The State Verses Derek Morgan Ch 45
The next morning Derek smiled when he looked up to see Anderson walking through the door, Luke had filled him in on what had happened through the night, which was Derek slept peacefully through the night. Luke said his goodbyes to Derek and wished him luck in court today before making his way out the door, Derek said, "so how are things in the outside world Anderson?", Anderson said, "nothing's changed, same ole same ole" then both men started laughing.
As Mia walked into the room she said, "wellllll, now there is something that I haven't heard from you, laughter", Derek said, "Anderson was just filling me in on the outside world that's all", Anderson nodded his head yes. Mia said, "alright, I brought you some breakfast, you need to eat and get dressed, Hotch is going to meet us at the courthouse, he had something to do this morning".
Derek took the breakfast, smiled and said, "thanks Mia", she said, "you're very welcome", she then looked at Anderson and said, "so did Luke give you a report on Derek?", Anderson said, "he did, he said that Derek slept peacefully all night". She looked over her shoulder and saw Derek smiling as he ate breakfast, she sighed happily and said, "hopefully after yesterday things are going to start looking better for Derek soon", Anderson said, "I hope so, Derek is an amazing person and deserves to be happy", Mia nodded her head in agreement.
At the courthouse Hotch was sitting at the table working on questions for the states expert witness, Hotch was looking up how drugs are broken down, he wanted to prove that their witness wasn't a reliable one and he believe he'd found just the research to do so. He sat there writing things down so that he could look over it several times before time for the trial to begin at 9:00, as he sat there reading he couldn't help but smile, smile at the thought that Garcia might still be alive and well out there somewhere.
He was pulled from his thoughts when Mia walked into the room and sat down beside him, she said, "what are you doing?", Hotch said, "doing some research on how drugs are broken down in the human body, I'm going to put their so called expert witness". Mia said, "the state will probably finish their case today and rest", Hotch nodded his head and said, "which means that we'll either be starting our case after lunch or tomorrow".
Mia said, "we've got our expert witnesses ready and waiting, now all we need are a couple of character witnesses", Hotch said, "Fran and Dave are working on one right now as we speak". She looked at him and said, "really, already?", Hotch nodded his head and said, "this witness holds a special place in Derek's heart, he's a long time friend and Derek was his mentor growing up so he'll be perfect as a character witness".
After a couple of minutes Hotch said, "and I already have character witness number 2", Mia said, "is that who Connor Franks is?", Hotch said, "yes, he worked with Derek for 3 years when they were on the bomb squad together". Mia said, "wow, Derek was a member of the bomb squad too?", Hotch said, "yes, well he started out as a regular police officer and then took the bomb squad training and then became an FBI agent and joined the BAU".
Mia said, "he's had a long and fruitful career", Hotch said, "Derek is very good at his job, he's one of the best FBI agents I've ever had he pleasure of working with", Mia smiled and said, "from what I've seen of him he seems like an amazing person", Hotch nodded his head and said, "oh he is Mia, he is.
Meanwhile across town Fran and Dave were meeting character witness number 1 for breakfast, he'd just flown into town last night and was thrilled to get a call from Fran asking to meet him. Fran, like Derek held a special place in the boys heart, she'd watched him grow up and was proud of the man he'd become.
Dave and Fran smiled as they looked up to see the now 24 year old James Barfield walking toward them, Fran stood up and said, "James, sweetheart, how have you been?", he hugged her and said, "I've been good Mrs. Morgan", she looked at Dave and said, "I mean Mrs. Rossi", Dave laughed and said, "it's good to see you again James" as he sat down at table beside Fran.
They'd ordered breakfast and James looked at Fran and said, "I can't tell you how happy I was to get your call", Fran said, "I didn't know what to think when I called you and you said that you'd just landed a few hours before I called, you, James are a Godsend". James looked at her and said, "is something wrong?", Dave and Fran looked at each other and Fran said, "the reason I, we, asked to speak to you today is about Derek".
James took a sip of his juice and said, "Derek, what about Derek?", Dave said, "he's in trouble son and we need your help", James said, "you need my help, sure, I'd do anything I could for you and Derek, you know that Mrs. Mo, Rossi". Fran and Dave then spent the next few minutes filling James in on the problem, it didn't take but a few seconds for him to agree to be a character witness for the defense, he loved Derek like a brother and would do anything he could to help prove him innocent.
Dave pulled out his cell and sent a text to Hotch saying, "James agreed to be a character witness for the defense", Hotch looked up from his research when his cell beeped, letting him know that he had a message. Mia looked at him and said, "what's that big smile about?", Hotch said, "it's from Dave, the witness they went to talk to agreed to be a character witness for Derek".
Mia said, "and what's his name so that I can write it down?", Hotch smiled proudly and said, "his name is James, James Barfield", Mia wrote his name down and said, "let's hope that with the help of our two character witnesses and the rest of the evidence that we're going to show the court that it's enough to prove Derek's innocence", Hotch nodded his head yes in agreement and then continued his research so that he'd be ready for the prosecutions witness later this morning.
James, Fran and Dave enjoyed a delicious meal and before James left the diner Dave told him that they would let him know when he needed to appear in court, "the young man smiled and said, "just let me know and I'll be there". Fran hugged the boy one final time and smiled and said, "thank you James, you don't know what this means to us", James said, "after everything that both you and "Derek have done for me, trust me when I say this is he least that I can do for you".