*four days later*
Olivia was stood in the bedroom fastening up her blouse when jay walked in wearing his suit and tie, todays the court hearing and she can't stop fiddling with things to keep her busy, busy from the thoughts, the memories and the feelings... She hadn't really gone through much change in the past few days, she's still the same; barely eating, not sleeping, nightmares... It's a vicious cycle she's trapped in, and jay has witnessed every moment.
"Mandys coming in 10, you feeling okay?" He folded his arms as he watched her put her blazer on, "yeah" she shrugged weakly, not really knowing if she was lying or not. He stopped forwards and placed his hands on the side of her arms, "are you sure you wanna do this? You know you can't be distracted, right?" He smiled weakly. She looked up at him and nodded, "positive" she spoke blankly, jay nodded slowly, if she says she's ready for this then he can't stop her... She looked down and straightened her pencil skirt out, "don't let him get to your head" he placed his hands on her shoulders. She nodded and smiled through the mirror, that might be easier said than done...
~~~~~~
"All rise..." the bailiff boomed from his place in the centre of the court room. Jay, hank, Olivia, her lawyer and Trudy were all sat on the front row; the rest of the unit right behind them, the family of yates were sat on the other side...
"I do..." Emily finished her sworn promise, then took her hand off the bible before stepping down from the stand and walking back over to her seat. She was now sat in front of the barrier with her lawyer on one side and hank on the other, jay was stood directly behind her in the front row of benches. "You may be seated" the clerk announced to the rest of the court room. There was a shuffling of clothes before the judge cleared his throat, he said a few words before it was time, yates would make his first appearance.
As the side door flew open, yates immediately came strolling out in his suit and tie, although his hand cuffs were secured behind his back, he looked far too cocky for a man who could be going to jail. He made direct eye contact with Olivia as he walked right past her. Hank was sat right next to her, so he felt Olivia's leg bounce up and down rapidly. He used his hand to push her knee down which forced her to stop it, "you can't show any signs of worry now" he whispered as yates took his seat on the other side of the room. Olivia nodded slowly and took a deep breath.
"Please call your first witness to the stand" the judge looked over to Olivia's lawyer. Her lawyer nudged her leg to get her moving, so Olivia slowly stood up and silently made her way over to the stand. She stepped up and sat down, "could you spell out your first and last name please, detective?" The judge looked down at her. Olivia nodded and looked out to the crowd in front of her, making eye contact with jay who shot her a reassuring wink, but also made eye contact with yates who was smirking, "O,L,I,V,I,A... H,A,R,P,E,R..." she spoke confidently. She watched in disgust as yates mouthed her name as she spoke, it knocked her a little queasy.
"You we're working on the day Gregory yates kidnapped you, is that right detective?" The judge looked down at her. Olivia nodded, "yes your honour" she kept her eyes on the crowd. "But you weren't stationed in the district during the time you were kidnapped?" He added. Olivia kept her head still, "no sir, I was running an errand" she stayed confidently. Jay nodded to show her any sign of reassurance, but even he was scared and he's the one sat in the audience...
About 10 minutes of pointless questions passed before yates' denfense was able to stand up and ask her questions, "does your defense have any questions?" The judge looked over at yates' lawyer. "Yes your honour" the woman nodded. A few moments passed and Olivia could feel the butterflies reappearing, "detective Harper..." the defense stood in front of her from below the stand. "You we're currently working my defendants case during the time you were kidnapped, correct?" He began to pace the floor, "yes" Olivia nodded, making eye contact with a very serious hank. "And during this time you had gone undercover to try and catch my defendant, correct?" He added.
"Yes" she added once again. "Am I correct in saying that you were aware of what my defendant was capable of doing, during your undercover operation?" He stopped moving. Olivia looked up as her lawyer stood up, "objection, stated information" she huffed. The judge held her hand up, "withheld" she shook it off, Olivia internally groaned, "detective?" The defense added. "Yes, I was" she sighed and nodded. "Yet you still chose to continue your undercover operation, correct?" The man raised an eyebrow. "Objection... irrelevant questions your honour" Olivia's lawyer stood up. Hank nodded, fortunately for liv, she has the best lawyer in Chicago.
"Withheld... get to your point mr Walker" the judge looked down at the defense. "No further questions, your honour" the man shook his head and returned to yates. The judge nodded, "please take your seat, detective" he looked down at Olivia. She let out a shaky breath but obeyed...
~~~~~~~
"And I'm correct in saying dr Charles's, that the defendant was mentally unstable during the time of the kidnapping of my client?" Olivia's lawyer, Lucy, stood in front of dr Charles who was being willingly held as a witness too. Daniel nodded, "I believe he was, and still is mentally unstable" he agreed. "No further questions, your honour" Lucy smiled and returned to sit back down next to Olivia, smiling confidently at her in the process.
~~~~~~~
"Detective Harper, I want to personally say a huge thank you for your service in the forces, but I have a few questions, your honour" yates' defense wanted to take another run at Olivia. Olivia smiled falsely and nodded, "proceed" the judge nodded. "Am I correct in stating that you have seen a fair share of traumatic events during duty?" The defense folded his arms. Olivia lol es eye contact with jay, why does he need to know this? Jay could see the pissed off glare on her face but she soon covered it up, "yes" she states blandly. "And you suffer from PTSD, as a result from this?" The defense added. Olivia looked around the room, embarrassment and shame flooding her senses, taking the words straight from her mouth, "objection your honour, irrelevant accusation" Lucy stood up.
"Withheld, continue mr Walker..." the judge shook her head. Olivia furrowed her brows, "I don't see how that's relevant..." she began, hank immediately holding his breath, "answer the question, detective" the judge sighed. "Yes... yes, I do" Olivia have in. Mr Walker nodded, "okay, and would you say that, you suffer regularly?" He enquired. "Move along, Walker" the judge shook off that question, "sorry. One last question, your honour... Would you say you were in a state of trauma when my defendant held you captive, detective?" Mr Walker faced Olivia. Olivia nodded, "yes, I was" she nodded obviously.
"And you don't think maybe there was a possibility that the state of trauma you were in, caused a little confusion or haziness? Could your shock have maybe altered the tale of events slightly?" He shook his head. Olivia couldn't believe this man, but she could see that the judge was taking notes, "no, I remember everything very cl... I remember what happened, I didn't imagine it" she changed her tone of voice to sound a little more flustered. The judge sat up and looked at her in confusion, could this defense be onto something...? Jay looked over at hank to see his Sargent demeanour shift, everyone was on edge right now...
~~~~~~
The judge had ordered a break before the verdict was concluded, so Olivia found herself sat in a room on her own waiting for positive signs, just waiting for anything or anyone to come to her. The door suddenly flew open, and in walked jay, followed by hank and the lawyer. She immediately stood up as jay enveloped her into a hug, "you did really good" he whispered. She let out a shaky breath and looked over at hank who shot her a confident nod, then over at her lawyer who was too unreadable. Maybe things did go well after all...
After the court had taken their seats again, the judge laid his hammer down harshly, "a verdict had been reached, could the jury please rise" he looked around. Olivia watched as yates leant forwards, he looked at her blankly before sitting back and listening in, "ignore him" Lucy whispered. Olivia nodded and sat back too as the jury began reading out their conclusion. "We the jury find the defendant Gregory yates..." a woman began reading the script out. Olivia held her breath, "...guilty, on 16 counts of second degree murder, kidnapping and rape against Emily Walker..." the woman began reading out names of the girls yates had killed. "And..." the woman took a breath. Olivia felt so nauseous...
"Guilty on one count of kidnapping, inflicted injury, and attempted rape against detective Harper..." the woman nodded before taking her seat. Olivia screwed her eyes shut and threw her head back in relief, the amount of weight that was carried off her shoulders in that moment was astonishing. Hank squeezed her shoulder supportively, "it's over" he nodded with a sincere smile. Olivia smiled back and nodded too, "yeah..." she breathed out in relief. Jay reached forward and placed his hands on her arms, he said nothing as she looked back at him, but smiled reassuringly, he's so proud of her...
~~~~~~~
Later that day, the unit were at mollys having a few drinks to celebrate their win on the case, well... everyone but hank given that he doesn't socialise much. Olivia looked around and nodded, she's super thankful for everyone's support, but she really wants to go home and relax after a stressful day. Jay looked over at her, "you alright?" He squeezed her hand since she seemed a little distant and withdrawn. She nodded, "just tired" she answered without looking at him. He frowned but nodded, "hey, we're gonna head out guys. Thanks for the support but it's been a long day" jay tapped the table. Everyone shot them understandable smiled and nodded as jay stood up, Olivia was only grateful for his ability to see straight through her...
The car drive home was silent, and before they knew it they were walking through their front door, "thanks Mandy" Olivia smiled as the babysitter handed rue over. Mandy smiled and nodded before leaving the house. Jay hung up their jackets and took off his tie once his shoes were off, Olivia smiled weakly as rue held her arms out for jay, she handed her over with ease, "you feeling alright?" He nodded. She smiled and sighed as she took her blazer jacket off, "yeah" she nodded, "I just thought it would feel better, you know, seeing yates for the last time..." she shrugged. He frowned and nodded, "it's over now liv, you're never gonna hear from him again, you can relax" he walked over to her and wrapped his spare arm around her. She smiled and nodded, "you're right..." she sighed, but she still has a lot of healing to endure...