Author's Note: This fits with chapter fifty eight of Witness.
Diary of a Protected Witness Part 48
Shark Attack
I had another attack of nerves while I was getting ready to face the judge and jury yet again, but of course Yuy and Chang talked me down and helped me pull myself together.
I think I even managed to make Noventa think I was calm, cool, and collected as we made our way to the courtroom.
Not that my composure lasted long. I got up on that stand, and Tsubarov just came at me like a freakin' pit bull!
It started with the sarcastic way he said "Mister Maxwell," as if I didn't quite deserve such a polite title--damn him--and it went downhill from there.
I didn't mind tellin' the jury I'd danced at a gay nightclub. In fact, I was kinda proud of that fact; I'd had quite a following there, back in the day. And when I corrected the nasty lawyer on his use of the term "stripper" I think I even got a smirk or two from the jurors.
But after that, I ended up on the defensive non-stop. Tsubarov had my juvenile records, and was determined to use them to tear down my character.
Noventa put up a good fight, objecting whenever the nasty defense attorney went overboard. But it was pretty hard for him to refute any of it, since it was the truth.
"I was a--difficult child, I guess."
Yeah, I had been a wild kid, and a rebel from birth. I'd lied, cheated, and stolen my way through my youth and into adulthood. There was no denying it.
But I didn't see why that had anything to do with what I'd witnessed. It wasn't like Khushrenada was a pillar of virtue either. Though he'd done a fine job of hiding the scope of his crimes, there was more than enough dirt to be dug up on him, too. The only trouble was, no one knew where to dig, and my crimes were a matter of public record.
Of course, when we got around to the question of why I'd led a less than honest life, I was growing tired of Tsubarov's sneering face.
"It beat the heck out of whoring."
"So you had a basis for comparison, eh?"
Oh, cheap shot!
But even then, I managed not to lose it completely. I told the fucker I hadn't personally tried it, but that I'd seen what happened to other kids, and I'd have done anything to avoid it.
Then the fucking sonofabitch accused me of killing Zechs! He actually tried to suggest I did it because Zechs had tried to recruit me for a brothel!
Yeah, that pretty much did it for me; my composure was shot to Hell.
As far as I knew, Zechs didn't own any brothels, and I said as much. I also said he'd never, ever asked me to whore for him. And then the smarmy lawyer went and said that sleeping with the man who paid my wages was pretty much the same thing.
He called me a whore.
I saw red at that, and before I knew it, I was on my feet and a coupla bailiffs were headed my way.
"Sit down, Mister Maxwell!"
The judge's sharp tone cut through my outrage, but it was only when Heero caught my eye and gave me a smile and a nod, that I was able to get a grip on my temper and slowly settle back into my seat.
Jesus Christ, Tsubarov knew how to bait me, didn't he? And I wished I knew how. Khushrenada didn't know me well enough to realize I hated being mistaken for a hooker. But apparently Tsubarov had gotten to someone who did.
I didn't have time to think about it, since the judge gave me a perfectly scathing look and a short lecture on behaving.
I scowled back at her and simply said "yes, ma'am," instead of "fuck you."
She gave a similar warning to the asshole defense lawyer and then let him loose on me again.
"Could you please answer that last question, Mister Maxwell?"
Again with the tone!
"If you answer one for me," I countered. "If you're paid to make sure Khushrenada 'gets off,' doesn't that make you a whore too?"
Well, shit if that didn't start the room buzzing again.
"Your Honor--" Noventa pleaded. "If I could have a moment with the witness--?"
Yeah, I figured he wanted to smack some sense into me. Not that I could really blame him; I was fucking up right and left, but Tsubarov had me so pissed off I didn't care.
"I want you both in my chambers immediately."
Oh, kinky judge! I couldn't help a little idle speculation on what went on behind closed doors in her chambers.
"Mister Maxwell."
I peeked up from under my bangs, fully aware that she was angry at my snide response to Tsubarov's taunting questions.
"You are the witness--not the attorney. He's to ask the questions, and you are to provide the answers, to the best of your ability. You are not to ask questions in return--nor should you take his questions personally."
Well it was pretty hard not to, when the fucker called me a whore--but I knew where she was comin' from, so I took the scolding in stride.
"I'm sorry, Your Honor," I lied, determined to salvage what I could of the situation.
While the court took its recess, a bailiff ushered me to a quiet room off to the side, and I found myself blessedly alone for a minute.
I took advantage of that fact, and closed my eyes, thinking back to my meditation sessions with Chang, and trying to find that "calm center" he'd talked about. I pictured the blue of Heero's eyes, and remembered the sound of the ocean, and for a moment I wasn't in a hostile courtroom being picked apart by a shark of a lawyer.
The tap on the door actually startled me out of my reverie, and I went back out feeling a bit more in control of myself. I allowed myself a quick glance at Heero, just to feel grounded again, and I was ready to continue when Tsubarov came in swinging.
He went after me for not reporting the crime I'd witnessed to the police, and I countered by telling him Zechs had claimed Khushrenada had officers on the payroll.
After he relegated that reply to "hearsay," he nagged me some more, asking if I ever would have come forward at all, if the cops hadn't caught me.
Of course not!
I could tell Noventa was both puzzled by the line of questioning and worried, when he kept objecting and asking how it was relevant to the case. But Tsubarov said he was through with it, and the judge let him proceed.
Then he asked about my temper.
What the fuck?
When he said something about a statement given by Hilde Schbeiker, I had no idea what was coming next.
"Do you recall an altercation you had with Zechs Merquise about a week prior to his death, Mister Maxwell?"
"Altercation?"
"According to Miss Schbeiker, you and Mister Merquise had a rather violent encounter in the hallway outside her dressing room at Sanc."
I flashed back to the night after I'd caught Zechs with Relena, and how he'd shown up at Sanc trying to get me to talk to him. I'd shoved him away from me, and he'd shoved back; but beyond that, it was kind of a blur. I was so hurt and angry at the time, that I honestly couldn't recall what we'd each said or done.
I just know I'd ended up storming out and taking off on the bike to get away from him for a few hours. I got chewed out by Dermail for that the next night, too, and docked the previous day's wages.
"--and then you punched him, slammed him against the wall and said 'if you don't stay the fuck away from me, I'll kill you.' Do you recall making that statement, Mister Maxwell?"
Fuck, no.
But it sure seemed to set off everyone in the courtroom, and Noventa was yelling for a recess, even as the judge was banging her gavel for order.
She ended up calling that recess he wanted, and the look on his face when he gestured me to follow him made me wish I could crawl under my chair and hide. He was flaming pissed.
He pretty much shoved me into his office, and I was glad Heero and Wufei were there with us when he pushed me into a chair and stood glaring down. "What the fuck was that, Maxwell?"
"What?"
Seriously. What?
I didn't really see what my argument with Zechs had to do with anything. So we'd broken up for a few days; we'd made up by the night he was murdered.
"What's your excuse, Yuy--Chang?" he snapped, turning on my protectors. "Or do you want to plead ignorance as well?"
'Ro at least seemed to know why the D.A. was so mad, while I was still groping for a clue. But it annoyed me that my lover seemed to be getting his ass chewed for something that hadn't been his fault.
"Hey, what's the big deal?" I demanded. "So Zechs and I had a little spat. So what? It has nothing to do with my witnessing his murder."
"No--but it has plenty to do with motive!"
And suddenly I caught on. "Are you saying you think I killed Zechs?"
"No--but the defense team is! And if they convince the jury it's even an outside possibility, we'll never get a conviction against Khushrenada."
I felt the blood drain from my face at the thought that this might all have been for nothing. All the running and hiding--and the goddamned defense lawyers could use a stupid lovers' squabble to muddy up the waters and get Khushrenada off the hook?
Jesus, I felt sick to my stomach.
It was good ol' Heero who came to my rescue, again. He told Noventa all the reasons I couldn't possibly have killed Zechs, and finally got the D.A. to pull his head out of his ass and let me tell him about the fight.
So I did; I explained about seeing Zechs with a blonde woman and how I blew a gasket over it and took off. And then I told him that my lover had called all night, and when I failed to answer, had come to my workplace the next evening to find me. I honestly didn't remember what was said in our little tirade--but when I pointed out how hurt and pissed off I'd been, Noventa admitted I might have said stupid shit I didn't mean.
He was still not happy with me. I guess he didn't like surprises being revealed on the witness stand. But when Heero and Wufei explained that they'd had to hurry to protect me, and couldn't consider me a suspect after the bomb blast, he cheered up a bit and made some notes.
Great--he was gonna grill me again, I just knew it.
But at least he'd gotten over his fit of temper. Or at least, he did until Heero and Wufei decided on complete disclosure and told him about Relena's part in the whole mess.
He was working up to another bout of apoplexy when the court clerk came and told us the judge was waiting. That spurred him into action, and he settled for promising Heero an ass-reaming later for his failure to speak up sooner.
I teased the crap out of him about his choice of words, diverting a bit of his anger onto myself so I could catch his attention long enough to tell him 'Ro and 'Fei had only just found out about Relena the day before. It wasn't like they'd had lots of time to fill him in.
He simmered down, dragging me back towards the courtroom so fast I had to nearly jog to keep up.
"Just promise me, Maxwell--when I get you back on that stand, do not give me anything other than yes or no answers."
"Yessir." I looked back over my shoulder to share a conspiratorial wink with Heero.
And then the world exploded in pain! I turned to find Une standing in front of Noventa and me, with a viciously smug smile on her face, and complete hatred glittering in her eyes. Her gaze slid down my chest, and I followed it, only to see the hilt of a knife protruding from my midsection, surrounded by a rapidly-spreading pool of blood.
Well, fuck me...
And then everything started fading to shades of grey, and I felt myself falling...
There were a few disjointed images after that--Heero's face hovering over me, and his hand brushing the hair back from my eyes--and it hurt so fucking much to breathe!
I felt like I was drowning--like there was a heavy weight on my chest and I couldn't draw in any air. And then I coughed and felt fire lance through me.
Heero's arms were around me--at least I thought they were--and I wanted so much to tell him I loved him. But then it was all blackness and pain and I was too exhausted to fight against it any more.
TBC...
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