. He was grateful for his son's reassuring presence.
Mr. Daniels argued for the seriousness of the charge and how someone who had possibly committed murder, even a minor, should surely not be allowed to go free. He also used the uncertainty of the events surrounding the incidents and the lack of details as arguments for keeping Jonny detained. It all sounded very plausible.
Throughout Mr. Daniels' address, Jonny continued to shake violently, even flinching every time the word "murder" was spoken. Mr. Fitzmichael did his best to calm Jonny, but he had no luck getting through to the boy.
"Thank you Mr. Daniels," the judge commented once the prosecutor finished. He looked to Jonny and Mr. Fitzmichael at the defense table. "Mr. Fitzmichael?"
"Thank you your honor," Mr. Fitzmichael stood, though he remained behind the table.
Mr. Fitzmichael addressed the vagueness of the details of the incident, responding to Mr. Daniels arguments first. As Benton listened to the defense attorney, he began to calm. Where Mr. Daniels had made the lack of details concerning Zach's death look bad for Jonny, Mr. Fitzmichael turned it around to show how a lack of evidence meant a lack of reasons to keep Jonny in custody.
"Furthermore, as it is quite obvious that Mr. Quest has been traumatized by the events and needs to seek medical help and the support of his family, I feel it best that he not be detained in the jail where his condition could be worsened. Not to mention the outstanding record and reputation Jonathon holds within the community. If it please the court, I would like to call on Jonathon's father, Dr. Benton Quest, and his brother, Hadji Singh, to speak in his behalf."
The judge nodded his consent. Mr. Fitzmichael turned and nodded at Benton and Hadji to stand.
"Benton," Mr. Fitzmichael invited.
"Your honor, my son has never been anything short of reliable and responsible. He not only has top grades in his class, but has advanced to a grade level beyond peers his age. He has been involved in many community service volunteer programs that have benefitted Rockport and its citizens. And I personally guarantee that he will make every court appointment without fail."
Benton held back the urge to plead the judge to let his son come home. Mr. Fitzmichael had warned that any attempts for pity would not be well met. And so Benton called on his long experiences as a scientist and philanthropist to remain professional before the judge.
"Mr. Singh," Mr. Fitzmichael nodded to Hadji.
Hadji didn't repeat what Benton had said. Instead he attempted an appeal on Jonny's behalf. "Your honor, my family is not, unfortunately, unacquainted with dangerous situations or harsh realities. However, never have I seen my brother respond to those incidents as he has to this one. He is a resilient and optimistic young man. The depth of his trauma, so debilitating that he cannot even speak, proves how deeply he is affected. Please allow us, his family, the chance to help him heal so that he may tell the story of the events with his own voice."
Hadji's heartfelt plea was the first thing that seemed to truly get through to the judge. He'd finally stopped rifling through papers and had looked at Hadji as he'd spoken. Hadji held the judge's gaze, though Benton couldn't tell how the judge was responding. Mr. Fitzmichael signaled for Benton and Hadji to sit and then took his own seat.
Benton couldn't take the waiting. He closed his eyes and held on to Hadji's hand. The silence seemed to stretch for an eternity before the judge issued his decision.
"Jonathon Blaine Quest will be released into the custody of his father with the promise that he will not leave Rockport for the duration of the trial. He will make arrangements for Jonathon to receive professional help."
Benton exhaled in relief and relaxed for the first time since Race had called him the day before. Hadji uttered a small prayer of thanks.
Mr. Daniels spoke up quickly, to request that Jonny be put on house arrest at the very least. Mr. Fitzmichael fired back a quick retort, arguing that with Jonny's perfect record and the Quest family's shining reputation in the community, surely house arrest was not a necessary measure.
The judge paused as he considered the amendment. "Due to the seriousness of the charge, I will agree. Jonathon Quest will be on house arrest until further notice."