FicWad

Willow could feel all eyes on her. It had been this way since the investigation and then the accusations had begun. It was not the easiest life to live, especially when you were the nerd or geek or whatever you were. The only time you were used to getting noticed when things were not of the good.
Like now. Willow could see the look on the jurors faces. It seemed that they all just knew that she was guilty. How could she not be? She was a woman that was in love. And there was one person that had been torturing the woman that she loved for all of her life. The final straw was the attempted murder, which was now being put on meticulous display by the prosecutors.
What better motive then the attempted murder and the actual murder by someone so heinous. The picture they were painting was not so pretty. And it just was reenforcing the fact that she must be guilty. Guilty of the crime of murder out of passion. Out of rage. Out of wanting to protect the woman you love.
The redhead tried to sit still. Her lawyer had emphasized how fidgeting might look to the jury. That a guilty person was nervous that they were about to get what they deserved. But what about an innocent person that was afraid for their lives? Didn't the jury take that into account? Of course that would be too easy.
Trying to hide her fear was not easy. She was afraid that at any moment she would be lead back to jail. Those few days that she had to spend in them was a nightmare. She shuddered to think about having to go back there. Even if they waived the death penalty, she could still easily face a lifetime behind bars.
The prosecutor was a female. It would fit that they would choose to have a woman trying this case. So much was going to be made of the female emotions. And that was something a man just could not understand or convey. The firm voice of the woman telling others to find her guilty seemed to resonate in her ears. It was pounding inside of her head.
"Alexander Harris." That name made Willow open up her eyes. She had not thought about how many of her friends were going to have to be called as witnesses. They were going to have to tell the truth. And some of that truth would hurt her case greatly. "Your honor, it seems that Mr. Harris is not here. And I subpoenaed him for today. I believe that a bench warrant should be issued.
Everyone looked to the judge. He was an older man, greying at the temples of a soft red hair. His face looked almost like a bull dog's. In fact, it was like those characters you would see of Irish police officers. He looked down at his bench for a moment before raising his eyes to meet with the prosecutors. "I don't want to be hasty. If the witness has not shown up before the end of a day, an warrant will be issued." The prosecutor started to speak. "And before you go objecting, I already made up may mind. You can go onto your next witness."
"I will your honor." The prosecutor made her way back to her desk. "But I would like to go on record with an objection. Alexander Harris' testimony was to set up later testimony. I hope that won't be a conflict if the judge sees that the testimony is irrelevant."
"So noted." The judge scribbled some notes on a piece of paper. "And I'll make that judgement call when it needs to be made. So, please continue by calling your first witness Miss Ashton." The judge gave her a look that said no more arguments, just get on with things.
"Yes, your honor." The prosecutor shuffled some paperwork. "The state calls Faith Pryce to the stand." There were a bunch of murmurs throughout the gallery. The judge banged his gavel and simply glared at everyone. "Please, take the stand and swear to tell the truth."
Faith crossed her arms in a hostile way as she made her way to the witness stand. She glared at the lady prosecutor with killer looks. She grudgingly held up her right hand and place her left on the bible. She sore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the whole truth so help her God.
"Now Miss Pryce," Miss Ashton began. She had started toward the witness stand but had paused in front of the jury. "What exactly is your relationship with the defendant?" She pushed up her glasses as she waited for an answer.
"First off, lady, the name is Faith." She crossed her arms across her chest again. "And what business is it of yours or anyone else's what my relationship is with Willow. That's her name by the way. Not just defendant. So use it."
"Your honor?" There was a pleading on Miss Ashton's face. "May I treat the witness as hostile?" You could tell that she wanted to finish by saying that she was obviously hostile. Hostile toward anyone she would imagine.
"I'll instruct the witness, er, Faith, to limit her answers to the questions." The judge glared at Faith. "Preferably yes or no ones. If the require more, keep them simple. If not, I could hold you in contempt of court."
"Yes your honor." Faith was smiling big now. She knew what she was going to do. Had known since the moment that she had received that darn subpoena. She'd be darned if she was going to let them use her to hurt Willow anymore then she had already been hurt.
"Thank you your honor." Miss Ashton made her way to the witness stand. "Again, I'm going to ask what your relationship is with Miss Rosenberg." She took a stance that was saying she was ready to listen, no matter how long the answer would be.
"She and I are buds. We grew up together, till I moved to New York." Faith eyed the lady with disgust. "When I moved back, we became quite close. My cousin and her and I were like tight. Always hanging with one another."
"Were you protective of her?" Miss Ashton straightened her glasses as she asked the question of Faith.
"Always." Faith looked at Willow, a big smile on her face. "She was rarely in trouble, 'cept for those that would harass her for her smarts. So I was the one that laid down the law when needed to."
"I see." Miss Ashton pulled out a piece of paper and showed it to Faith. "Is this a statement that you gave police, shortly after the murder had taken place?"
Faith took it and eyed it carefully. "Yeah." She shoved it back to Miss Ashton. "I told them what happened that night."
"Why don't you keep that for a moment." Faith shrugged at her and held it loosely in her hand. "Now, isn't it correct that you stated that Miss Rosenberg was with you all night long?" Again, Faith only shrugged. "If you can't remember what you told the police, it's right there in black and white."
"Yeah. I told them that." Faith kept her eyes on the prosecutor. She was starting to really hate this lady, even if she was only doing her job. Still, if this were outside and someone were trying to hurt her Willow, they would be walking funny for a week.
"Isn't it true, however, that the police were able to prove that untrue?" Miss Ashton made a dramatic step toward the witness stand so that both her hands rested on it. She seemed perched to kill or something. "Well, Faith?"
Again, Faith shrugged. "I'm not sure what the police found out. All I know is that I will stick by what I said in this statement, no matter what happens. Even if you have to do something to me, I won't change what I said."
"Your honor?" Again, Miss Ashton pleaded to the judge to make Faith answer her questions and without having to argue every step of the way. "My I now treat the witness as hostile? She clearly does not want to cooperate."
"Young lady, what exactly is with the attitude?" The judge seemed a bit more irritated then he was before. "I know that you and the defendant, Miss Rosenberg are friends, but you must obey the law and cooperate."
Faith shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly yet again. "Listen, old man. I was raised to not care about anyone or anything besides myself. I threw all that crap out the window. And when I met Willow, I knew that I was gonna defend her till the end. So, order me to do what you have to but it doesn't mean that I'm gonna do what you tell me to do."
The judge shook his head. "If this is the way that you feel about it, I have no choice but to find you in contempt of court. That means that you'll be spending the rest of the trial in jail unless you decide to cooperate. Does that change your mind any?"
"Whatever you gotta do, old man." Faith stood up. She held out her hands in front of herself with her wrists up. "Take me to lockup or the paddy wagon or wherever it is that you gotta take me. Cause I'm not saying anything against my girl."
The judge shook his head and nodded to the bailiff. "I'm afraid that you leave me with no choice. Take the witness into custody. She is to remain so until she has either decided to cooperate or the end of the trial. Whichever should come sooner."
Willow watched in horror, but also a great deal of gratitude, as Faith was escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs. Faith smiled big and waved at her when she was dragged in front of the defendant's stand. The redhead would always be grateful for how much Faith had looked out for her. Almost seemed like from day one.
The judge pounded the gavel. "I'd say a ten minute recess is in order after that display. We'll meet back here in exactly ten minutes. So nobody better be late. Especially you, young lady." There was that glare that the judge was becoming infamous for.
Willow stood up and turned around. There in the front seat smiling at her was her uncle and her cousin. They both waved at her. She slowly approached them. That was when she noticed a certain person tentatively coming toward her. She smiled at her and waved to her to make sure that she would indeed join them.
"Hey." It was a tentative greeting at best on Tara's part. She had gotten the note, but was still unsure how things were between the two once lovers. "It w-was great of Faith to do that for you. She really came through for you. I d-don't know if I'd be able to do that or not."
There was a sheepish grin on the redhead's face. "Hopefully, you won't have to find out. Although I'm sure that you are gonna be one of the key witnesses for the prosecution. We both knew that was going to happen. Seeing that it involves your father and how close that we are and always have been."
A warm sensation flowed throughout Tara's entire body at those words. Somehow, they had seemed to lose that connection for a while. Was it because of all of the stress? Or was it simply because sometimes no matter how much you loved someone, sometimes there was going to be times when you didn't see eye to eye. And that you just had to trust in that love to get the two of you back on track.
"I know." Tara reached out, being bold, and took Willow's hand in her own. The softness of her skin was something that she had been denied feeling for oh so long. It was almost more then she could take, not to be able to respond to those feelings. All she wanted to do was kiss her with a passion they'd never before shared. "We knew it would happen because of everything though. I even think I'm next on the witness list."
"My lawyer was thinking that as well." Willow stared into those see of blue eyes that could be so hypnotic to her. "Just tell the truth. I don't want you doing what Faith did. One of us in jail is enough. I'll face whatever is coming to me. Just tell what happened. And everything in the long run will be all right."
"If you say so." The two held hands for a moment longer. Each were drawing on a strength that only the other could give them. It was an amazing feeling that everyone should feel. They needed on another, just to breathe it seemed.
"Everybody rise." The bailiff called everyone to attention. "The honorable Judge Greg T. Oliver presiding." Immediately everyone stood and watched the judge as he entered the courtroom. There was a hush of silence over the entire courtroom.
"Everybody be seated." Judge Oliver shuffled through his paperwork. "Now then, we were just under way and I believe that you, Miss Ashton were about to call your next witness. So, don't hesitate to do so."
"Yes, your honor." Miss Ashton stood. "The state calls Tara McClay to the stand." All eyes turned to the young blond. This was the moment that everyone had been waiting for. The time for the lover to testify. Possibly against the woman that she loved so dearly. Eyes kept on her as she swore to tell the truth.
"Now, Miss McClay, what is the nature of your relationship with the defendant?" There was an eruption of laughter and whistles throughout the courtroom. Judge Oliver simply had to bang his gavel to get the desired order back.
"I'm her girlfriend." Tara looked lovingly at Willow. "I have been for almost a year now. Before that, we were really good friends." She kept that loving smile on her face even when the prosecutor stood between the two women.
"Wasn't your father against the relationship?" Miss Ashton leaned toward the witness stand a bit. "In fact, didn't he forbid that you see Miss Rosenberg? And that the two of you found ways to sneak around so that your father wouldn't find out about the relationship?"
"Well, yes." Tara began to fidget nervously a little. "But we would never have done anything that he didn't want us to do. I never did anything that my father didn't want me to. And I had to take care of my mother, so it left little time for anything else."
"I see." Miss Ashton made her way back to her desk. "What happened after your mother died? And I'm talking about the events that lead to you being in the hospital. What exactly took place, Miss McClay?"
"I got sick." Tara swallowed hard. "At first, the doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. But my dad wouldn't allow me to be treated. Rupert Giles had to fight to gain custody of me so that I could get the treatment that I so desperately needed."
"And what did turn out to be wrong with you?" Miss Ashton stared intently at Tara.
"It turned out that my father had been poisoning me." Again, she swallowed hard at the memories that were surfacing. "In fact, he also was the one that was behind my mother's death. He was going to go to jail for a long time when he ran off."
"And that made you feel like he'd escaped justice?" Miss Ashton quickly made her way to the defendant's stand. "Or more accurately, it made your girlfriend so furious that she threatened to kill your father, isn't that correct?"
"Yes." There was a gasp throughout the crowd. There was the noise of the gavel banging. But it could not drown out the way that she was feeling at that moment. She had just had to betray the woman that she loved most. And the man that she hated more then anything in the world was looking so good. She knew that she was the first nails in the coffin.