I do not own Gundam Wing.  This fan fiction has no commercial value and I am not making any kind of profit or income off of this.  

AN: Okay, warning: legal mumbo jumbo ahead.

Injunction: a writ granted by a court of equity whereby one is required to do or to refrain from doing a specified act.

Chapter 18

            The media coverage continued all weekend, but the first sign of life outside the courtroom near Preventer headquarters in Luxembourg was promptly at eight a.m. Monday morning.  All the colonies were set on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), so Brian and Heero were already up, watching the broadcasts from the live satellite feed.  They had just received word that the prosecution team had arrived in order to file a preemptory motion before the appeal hearing, when Brian had to remind his roommate that his eight o’clock class was having a test.  Heero shot him a steely glare as he grudgingly turned and left the room.

            Mere minutes later, the broadcaster came back on to inform the viewers of the latest news.  “It appears as though the prosecution team has filed a motion to remove Miss Peacecraft from Preventer headquarters to be transferred to a regional penitentiary facility in the Western European sector.  The claim is that the Preventers are not properly treating the convicted traitor; her confinement has been, in their opinion, too lenient.  We do not have further information on specifically why the prosecution team would be accusing the Preventer organization under the lead of Colonel Une.”

            The report stopped and Brian groaned in frustration.  “How can they do this?” He yelled at the TV.  “Damn it, leave her alone!” He cursed as he watched the less-than-polished broadcast continue.  The anchors suddenly cut into the news show and announced another development in the case, and then switched back to the live transmission.

The camera swung widely, and then a new camera was switched on as the primary feed.  This one was closer to the entrance of the large distinguished looking gray marble ESUN court building.  There were a group of journalists hounding a handful of men in dark navy power suits.  The lead attorney Leinsford came into focus and the sound was gradually turned up.

            “Today at 8am Greenwich Mean Time, our office, in accordance with the decision made on January 19th, AC 200, by the ESUN senate, filed an appeal against the injunction obtained on behalf of Miss Peacecraft.  Our appeal has been heard and granted.   As such, we intend to go forward, and let justice finally be served. The date of the execution will be in exactly two weeks, three days, and seventeen hours, on April 23rd at thirty minutes after midnight…”

            More was said, but Brian felt like he had just had all the air punched out of his lungs as his head dropped to his chest and groaned in disbelief. He angrily muted the TV after hearing the heartless announcement that left him with regret lying heavy on his heart, and ice cold sweat on his clammy skin.  Part of him felt like weeping, but he knew it wasn’t over yet, and refused to give up hope…unlike someone else he knew.  Suddenly, a mental picture of Heero’s reaction to the news came to mind. “Oh shit!”  He looked down at his watch, it read just after 8:30am.  Heero’s class would be over in about fifteen minutes, and he couldn’t afford to go breaking any more monitors in the student center.  Brian quickly took off in the direction of Jensen Hall, to try and head off disaster.

            *                      *                      *                      *                      *                      *

            The news hit her like cold water in the face.  They were riding in the Holden Levy Associates company vehicle to the hearing when her attorney informed her of the recent broadcast.  She couldn’t believe it, any of it.  They had overturned the injunction against the execution, and set a date for it.  April 23rd was going to be the day that she would die.  She shook her head and fought off the urge to cry.  She couldn’t afford to cry.  She had to look perfect – perfectly confident, perfectly reasonable, and perfectly right.  They would be arriving at the solemn-looking court building in a matter of minutes, and then she would make her first public appearance in over three years.  She could just imagine the cruel questions she would be asked by the heartless reporters who made the excuse that they were ‘just trying to get a story.’  Her stomach turned and she had to fight the nausea that threatened to override the logical part of her brain, the part telling her not to give up hope and not to try and run away.  She closed her eyes for the rest of the trip.

            *                      *                      *                      *                      *                      *

            Prime Minister Talmadge watched the report with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.  “We’ve sealed our fate.  I don’t know who ordered that those blasted attorneys should do such a thing, but I guess it doesn’t matter now,” he said aloud to the monitor on his laptop.  No one else was in the room. 

            He picked up a picture of his daughter, and her family.  They were his only relatives and they had been killed in the last war.  He shook his head and suddenly realized how empty his life had become.  Our one mistake was thinking that we could beat that girl, he thought bitterly as he watched her limo arrive at the courthouse on his monitor.  She stepped out of the car and made her way inside, reporters clamoring over themselves to get a prime photo or a comment from her noble lips.  He took another sip of his scotch and soda; this trial, Relena’s capture, everything had become so difficult lately; he was under so much stress he was drinking before nine in the morning.

            “Miss Peacecraft, what do you think about the recent announcement that your injunction was overturned?  Will justice really be served now?”

            “Miss Peacecraft, do you regret not turning in the Gundam pilots when you…”

            “Miss Peacecraft, where are the Gundam pilots now?  Will you be offering to turn them in to prevent your execution?”

            “Miss Peacecraft, why is the prosecution trying to have you removed from Preventer headquarters?  Is it because of the alleged reports that you were allowed…”

            “Miss Peacecraft…”

            “…a television so that you could watch a soccer game?”

            Relena kept her eyes focused ahead of her as the barrage of questions continued to surround her while she made her way up the fairly short distance that seemed to stretch like miles to the waiting courthouse.  Occasionally she would hear her attorney tell a reporter, “No comment,” through the throng of people shoving microphones in her face and yelling to be heard above the others.  She ignored them all, but couldn’t help but register slight surprise when the question was asked about the soccer game.  Another wave of nausea swept over her, and she fought to keep her composure.  She would never let them see her crumble.

            “Your honors, the defendant was denied her fundamental right to a fair trial in which she must be permitted to face her accusers.  The senate gave her no such treatment, convicting her before any evidence was presented on her behalf, and sentencing her outside the system of justice,” Mr. Holden argued in front of the intimidating panel of judges.  Four men and one woman all watched him intently, the wisdom obtained through their long careers evident on their hard-set faces.  None of them flinched, nor missed a beat.  The head of the panel asked the first question.

            “What is it that the defense is asking for?  A retrial?”

            “Yes.  We want a retrial.  The defendant has the right to present evidence on her behalf before judgment is made,” Mr. Holden answered firmly.

            “But the decision was made by her peers, and more than twelve at that.  An overwhelming majority agreed that her actions constituted treason.  What evidence could possibly change that many minds?” One of the other panel members asked, and pushed the glasses up on the bridge of his nose as he looked down at the attorney.

            “Actually, the way the ESUN senate charter is written, we would only have to change a few minds in order to get the acquittal.  Treason is such a serious offense, as you know, your honor, that it is wrong to rush to judgment in this case.”

            “But then it appears that you will have circumvented the original intentions of the senate, if changing a few fickle minds would free the defendant from all consequences of her actions.”

            “That is always the case when a jury is involved, your honor.  A few so-called fickle minds - if you refer to the logical weighing of evidence by moral human beings ‘fickle’ - make the decision between right and wrong, truth and untruth, punishment and freedom, even life and death.  And technically speaking, we do not know what the original intention of the senate was at the time, since the vote has been sealed,” Mr. Holden charged.  Murmurs were heard throughout the courtroom.

            The lead justice scowled slightly at the reprimand. “Are you suggesting that the vote was not counted correctly, or that the result announced was tainted in some manner?”

            “We do not know what we are suggesting, your honor.  We believe the vote should be unsealed, so that we are allowed to examine the veracity of the results.”

            “But wouldn’t that be unnecessary if there is a retrial?”

            “No, your honor.  It would not.  Because if the sealed vote is determined to be incongruous with the announced results, than there is a crime that has been committed against my client that should be punished.”

            More murmurs were heard in the courtroom.  The lead justice banged his gavel and called for order.

            “Aren’t we getting a bit ahead of ourselves, Mr. Holden?  You admitted you have no knowledge of what the sealed vote contains, so you can’t rightly start accusing anyone of committing a crime.”

            Mr. Holden smiled wryly at the judge.  “Point taken, your honor.”

            The judge glared at him.  “So, you are asking for the vote to be unsealed, and then a retrial, is that correct?”

            “Yes, your honor.”

            *                      *                      *                      *                      *                      *

            Brian waited patiently outside the student center for his roommate to appear.  Jensen hall wasn’t far from the large building that housed the college bookstore, a snack bar and several tables for students to sit at and eat, study, or just watch the news between classes. Since there were several exits from the science hall where Heero was taking his class, Brian thought it best to wait at his friend’s most probable destination to prevent Heero from reacting violently to the news in a public place.  He assumed, and rightly so as he caught a glimpse of dark brown hair amidst a crowd of people coming his direction, that his roommate would go to the student center to catch the latest news, as it was closer than going back to the dorm.  Brian took off to join his friend and steer him back to their room, so he could vent in private.

            If Brian thought that every journalist in the known universe was in Luxemburg right then hounding Relena, the site that greeted him once he made his way through the usual crowd of students along the sidewalks proved him wrong.  A small throng of reporters was gathered around Heero, tossing ludicrous questions at him as he blatantly ignored them and his classmates that had stopped at the sight and were trying to listen in.  Brian’s eyes widened as he saw the telltale signs in his friend’s facial expression and posture, of Heero gradually losing his temper while he pushed the leeches out of his way so he could walk.  One reporter – a man with matted gray hair, a hook-shaped nose, and beady eyes – stood directly in Heero’s path as he snapped pictures of the future soccer star, his flash going off right in the younger man’s eyes.  The former Gundam pilot’s lip curled in an angry snarl, and he finally decided he had had enough; he reached out and grabbed the man’s camera, yanking it out of the weaker man’s grasp.  The cameraman cried out against the action, and Brian moved quickly to try to break through the small mob in order to stop his friend.

            “Heero, don’t…!” Brian yelled out as his roommate smashed the camera into the ground, and then stepped on it.  “..break the camera,” he finished in a lower voice.  He shook his head as the man continued on his angry rant, but Heero just pushed him away and kept moving.  It was then that Brian realized what they were asking his friend.

            “Mr. Yuy, do you know Relena Peacecraft?”  A young woman asked with a hopeful expression on her face.  They were all there fishing for a story…the same story.

            Brian quickly elbowed his way into the center of the moving circle, next to Heero.  He made a motion with his hands to quiet down as he addressed the crowd in a firm voice.  “Ladies and gentleman.  This is a private University, and you are all currently trespassing.  Mr. Yuy does not wish to comment at this time, please remove yourselves from the premises, or I will be calling the campus police,” Brian said loudly, and held up his cell phone to accentuate the threat. 

            “But Mr. Yuy, the reports say that Miss Peacecraft was given special permission to watch the L1 v L5 university playoff….”

            “And?” Brian asked the reporter curtly.

            “We want to know if he knows her.”

            “Then ask her.”

            “But….”

            “But what?  There are eighteen players on each team, that’s thirty-six different people she could have been watching the game specifically for, not to mention any kind of personal affiliation she could have with one University or the other, or the coaches.  For all we know, she could have been watching it because there was nothing else on except game shows.  This is ridiculous.  I highly suggest you leave now,” Brian said and pushed his way through the rest of the crowd, with Heero in tow.  They left the deflated reporters on the sidewalk outside the student center and continued towards their dorm.

            When they arrived at their room, Brian broke the news to his friend and then braced himself for the tirade.  Surprisingly, it didn’t come.  Heero stared blankly ahead, as if deep in thought, before his shoulders slumped and he bent forward in his seat on the bed, and cradled his head in his hands. 

            “Heero, I’m sorry….” Brian said, and grabbed his roommate’s shoulder in a comforting gesture, but his friend jerked away and stood up from his seat before crossing the room to look out the window.  “April 23rd…”

            “It’s not over.  They’ve made their appeal, and the judges are deliberating.  They’re supposed to announce later today when they plan to have made the decision.”

            “That’s not good enough,” Heero growled, his jaw tight as he wrestled with himself inwardly. 

They were interrupted from further discussion by the videocomm ringing, a fraction of a second before the now-familiar face of the defense attorney Mr. Holden appeared on-screen.  Heero turned from the window at the sound and glared at the older dark-haired man. 

            “Mr. Yuy, I presume?” Mr. Holden asked with a similar icy stare.

            “What do you want?” Heero growled and moved to sit in front of the screen.  He knew exactly who this man was, and figured he’d better listen, despite the fact that he hated the man’s guts for not having Relena out of this predicament already. 

            “We may be in need of your assistance….”

            Heero crossed his arms and shot the man a suspicious glance. 

            “We need to know if you’d be willing to publicly admit your relationship with Relena Peacecraft.”

            Brian sucked in a breath at the statement; he was stunned.  What could anyone possibly gain from Heero admitting to their relationship?  He wondered and stared at the two men from his position across the room.  He waited anxiously to hear what his friend’s response would be.  If he knew Heero, he’d easily do anything to…. His train of thought was cut off by the deep sound of his friend’s voice echoing in the surprisingly silent dorm room.

“We have no relationship.”         

Animeisgreat wrote a sidestory songfic to this chapter.  ^__^  You can view it here:  http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=267086