On Tuesday morning, Alex got up, showered, dressed in a clean bra and panties, and went to the kitchen to make breakfast as she did every morning. She gently rubbed her slightly aching bottom, and although she was still anxious about the day ahead, she felt safe and loved knowing that Olivia was there to take care of her and guide her through it. Alex looked up when Olivia walked into the kitchen and, as always, dropped to her knees at Olivia's feet and kissed Olivia's right hand in greeting. Olivia guided Alex to her feet and into her arms. Alex happily melted into the affection. Olivia fed Alex by hand as usual and with an affectionate spank, she sent Alex to get dressed in the clothes she had laid out for her. When Alex returned to the kitchen, she cleaned up the breakfast dishes and then the two women left the apartment to go to the courthouse. Alex held tightly to Olivia's hand as they drove, although if she could have figured out a way to safely sit on Olivia's lap in the car she would have done it. Olivia parked the car and turned to look at her sweet little submissive. Alex tried to smile at her, but Olivia could clearly see the fear in her eyes.
"Okay, lovey, let's just breathe for a minute. Deep breath in; one, two, three, four. And hold it; one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. And let it out slowly; one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One more time, deep breath in; one, two, three, four. And hold it; one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. And let it out slowly; one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. That's my good girl."
Alex held tightly to Olivia's hand as they walked into the courthouse and to the elevator. They made their way through the hallways until they reached their destination and entered the courtroom. Barba caught Alex's eye and waved at her. Olivia gently kissed Alex's forehead, nose, and lips and sent her in Barba's direction. Alex made her way up to the defense table while Olivia found a seat in the gallery next to Elliot. Alex looked around the courtroom and was shocked to see how many people had shown up to support her; not only Don Cragen and Olivia's entire squad, but also Claire, the disciplinarian from Rosewood Transition Station, and Grace, Alex's friend from Kincaid Transition Station. Grace was proudly sporting a brand new collar around her neck and Alex guessed that the man sitting next to her with his arm around her shoulders was her new Master. Alex reached up to touch her own neck, thinking that maybe she was finally ready to have a new collar of her own. The blonde was drawn out of her thoughts as the judge walked into the courtroom.
"All rise! The honorable Judge Elizabeth Donnelly presiding!"
"We will hear opening statements now." Judge Donnelly said.
Barba stood up and turned to address the jury.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the case that is being brought before you today is a simple one. My client is charged with battery and assault. Now, we have no intention of denying the truth. My client did indeed beat young Mr. Saul Canyon with a crowbar within an inch of his life while he was being held prisoner at an abandoned warehouse. However, we intend to prove that my client acted against her will and under extreme duress, seeing as how she too was held prisoner at that very same warehouse and suffered greatly during her time in captivity, and we ask that you return a verdict of 'not guilty'."
When he was finished speaking, Barba sat down and Buchanan stood up.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we are all sympathetic to the sufferings of the defendant. But the fact remains that the defendant picked up a crowbar and beat my client within an inch of his life. My client will never see out of his left eye again, and he still needs to undergo one more surgery to fix his rotator cuff. The defendant could have refused to participate in my client's beating, she could have stood up for what is right. Instead, she chose to commit a crime. And let's not forget the old saying, two wrongs don't make a right. All things being equal, the only way for justice to be served in this case, is for the twelve of you to bring back a 'guilty' verdict."
"Mr. Barba, call your first witness." Judge Donnelly said when Buchanan finished speaking and sat down.
"The defense calls Alexandra Cabot to the stand."
Alex stood up and tried to appear confident as she walked up to the witness stand and raised her right hand.
"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"
"I-I… d-do." Alex stuttered.
"Ms. Cabot, you were kidnapped and held prisoner in an abandoned warehouse for six weeks by a man named David Kloss, is that correct?" Barba asked.
"Y-Yes."
"And this is the same man that also kidnapped Saul Canyon. Can you tell us about your interactions, if any, with Mr. Canyon?"
"Th-The… f-f-first… t-time… I… s-saw… h-him… w-w-was…"
"Objection, your Honor. The defendant is obviously incapable of assisting in her own defense and I move that she be remanded to the prison ward at Bellevue until such time as she can speak clearly." Buchanan stood up.
"Your Honor, Ms. Cabot speaks with a stutter due to trauma she experienced over a six-week period of captivity, but she understands the charges against her and is willing to cooperate in these proceedings. Speaking with a stutter does not fall under the list of afflictions that cause a person to be unable to assist in their own defense." Barba argued.
"Overruled. The defendant may continue." Judge Donnelly said.
"Th-The… f-first… t-time… I… s-saw… h-him… w-was… wh-when… h-he… w-was… ch-chained… t-to… th-the… w-wall… t-to… b-be… b-beaten… f-for… t-trying… t-to… es-escape."
"And at that point, how long had you been held in captivity?"
"I-I'm… n-not… s-sure. O-one… d-day… k-kind… o-of… m-melted… i-into… th-the… n-next. I-It… w-was… im-im-impossible… t-to… k-keep… t-track… o-of… t-time."
"Were you the only person who beat Mr. Canyon?"
"N-No. Th-There… w-was.. a… g-group… o-of… m-maybe… f-fi-fifteen… p-people."
"And yet you are the only one being charged? Where are the other fourteen people?" Barba asked rhetorically, looking at the jury.
Barba continued with his questioning and Alex continued to answer him. They went over Alex's time in captivity and Barba showed the jury pictures of Alex's various injuries upon her rescue. Alex looked down at her hands, blushing in embarrassment by the intimate nature of many of the photos. Olivia sat in the gallery bursting with pride over how brave her sweet little submissive was being and made a mental note to remind Alex how beautiful she was. Alex's insides trembled fearfully as Barba sat down and Buchanan stood up.
"Ms. Cabot, you are a collared submissive, is that correct?" Buchanan asked.
"Y-Yes."
"But you aren't wearing a collar."
"I-It… w-was… t-taken… f-from… m-me… wh-when… I… w-was… k-kid-kidnapped."
"My client is not a member of the D/s community like you are, given that he is only seventeen and therefore is underage. So I'm wondering how it is that you ended up being kidnapped by the same man and being held in the same warehouse. Seems a rather strange coincidence."
"Th-The… w-word… y-you're… l-looking… f-for… i-is… p-p-pedophile." Alex gave Buchanan a look that Olivia had long ago dubbed 'the Ice Princess glare'.
Olivia had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling at her beloved girl's sass.
"I see. So you're expecting us to believe that David Kloss and his illegal ring consisted of people who were attracted to adults as well as children?"
"I-It… i-is… n-not… un-unheard… o-of."
"Before you decided to become a collared submissive, you were a lawyer, is that correct?"
"Yes."
"So isn't it possible that you in fact were not acting against your will and instead were living out some perverted fantasy of your own without fear of losing your job?"
"Objection! Speculation." Barba stood to his feet.
The trial continued in a similar fashion for a while, and Alex breathed a sigh of relief when she was finally released from the witness stand.
"We will break for lunch and reconvene at two PM." Judge Donnelly banged her gavel.
Alex was able to maintain her composure as Olivia led her outside of the building, and then she broke down sobbing and Olivia gathered her into her arms.
"Oh, sweetheart. You were so brave in there. I'm so proud of my good girl." Olivia cooed lovingly.
Olivia got Alex a hot dog and a bottle of water for lunch and they sat on a bench while Alex ate. Alex really wanted to be fed by hand, but they were in public and there were too many people around. When Alex was finished eating, she snuggled into Olivia's arms and listened to Olivia's gentle voice in her ear showering her with praise until it was time to go back inside.
"The defense calls Claire Atkins to the stand."
Alex was surprised as Rosewood's disciplinarian walked up to the witness stand.
"Ms. Atkins, what is your job?" Barba asked.
"I work at Rosewood Transition Station as the disciplinarian for the girls' dormitory. It's my job to enforce the rules and punish wrongdoing." Claire said.
"During the time Ms. Cabot was a resident at Rosewood Transition Station, to your knowledge did she ever exhibit violent behavior?"
"No, never. Alex was mostly sent to me due to disobedience, but never for violence. Violent submissives are not permitted to stay at Rosewood, if she had exhibited violent behavior, she wouldn't have been sent to me, she would have been transferred to Coldwell dormitory."
Alex zoned out for a while as the trial continued and many people were questioned. She looked up again when Saul Canyon was called up to the stand.
"Mr. Canyon, please tell the court what happened on the afternoon of August 11th." Buchanan said.
"I was riding my bike home from a friend's house and Dave Kloss kidnapped me. He knocked me out with chloroform."
"And do you recognize the defendant?"
"Yes. She beat me with a crowbar for trying to escape."
Alex struggled to blink back the tears gathering in her eyes as she listened to the young boy tell of his experience in captivity. She turned her head and searched the crowd for Olivia's face, gathering her strength when Olivia gave her an encouraging wink. She turned her attention back to the witness stand and caught the end of Saul's sentence.
"...made me scream when it was in my butt and he turned it on."
Finally, after what seemed like forever, Barba stood up one final time.
"The defense rests, your Honor."
The jury was sent to deliberate and Alex stood up from her chair and hurried over to Olivia, where she was immediately gathered in a hug.
"Don't go too far, I don't think this will take long." Barba told them confidently.
True to Barba's word, the jury came back half an hour later and everyone gathered back in the courtroom. On trembling legs, Alex stood to her feet when Judge Donnelly told her to.
"We the jury find the defendant… not guilty."
Barba caught Alex in his arms as she collapsed, crying tears of relief and he carefully guided her into Olivia's arms where she sobbed on Olivia's shoulder. When it became clear that Alex's legs were too weak to hold her upright for much longer, Olivia picked Alex up in her arms and carried her out of the courtroom, ignoring a few peculiar glances from some of the people standing around in the courtroom. Olivia found a bench in the hallway and sat down to settle Alex on her lap.
"There, there. It's all over, baby. You did so well, my love, you were so brave. It's all over." Olivia praised lovingly.
They were suddenly surrounded by all of their friends who had come to support them, and they all congratulated Alex. The blonde submissive was overwhelmed by all of the attention and hid her face on Olivia's shoulder.
"I'm going to take her out the back way to avoid the cameras out front." Olivia said.
"Fin and I will escort you." Elliot volunteered.
"Daddy, can you please bring the car around back?" Olivia handed Cragen her car key.
"Of course, baby." Don walked away with the key in hand.
"We should go out to celebrate." Casey said excitedly.
"What do you say, my love? Do you want to go celebrate or do you want to go home?" Olivia gently kissed Alex's forehead.
"C-Can… w-we… a-all… g-go… b-back… t-to… o-our… p-place… a-and… o-order… p-pizza?" Alex asked hopefully, blinking through the last of her tears.
"Of course we can. We can do anything you want." Olivia agreed.
Everyone stuck around for a little over an hour to eat pizza, drink beer, and celebrate Alex's win. After a while, Don looked up from his slice of pizza.
"All right, everyone. I think now is a good time to call it a day. My girls need their rest and their privacy. We'll see them both again soon, I'm sure."
No one questioned him, knowing how protective Don was over his daughter and her submissive.
When everyone was gone, they cleaned up the empty pizza boxes and empty beer bottles. With that accomplished, Alex looked up at Olivia.
"H-Hold… m-me?"
"Of course, little one."
Olivia sat down on the couch and cuddled Alex on her lap. Alex wriggled into a comfortable position and laid her head on Olivia's shoulder, heaving a sigh of relief as Olivia gently rocked her and tenderly rubbed her bottom to soothe her as they sat in the peaceful silence.