Trust in Me – Chapter Ten
By Kilmeny
Disclaimers: Gundam Wing belongs to Sunrise. Any songs or quotes belong to their respective authors listed with them.
Author’s Notes: Yay! I finally got another chapter out. After this one, I think there will be only one or two more chapters and the epilogue and then I’ll be done! This chapter deals with some legal mumbo-jumbo that I don’t know too many specifics on, so I tried to be general and credible. Also, I’d like to thank all of you who’ve reviewed me, I really appreciate it! Enjoy the chapter!
//_-
Chapter Ten
One day, not long after, the entire group was gathered together at Quatre’s house to find out the best way for Averil to expose Kraten as the criminal he was. Averil was attempting to explain things to the best of her ability:
"I don’t know exactly what counts as abuse, but he definitely verbally abused me. As far as anything physical . . . well, he left bruises on my wrists several times from dragging me to places I didn’t want to go, but other than that . . ." she shrugged, "So I’m not really sure if I can press charges."
"But you have witnessed a murder?" asked Trowa.
"I witnessed four murders, all by gunshot. Two were under his orders, and with the other two, it was him who did it."
"Do you have any proof other than your word that he did it?" Quatre asked.
"Um . . . no," Averil answered, fidgeting and beginning to look very upset. It was becoming apparent that they had to come up with some solid evidence, or else she had no case.
"Were there any other witnesses to the murders?"
"Yes, my mother saw a couple of them, and she told me two times of other murders she had witnessed when I was not there. The servants never saw anything, and the only other witnesses would be Morgan and Boris, because of course, they were the ones that followed through on Kraten’s orders."
"And his other crimes simply consisted of bribery and cheating, right?" asked Trowa.
"Yes," Averil answered.
"There has to be some evidence of his foul play," said Quatre, "It wouldn’t be hard to hack into the files of his account and see what transactions were made, and what jockeys were involved. I’m sure there would be a pattern showing that the jockeys who didn’t accept money disappeared."
"And the jockey’s files could be looked into as well," remarked Trowa, "Averil, can you remember the full names of any of the jockeys?"
"I can give you any name you want," said Averil, her confidence returning, then she smiled sadly. "Believe me, everything that happened is so deeply etched in my mind that I’m afraid I’ll never forget it . . . or get over it."
Everyone sympathized in silence, then Jazmin asked, "How were the deaths of the murdered jockeys explained?"
"Usually suicides or disappearances, since they were all shot. If they couldn’t figure out a way to make it appear as suicide, then they’d make sure the victim disappeared off the face of the earth. I kept the newspaper clippings in a little box that I have tucked away in one of my suitcases."
"So how many were left unsolved?"
Averil cocked her head in thought, "I’m pretty sure that it was half of them, but I can always check my newspaper clippings. We could convince the FBI to bring up those cases again. If they found any evidence or a pattern like Quatre said, then they might get a search or arrest warrant. In any case, they’ll know that Kraten lied about me being kidnapped when I come to the police perfectly fine and fancy-free. And then when Catherine tells her own little kidnapping story, they’ll at least be suspicious of him, and we’ll have a case against his big boys."
"Yeah, and as soon as they link one murder to him or his boys, then the others would much more easily fall into place," stated Duo.
Catherine spoke up, "All we need is for him to be declared guilty of one murder, and he’ll be in jail or on death row, but it’s also important that all the cases be straightened out for the sake of the victims’ families." The others nodded in agreement.
"We know you won’t be charged, Averil, for having any part in the murders, but there are laws about reporting those things. I don’t know what sort of punishment you might face for that," Duo said.
Averil shook her head, unconcerned, "It doesn’t matter. It’s only right that I should have to face the consequences for my cowardice. In the long run, it just doesn’t matter, so don’t worry about my little punishment. I’m totally prepared to receive it."
Duo nodded, gaining even more respect for the redhead. She certainly wasn’t a coward anymore. It appeared that Trowa was just as good for her as she was for him, and it certainly wasn’t every day that you found someone like that. Duo wished them the best of luck with his whole heart. He knew precisely how it felt to finally find that person.
By the time the meeting drew to a close, they at least had some leads to go on. Matters brightened considerably when Quatre generously offered to pay for Averil’s case to be represented by his lawyer, and she—of course—gratefully accepted. There was no other way, and she knew that he had plenty of money to spare.
//_-
Had it been only less than two weeks ago that she had leaned on this balcony’s railing like this, dealing with all of her pent-up sorrow? Averil couldn’t believe so little time had passed by since then. Now here she was, deep in thought again. Things still looked bleak, but she knew now that she could talk things out with Trowa. Although her life wasn’t yet straightened out, at least her relationship with him was on the right track. On the right track?! Boy, was that an understatement. She felt like she was dreaming. She had never been given so great a gift as Trowa’s . . . like? Love? What exactly was it, anyway? Well, for now it was enough that he cared for her, because even if he didn’t love her romantically—the way she wanted him to—he was showing her love. When you were at a point in your life where you were starved for love, then yes, that was enough.
She looked to the side as Trowa walked over and leaned on the railing beside her. "Are you alright?" he asked, thinking of the other time he had come out here, when he’d first realized he cared for her. He gave into a sudden desire to brush the hair away from her gorgeous eyes and tuck it behind her ear. She closed her eyes as he did so, then opened them slowly and smiled up at him. No wonder she’s all that I can think about, he thought.
"I was just going over all that’s happened in the past two weeks—it’s hard to believe," she answered, ". . . you know, Kraten and his men are most certainly on the prowl right now after you and Duo made them look like a bunch of idiots. Are you sure that it’s safe here?"
"Averil, you’ve got Duo, Quatre, and I, not to mention the Maguanacs, all looking out for you, so there’s nothing to worry about. Just focus on the legal stuff right now, okay?"
"Okay." She smiled mischievously and straightened, then stepped closer to Trowa, tracing a finger down his chest. "But are you sure that’s all you want me to focus on right now? Because, if so, then maybe we. . ."
His arm snaked quickly around her waist and pinned her to his chest. His voice was gruff, "Averil, don’t tease me. Of course I want you to think about us, but I just don’t want your worry or myself to hold you back from doing what you have to do." He groaned and pulled her closer still, "You have no idea what you do to me, because at the same time, this selfish side of me wants to take you someplace where we can be alone together . . . but I know that you can’t go on with your life until this is all settled, so here we are."
Averil was speechless for a moment in disbelief, then she said, "How is it that I elicit these long, revealing speeches from you when I barely say a thing? I’m not complaining though, because you always say something I want to hear."
"It’s probably because you finally shut up long enough for me to say what I really think," he teased. She pushed against him playfully in mock disdain, but he merely pulled her closer, face only a few inches from hers. They gazed at each other, eyes twinkling. Then Trowa pressed his lips firmly to hers, and they clung to each other, so in need of this physical contact. This was the first time they were able to be alone that day, and the day was nearly over. Finally, they pulled apart, breathless, and they stood for a moment, Trowa resting his forehead against hers.
"Trowa, there is one thing I wanted to talk to you about," she said, leading him over to sit on the balcony’s bench.
"What’s that?"
"Eventually, I will have to face my stepfather again, whether it be in court or sometime beforehand. So I wanted to know if you think I’ll be able to handle it?"
"Of course."
"But you don’t know how I am around him. I get all submissive and weak. I’m afraid I won’t be able to stand up to him. He knows my weak points, and believe me, he will go for them, mercilessly. I just don’t know if I can handle that, and there’s no way that I can be sure that you’ll be with me when I confront him again."
Trowa thought for a moment, then said, "I’ve met men like Kraten before. Under all that cruelty and arrogance is only a spineless coward. When you have to face him again, just remember this: no matter how scared you are, you will always have hope. You’ll always have someone who cares about you." He brushed his hand across her cheek, once again wanting to communicate through an action, then continued, "You’ll always have the things he lacks—love and friendship, faith and hope, and mercy. Ultimately, he cannot stand up to that, because he doesn’t understand it. He understands your weaknesses, because he has the same ones himself, but he’ll never understand your strength . . . he’ll never understand it."
There were tears in Averil’s eyes as she leaned forward to embrace him. What she couldn’t understand was how he knew exactly what to say to make her feel better, and all she could get out past the lump in her throat was "thank you."
//_-
The next few weeks were indeed focused on the legal aspects of Averil’s mission. Authorities were contacted and Quatre’s lawyer, Sam Barker, proved to be a huge asset. Mr. Barker knew exactly what leads to follow, and Trowa stayed up late each night hacking into any files that might offer any useful information, which he then sent to the lawyer. They were pleased to discover that there definitely was the type of pattern with the jockeys that Quatre had predicted. Averil and Trowa had little time to spend alone together, but they did manage to share breakfast every morning out on "their" balcony. Neither one had ever found it so easy to get up in the morning.
It wasn’t long before the media found out about Averil’s accusations towards her stepfather, despite everyone’s attempts to keep things hush-hush. As a result, Averil constantly worried about her mother and what Kraten might do to her in his wrath, so she became even more determined. Fortunately, Kraten and his men kept their distance, perhaps because they feared the consequences or simply because they had a darker plan up their sleeves. Averil had no end of nightmares as to what exactly her stepfather was up to. But there was nothing she could do about it but wait for her case to develop.
By the end of three weeks of hard work on all of their parts, the authorities had a warrant for the arrest of Morgan and Boris for the kidnapping of Catherine. A court date was scheduled, the media made sure they knew exactly what was going on, and Averil found herself having to sit on the sidelines as Catherine answered questions repeatedly as to the events of her kidnapping.
Finally the day of the trial came. That morning Trowa was out on the balcony as usual, sipping his coffee as he waited for Averil to come join him for breakfast. However, it didn’t appear that she was going to come anytime soon. After checking his watch several times, Trowa finally rose from his chair, ready to go in and check on her himself. He cautiously let himself in, expecting to find her still asleep in bed, but she was standing in front of the mirror. He froze and stared, getting a sudden feeling of déjà vu. One of her hands was combing slowly through the hair near her neck, and her eyes were vacant and glimmering with tears as she stared off into space.
It was just like the day they first met . . . "Averil!" her name flew past his lips, startling her out of her reverie. She turned to him, a questioning frown on her features. He was across the room in a flash. "Are you alright?" he asked, his hands gripping her arms.
"Fine I guess, but I could ask the same of you. What got you so upset?" she asked, searching his concerned face.
He frowned. "I don’t know. First I got déjà vu, then I got this really ominous feeling. I just have a really bad feeling about all of this."
"Great, I’ve been standing here trying to convince myself that everything’s going to be fine, then you come in here and tell me you feel like something bad is going to happen." She trembled a little with pent-up emotion.
He sighed and wrapped his arms around her so that she laid her head on his shoulder. "Averil, we can’t let ourselves worry, because it won’t help things. We have to stay positive. Anyway, it was just a feeling I got. It must’ve been because you reminded me of how you were going to cut your hair that first day, and of course that gave me a bad feeling." Averil smiled slightly, well aware of how much Trowa adored her hair.
She pulled away and explained, "Well I was practicing my professional slash confident look, then I kind of just started staring off into space and thinking very pessimistic thoughts, and then you came in."
He laughed inwardly, So she practices her confident attitude? Who would have thought? Then he looked her over. "Well you look not only professional, but beautiful, too," he said, kissing her softly so that she felt herself melt from the affection. Then he told her to hold on a second, and she watched as he strode purposefully from the room. When he came back, he said, "Do me a favor and wear this today, okay?"
"What is it?" she asked as he slipped a small earpiece into her right ear. Once it was properly inserted, she felt it with her fingertips.
"It’s a very high-tech recording device. It can pick up whispers, breathing, you name it, and it automatically starts working as soon as it detects the human voice," he answered in that prideful tone men use when they’re explaining something only men care about.
Averil nodded wisely, "Aaahh . . ." although still confused, "well what’s it for?"
"Evidence. No one can see that you have it on, and if someone talks to you and tells you something important, you’ll have it on the record so that we can use it as evidence."
"Who am I going to talk to that would have anything important to say, hmm?" she asked, one hand on her hip.
"Call it a hunch," replied Trowa casually, although his ominous feelings had not passed.
//_-
Hatred and bitterness can never cure the disease of fear, only love can do that. Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
More Author’s Notes: I hope none of you were offended by that male comment, it wasn’t intended as an insult. I’ve just always thought it’s funny how guys get all arrogant when they talk about car mechanics or sports or whatever. Not that it’s bad if you’re a girl and care about those things, just an observation I’ve made that amuses me. I also wanted to let you guys know, if your interested that I have a character sketch of Averil on Fanfiction.Net called "The Curiosity: A Character Sketch." It’s really short, and you might like it, so please review it if you read it. And don’t forget to review/email me on this story with any comments or criticisms. Thanks for reading and God bless!
To Be Continued