A/N: This was fun to write, not gonna lie, because of how over the top it gets xD
I don't own pitch perfect.
The day of the trial has finally arrived. Chloe would be lying if she said she wasn't feeling nervous. What they were about to do was the craziest stint she's ever done in a courthouse, and they've done crazy. Their actions were the very reason why the courtroom had battery packs, portable back up generators, and a beekeeper ready.
Chloe sat alone on the plaintiff's desk. Was this whole plan absolutely crazy? Yes. But they were desperate. Babel had managed to manipulate things to their favor, through fear, intimidation, and bribery. This was an uphill battle they were facing after all. They couldn't find one single soul who was willing to be their witness and speak the truth. On top of that they had to discredit the paid and bought for doctor. They had to fight a corrupt judge too, and provide them with undisputable evidence that Babel caused the suffering of their latest victims, their own researchers. They wanted to win this for them, shut down BLSD, and make sure Babel covers their medical treatment.
It was all far easier said than done. Yet here Chloe was, nervous about it all and still being able to smile.
"Put your trust in me," Beca said two days ago when she hatched this insane plan. "I never make promises, unless it's business-related, and I promised you that Babel will pay. I intend to deliver on that."
"Well? Where is your star witness?" the Kommissar asked, bringing Chloe back to present day. The doctor had just given his fabricated testimony and professional opinion on the case. Both she and the Kommissar had just crossed-examine him as well. It was Chloe's turn to call in the witness, a late addition she might add because they needed to make sure DSM couldn't stop them from submitting her as one.
And by her, well, Chloe of course meant only one person.
Chloe was saved from giving an answer as the double doors of the courtroom, Aubrey marching in ahead of their witness, "Sorry to keep you waiting, your honor, we can blame the traffic for that," she said, before taking her place next to Chloe.
"And your witness?" Judge Smith asked.
"Of course," Aubrey said with a smile. "We would like to call on Ms. Beca Bella to the stand," she then said, and right on cue Beca is brought in by security personnel, her hands in cuffs. She marched inside with a smirk on her face, running one of her hands through her hair as she walked past DSM's legal team. She made it look so easy too despite the difficulty of her hands being in cuffs. Beca was dressed simply. The sleeves of her white button-down shirt were rolled up. Once her cuffs were removed, she turned her wrists around a few times, testing their mobility, fixed the dark blue ties she was wearing and the smoothed out the dark blue suit vest.
"How can she be admissible as a witness? She's one of your legal advisers not someone with a direct tie to the case!" the Kommissar objected.
"Oh, but she does have direct ties to the case," Chloe argued. She would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy the shock and frustration DSM was displaying, the Kommissar most especially. "Let me enlighten you," Chloe then said to her directly before taking the lead to ask Beca questions.
Chloe tried to suppress a chuckle at the memory of practice this entire scenario with Beca over and over again the last few nights, with Chloe even giving some acting tips to make sure she was as charming and believable as always.
"You're honor, let me repeat what my colleague said, this is Ms. Beca Bella," Chloe then said as she approached the witness stand. "She's our witness, and also an assailant."
"An assailant?" Judge Smith asked, confused. "An assailant that came out of nowhere, in fact."
"Yes, your honor, an assailant who assaulted the employees of Babel Pharmaceuticals. In particular, their director and the upper management of the team in charge of making BLSD, and that assault case is relevant to this trial," Chloe then said matter-of-factly.
Chloe's confidence was growing by the minute, her earlier worries now ebbing away. Of course, the Kommissar was rejecting this, refusing the addition of Beca as a witness. But they had that covered, much to Aubrey's own initial protests a few days ago. They had to make Beca a witness they couldn't reject, no matter the cost.
Thus, they made Beca an assailant, one who holds one vital piece of evidence that can reveal the truth about Babel's malpractices and wrongdoings.
Aubrey and Emily gathered all the info they needed, identifying which one of Babel's personnel would make the ideal target, that is, the director and the upper management team in charge of BLSD. They tracked down their movements and, last night, Beca interrupted their dinner at a Chinese restaurant. She made it all so seamless too, making sure her table was near their table so that she could overhear their conversations. At the mention of Babel's victims, their own team of researchers, and their complaints about pursuing this trial, Beca got up, and made a scene. She picked a fight with them, and, in a fight between Beca and corporate stooges and scientists, well, Beca was the clear winner of that scuffle.
For her part, Beca did promise she would take it easy on them. She just didn't expect them to bruise like a peach and bleed easily. They were okay, as Lilly reported. No grievous injuries. Beca, on the other hand, spent the night at jail as Aubrey worked on sorting the legal matters of the assault out and getting her in as a witness for the trial at the last possible minute to catch DSM unaware.
And so, Beca narrated just that.
"Let me get this straight," Judge Smith said, interrupting Beca's testimony of how things went down, minus any admission of it being all part of their plans. "You admit to physically beating up men twice your size because… why?"
"Your honor, this is wrong! She hasn't even been sworn in as a witness, and for that part, we refuse to accept her as one!" Luisa then said, standing up and slamming her hands on the defendant's desk.
"If you want their testimony for easily, they got their asses handed to them, by all means, call them to the stand. I'm sure the police report they filed would suffice too, right Aubrey?" Beca then replied.
"I have the copies of the reports here," Aubrey seconded, submitting the documents as evidence to the court.
Judge Smith did a quick review of the paperwork. He looked at a loss about the entire thing, and slightly impressed too, so he let things continue.
"Now I present you, this critical piece of evidence," Beca then said, procuring a black smart phone from her pocket and waving it above her head before handing it to the judge.
Why was that piece of evidence so crucial?
Well, it was the director's cellphone. One she had admitted to mistakenly taking as her own due to the scuffle at the restaurant. Beca, still under the impression it was her phone, read damning emails that chronicled how the researchers were exposed to harmful chemicals due to having a lax waste disposal system in an effort to cut costs and save money. Emails that supported that fact were also on the phone, and as well as additional emails between the director and the doctor Babel had paid off, stating that they knew of the cover-ups and the faked medical conditions the doctor gave as an excuse to the researchers' hospitalizations.
Or so Beca narrated, leaving out the fact that she picked it up from their table after she approached them, used the Face ID system on the phone to open it up while beating the director up, had it slide across the floor to reach Emily who was blending in with the customers watching the commotion so she could turn off any auto-lock and passcode requirements.
Once the evidence reached the judge and saw the said emails, he had no choice but have Beca sworn in.
This of course left Luisa fuming. A little bit more and smoke would be coming out of her ears like what happened in cartoons.
"But why would you do this?" the judge then asked, completely invested in seeing where this sudden turn of events was going.
"Because I hate them, your honor," Beca then stated. "I hate Babel," she went on to say. Now this is where all Chloe's training with Beca started to pay off, Beca giving an impassioned speech about how she believed in justice and how her heart bled for the victims. She wanted to do something and, in that moment, at the restaurant, she was simply overcome by her emotions and couldn't help herself, so she beat them up.
Beca's acting skills were so top-notch – and Chloe couldn't help but be proud of herself for helping her prepare – that even the judge being bribed by Babel was moved.
The Kommissar was about to object, once again, but Beca didn't give her a chance. She stood up from the seat intended for the witness stand and picked up the microphone as she did. "Your honor, please call an ambulance," she then said.
"Why?" Judge Smith asked, confused.
"Because when this trial is up, I'm planning to beat up Dr. Matthews, the guy providing expert opinions to DSM and who committed perjury as part of the cover up, to a bloody pulp. Suffice to say, he'll need one when I'm done with him," Beca declared, keeping her eyes fixed on the doctor that had given his testimony earlier, just like a predator keeps an eye out for its prey.
The doctor naturally squirmed in his seat thanks to that threat. "Me?" he squeaked.
"If you make another threat, you'll be escorted out of my courtroom," Judge Smith warned and Beca naturally obliged to take back her seat.
The Kommissar scoffed, even Chicago didn't know if he should laugh or cry. Theo, Babel's CEO, joined them that day and sat next DSM group of lawyers. He looked thoroughly confused with what's going on but Chloe couldn't help but think that he also looked absolutely amused.
"You know you can be charged with libel with how you're tarnishing Dr. Matthew's name," Luisa then commented.
"The emails say it all," Beca then said, "But if you're just going to accused me, or maybe the employees, or whoever you want to blame, of sending fake emails around, well then, how about we discredit him professionally?" she went on. "We'll prove to you that his medical assessments are wrong."
Beca looked over to Chloe and gave her a nod. She was quite impressed by how Beca has managed to handle the situation and take control of it.
"And to that, your honor," Chloe then said, taking it as her cue. As much as she didn't want to call the next witness to the stand, they had no other choice. She was the perfect medical expert for them to call on. Now was not the time to be anything less than professional, however. So, Chloe sucked it up. "We'd like to call on our next witness, Dr. Hannah Matthews, Dr. Michael Matthew's wife."
The double doors of the courthouse once again opened to let the witness in. Chloe walked over to Aubrey where she tagged her best friend in. The next part, she will let Aubrey handle.
It was time to take Babel down in this case, and they'll do it together.
This was not what Aubrey had in mind when she first agreed to working with Beca Bella to take Babel down. She imagined a lot of arguments, a few indignant protests, maybe a lot of bloodshed and some over the top dramatic moments. Anything but what was happening in the courtroom now.
Dare she say it, she was having a little fun with Beca Bella's methods.
Aubrey did her best to keep that smile tugging at the corner of her lips in check and sport a serious tone and demeanor as she questioned Dr. Hannah Matthews. After a quick bit of digging a few days ago, Lilly found out the dirt on her husband, Dr. Michael Matthews, and learned that the best way to discredit him, the silver bullet to his lies, was his very own wife.
Dr. Hannah Matthews had her own private practice. They originally had the same specialty, but because she was more lauded and successful with her work and working with her husband made him feel bad for himself, she decided to take up another specialty in dermatology. Aubrey would never have done that herself, but she supposed that was love.
Lately though, that love had been cast in the shadow of doubt, and for right reasons. Dr. Michael Matthews had been busy having affairs left and right, not to mention doing Babel's dirty work. All of which she revealed in the trial. "I've been having suspicions about all of this, but I only recently confirmed it, so I suppose this feels weirdly inappropriate to air my husband's dirty laundry in this trial, but I want to make sure the court understands what kind of man he truly is," she had said.
Character assassination at its finest.
She wasn't lying either, Aubrey would know, after all she, Chloe, and Beca were the ones who brought her the proof Lilly had gathered for them.
Dr. Hannah Matthews shot Beca quick flirtatious smile, reminding Aubrey how it happened too. She had to suppress a chuckle before she carried on her question about the type of man and doctor her husband was.
It was literally only yesterday, the morning before Beca assaulted the Babel research team. Lilly managed to track Hannah down at an art museum having an exhibit of Eugène Delacroix's works.
"We can tell her the truth, but I don't see how it's going to convince her to help us," Chloe had noted when they arrived at the museum. Aubrey shared the same sentiments but Beca seemed to have a master plan, having gone with them dressed to impress. Beca had her long hair tied neatly. Unlike her usual style, she wore a white couture suit, the sleeves having long slits that showed her arms, giving the impression that the blazer was effortlessly hanging on her shoulders despite actually wearing it. Underneath was a white lacy sleeveless camisole, tailored fit to Beca. She wore black plants and black heels, limited editions from one of the well-known French luxury brands. Beca looked expensive and elegant, turning heads as she marched inside the gallery, leaving a trail of perfume behind her.
It clearly had an effect on most of the visitors, Chloe included, and Aubrey wasn't sure if she was about to laugh or be impressed by Beca's plans, because her ultimate master plan was to charm and perhaps seduce the lonely neglected wife of Babel's paid and bought for daughter.
Chloe and Aubrey followed her, wanting to be within earshot but also keeping their distance. "A person once said that you should look at war and art at a distance," Beca said as she had made her approach to Hannah who was in turn standing in front of Delacroix's La Liberté guidant le peuple (Liberty Leading the People), a painting loaned by the Louvre to the art museum. Aubrey would be lying if she said that her comment didn't catch Hannah's attention and curiosity, because it definitely did.
Beca worked her magic, flirting a little bit with the good doctor, much to Chloe's chagrin, before inviting her to join them. It annoyed Aubrey a little to see how smoothly Beca guided the conversation, still charming the doctor, as they provided her with evidence of her husband's illicit affairs. If Aubrey had known this was Beca's plan, she would have balked at her and said it would never work. Oh, how wrong she had been.
Hannah seemed calm, keeping her anger and irritation in check, and agreed to testify as their medical expert. In exchange, Aubrey and Chloe offered their services to handle her divorce and to make sure she gets awarded their shared assets and finances. Hannah happily agreed, asking only that they threw in a date to the opera with Beca. Chloe was a little shocked by this, but Beca obliged. They had to keep her happy.
Pleased with the deal, Hannah even offered more than they asked, revealing that her husband would always consult Dr. Ferran Ramos with cases that baffled him so that he can make a diagnosis. Unfortunately for him, Dr. Ramos was also a good friend of Hannah's and when something perplexed him, he would reach out to Hannah. This meant that Hannah knew about Babel's case and the correct diagnosis. She had proofs in the form of email exchanges to back it up as well.
And that's what she did in her testimony. Aubrey guided her with the questions, before letting the Kommissar ask her their own for a cross-examination. Aubrey then provided the evidence they gathered when prompted by the judge, leaving the Kommissar stumped.
Judging from how she was glaring at Michael, they didn't know he asked someone else for advice before presenting the correct diagnosis to them and coming up with the fake one for the cover-up.
Hannah even out did herself, revealing she knew about her husband's meth addiction, and that was why he was so willing to get paid under the tables for work with Babel.
"Objection, your honor, speculation," Chicago said, standing up from his seat to help out the poor Kommissar.
"Speculation? Why don't you roll up my husband's sleeves then, we'll see what I'm speculating about," Hannah proudly said and Michael slunk back in his seat even further.
"No further questions," the Kommissar said, seething, once the cross-examination was done.
What happened next was a little bit unplanned but nevertheless amused Aubrey. Dr. Michael Matthews stood up from his seat once his wife got out of her seat from the witness stand and oh so dramatically asked for her forgiveness and begged her to stay with him. Hannah responded by beating him with her handbag and calling her names. It was like watching a live episode of the Jerry Springer show.
Judge Smith look like he was about to have a headache, asking for order in his court. Once people settled down, he turned to Babel with a scowl on his face and shook his head.
Aubrey didn't need to heard what the verdict was.
Judging from the looks on Babel's faces, she already knew who the clear winner was.
Luisa clutched the belt strapped across her body while trying to keep it cool. Chicago drove one of DSM's company cars with Pieter in the front seat and Luisa herself at the back. So far, her true boss was doing a fine job of pretending to be nothing but a goofball who was hard working enough to have a promotion in their firm. Lately, however, he was slowly revealing his true colors more and more.
Chicago was speeding through the interstate, going at about 120 miles per hour if Luisa were to trust what she caught a glimpse of on the dashboard, before taking a sharp turn on an exit that led them to an old empty warehouse lot. He parked the car rather abruptly before getting out of it, opened the truck, got a niner out of a bag of golf clubs, and proceeded to walk around the car towards the front. That's when he let out a loud yell and proceeded to beat the windshield with the golf club.
Pieter had to use his brief case to cover his face, in case the windshield caved in, afraid of the shards potentially cutting into his face.
After satisfying his rage, Chicago ordered them out of the car. Luisa obliged, hiding any trace of fear, wanting to prove her loyalty. Pieter was a little bit more shaken but he nonetheless did the same.
"I'm so sorry sir, this won't happen again," Luisa said.
"It better not," Chicago said seething. "We have to prepare. We can't let our guard down," he then added before turning to Pieter. "You, tell my brother to hold a press conference immediately. Pin this on the director of Babel Pharmaceuticals and clear the name of the company as a whole. We need to do damage control."
"Y-yes sir," Pieter replied.
"And I'll try to strengthen our legal team, sir," the Kommissar then volunteered.
"How?"
"The DA's office," she then offered. "Along with the state's general attorney. If we have them on our side, it would make things more difficult for the Beale and Posen law firm to face us again."
"Can you deliver?" Chicago asked.
"Everyone has a price, I'm certain of that," she confidently replied. "As for Beca Bella and her associates…"
"Ah, get rid of her!" Chicago yelled. "Find a way to do so. I'm afraid I've been going too easy on Chloe too… Maybe it's time I take away those liberties."
"I'll think up of something, sir," Luisa then replied.
This time she knew, she had to deliver to that promise. That is, if she wanted to cling on to the power that Chicago represented and offered.
She won't let him down.
There was a little bit of skip in Beca's step as she walked side by side with Chloe. They were out at a popular shopping district late in the afternoon. She was dressed simply this time, wearing a white blouse and pair of jeans, matched with her favorite pair of designer sneakers. The trial the other day had been successful. Earlier, the very next day after the trial, Babel had released a statement in a press conference announcing that they were shutting down production of BLSD as well as "happily" paying for the victims' treatments in the hospital and whatever else they were owed in the settlement. Sure, they were cleaning their hands of the mess by pinning it all on the director of Babel Pharmaceuticals, who was stepping down, but the trial did tank Babel's stocks, adding a bit of sweetness to their victory.
Chloe was over the moon, and so she had asked Beca what she wanted in return.
"What do you mean?" Beca had asked earlier that day.
"We wouldn't have won if it wasn't for you, at least let me get you something," Chloe had said
And how could Beca deny her of that when Chloe was smiling from ear to ear, her blue eyes shining just like the ocean on a sunny day. Beca had quickly learned that saying no to Chloe Beale was damn near impossible.
"Alright," she had accepted, "I want 10 bespoke suits."
"Beca, that would take me ten years to pay for," Chloe had remarked, shaking her head at her.
Would it have been so bad? That was a question Beca had wanted to ask Chloe. It would at least guarantee that she could have Chloe in her life for the next ten years.
But Beca shook her head, wanting to remove those thoughts from her head.
What are you doing, Beca? she would ask herself every time the thought would return to her.
They had settled on one suit, hence their nice day out.
Chloe seemed eager to accompany her to get her measurements taken at an up-and-coming designer's store. The young designer and his assistant looked oh so eager to assist Beca, but soon, Chloe grew more irritable.
In fact, she was as irritable as the day at the art museum.
Beca wasn't sure if it was the fact that they were taking so long, as the designer kept fussing over her, showing her his latest designs, or if it was the assistant who wanted to keep taking Beca's measurements because she was unsure if she got it down right, but Chloe slowly seemed like she was losing interest, not wanting to even interact with the two people assisting Beca.
Finally, not wanting to upset Chloe, Beca asked the designer, "Do you have one ready that would fit me?"
"Yes, but it would pale in comparison to –" the designer had replied, but Beca didn't let him finish.
"Let me try that on, if it fits nicely, we'll get that," she replied.
And that she did.
Chloe looked like she couldn't wait to leave the store any sooner as she paid for it, asking Beca to wait for her outside.
"Here you go," Chloe then said, her ever so brilliant smile returning to grace her lips as she handed Beca the suit inside its protective bag.
"Grazie mille," Beca replied. "I'm sorry if the whole thing was so boring."
"Oh no, that's not it," Chloe then said, looking embarrassed for a moment before she procured a long black box from her bag as well. "Here."
"What's this?" Beca asked, as she accepted it. Once she opened the box, she saw a sleek black pen with her name engraved.
"A little something extra to show my gratitude," Chloe then said. "You asked me to have faith in you, Beca. I did, and you kept your promise. I know it's not a suit, but you're still a lawyer. You write a lot, take notes, all that stuff. It's just something to remember me by whenever you work. And well, at least, once this is done, when you do use it, I hope it reminds you to write me from time to time."
"I can just call, you know," Beca then noted, but she nevertheless thanked her for the pen.
"Yeah, but there's something magical about writing people letters. You don't get to hear what the other people say in real time, you're not as guarded because of it, and it lets you express yourself better, more clearly. So, for whenever you return to Italy, write me, okay?"
Beca looked at her speechless, moved by the care and thought Chloe had put in selecting that simple gift. "Of course."
"Well, I guess that's that, I should probably let you go now," Chloe then said, "What with all the people throwing themselves at you, you're probably busy with managing your time with all the opera dates."
Beca laughed. So, she's bothered by that, she thought to herself. "I would, if only I had given those people my number."
"Didn't you do that?" Chloe asked coolly, trying to seem uninterested and detached. "I mean, I saw you give your number to Dr. Matthews, the woman one, Hannah, not the creepy husband."
"I gave her Lilly's number," Beca then replied. "And Lilly has since replaced her number."
"Really?" Chloe asked, trying to pretend she wasn't pleasantly surprised to hear that. "Why? I'd have thought someone like you… well…"
Beca chuckled. "Maybe I did, but I'm not interested."
"In her… or…" Chloe then went on to ask.
Beca shook her head. How many times had she gone out with some new stranger she has charmed? How many women have walked in and out of her life already, knowing they were just simply passing by? With Beca knowing it would never amount to anything? Her life came with dangers and risks. She couldn't possibly drag anyone in it. She couldn't be selfish. Not that anyone held her attention long enough to want them to be there for longer than a fleeting moment.
But for some reason, Beca couldn't find the courage to tell that to Chloe.
And Beca didn't want to answer the question why. She simply couldn't allow herself to.
She had a mission at the core of her visit to the states. Sure, Babel ended up being one of them, but it didn't change the fact that at the end of the day, Beca had to choose the family that took her in and raised her. For Don Fabio, and the others who needed someone dependable to lead them.
Beca couldn't let wishful thinking sway her. She simply couldn't entertain those thoughts.
Instead, she changed the topic.
"Come one, you've gotten me more than what I've asked for, it's time I return the favor," Beca replied.
"You're going to buy me a suit?" Chloe jokingly asked.
"No, but let me buy dinner," Beca offered.
"A little early for that," Chloe pointed out.
"Fine. Coffee then? Some shopping if you want. We can drop the suit and anything else we buy in my car, and then dinner? We can even call Aubrey and Emily if you want," Beca then proposed.
"No way, today is our day, we can celebrate with them later," Chloe then said, wrapping her hands around one of Beca's arms. "Come on then, let's go. You promised me my dirty water," Chloe teased.
Beca laughed. How much had she been smiling lately? Laughing too? She wasn't sure. She had certainly lost count.
Has she even smiled and laughed this much before?
No, she never had.
Will she ever again? After all this was done?
Beca didn't want to find the answer out.
For now, all she wanted was to enjoy the time she spent with one Chloe Beale.
A/N Pt 2: Chicago's not gonna be taking this loss easily, having said that, if the violent burst at the end surprised you, trust me, it gets uglier with him.
I thought this chapter would be longer, but I'm kinda happy it wasn't. I need to get things on a manageable length for a timely update xD
No updates over the weekend, but I do hope you guys have a good one!
UPNEXT: BUILDING SHENANIGANS (WHAT WITH GOLD ON THE LINE)! RETALIATION! AND A SECRET IS DISCOVERED?
