We Were Young

Save Him

  Luke walked up the front steps of the courthouse, tugging at his tie nervously.
"Luke, where the hell have you been?" Nia shouted at him, as they walked towards the courtroom. You realize this is the biggest trial of this entire case don't you? And it starts in less than 5 minutes!"
"I know, I know. I'm sorry."
"Where have you been? You didn't show up to work yesterday."
"I know, I'm sorry," he said, tugging at his tie again. He felt like it was choking him.
"Luke, stop," she said, grabbing his arm. "Are you ill? You're incredibly pale and you're sweating like crazy."
"No, I know. I'm fine. I'm just nervous, like you said, this is the biggest moment in this entire case and it's going to have a huge turn of events after today..."
"What are you planning?" 'Oh you know, sabotaging the entire case infront of an entire court, getting fired, and possibly even arrest and/or killed' he glanced up at the clock.
"You're just going to have to see..." he quickly walked into the courtroom and took his seat with the D.A.
"Mr. Hemmings, you're late," she said.
"I know, I'm sorry. I was just getting prepared...." Court started and seemed to drag on, Luke tried paying attention and looking professional. He looked over at the defendants and saw one of James's goons who had been with them, standing as the 'leader' of Blackbeak.
"Mr. Hemmings? Is there anything you'd like to say?" The judge finally called out. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath, standing up.
"Yes, your honor." He sighed and stepped up. "Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, I regret to inform you that you have all been lied to..." He glanced over at his boss who was staring at him quizzically. He looked over at the Blackbeak people and felt a pit in his stomach. He grabbed the file from his spot and opened it, pulling out the pictures James gave him and turned to the judge. "Your honor, we've both been terribly deceived. We all have. I have in my hands proof of my own management, the people I have been working along side, burning crucial evidence that supported Blackbeak Industries."
"Objection! That's impossible!" Nia said, standing up.
"Overruled! Mr. Hemmings, let me see this evidence, if you please."
"Of course, your honor..." he stepped forward and handed her the pictures. "As you see, Nia Lovelis, Miranda Miller, and Casey Moreta were clearly spotted burning evidence-"
"Objection, those papers could be anything! We never burned any evidence!" Casey, one of the other lawyers on the case, said anger clear in his voice.
"I'm sorry... did you say papers? I've never shown you the photos, how did you know they were papers?"
"Order!" Judge Pierce said, banging her gavel. "Mr. Hemmings, he has a point, do you have any proof to this evidence they burned?"
"I do your honor," he replied, unlocking his briefcase. He pulled out an evidence bag and held it up. Here I have some of the recovered documents they tried to burn..." he stepped up to the stand and handed them one by one to the judge as he said what they were. "A shipping receipt for an entire shipping container full of Heroin from L.M.M Associates to the suspected buyers, Depths Enterprises. Pictures of Ms. Nia Lovelis meeting with one of Depth's biggest drug lords, Nick Robinson, and finally a bounty for 10.5 Billion dollars, ordering the set up and framing of Blackbeak Industries." Everyone began murmuring in the courtroom. "Your honor, we have all been played. The people at Blackbeak Industries are innocent. If you're looking to lock anyone up, these three are your real criminals."
"Well, I have to say, this definitely is a big shock. We're going to take a 15 minute recess for the jurors to come up with a verdict of Blackbeak's innocence." She banged the gavel and stood up, walking out.
"Hemmings, what the hell was that?" Nia demanded. "You know that none of that is true! You not only just lost us this case, but also this entire firm's credibility!"
"I know..." he said breathlessly, beginning to shake. He looked passed her and saw Michael standing in the hall had he seen the whole thing.
"I hope you know that you're-"
"Fired, I know. Good luck keeping your law firm open, but if you'll excuse me, I'll be joining the Defensive team..." he said, grabbing his things and walking over.
"Good work, Cordon wants you to know he may just hire you as a full time associate..." Richard, his goon, said.
"Oh great," he said, sarcastically. "If you'll excuse me, I need to get some air..." he turned and walked out of the room. Michael grabbed his arm and pulled him down the hall.
"Luke... was any of that true?" He whispered.
"Mike, you know I can't talk about this until after the verdict..."
"Did you forget I can tell when you lie? Luke, I don't know why you would, but if you just lied about all of that, you could be arrested, you know that?"
"Yeah, well if I didn't Calum would die, did you know that?" Luke said, instantly covering his mouth
"W-what are you talking about?" He shook his head and looked around. "Luke, is Calum in trouble?"
"I-I can't talk about this, I really really can't-" he turned to walk away, but Michael grabbed his arm and pulled him into the bathroom.
"Luke, what's going on?" He looked around the room to be sure they were alone, checking for bugs.
"Th-they have Calum... they said if I didn't botch the case they'd kill him, and my family, and anyone else they find out I love.... that includes you." Michael ran a hand through his hair.
"W-we have to do something, we have to call the cops!"
"No! If I call the cops, they'll kill him."
"Do you know where they're holding him?"
"No..."
"Shit... okay. Okay." He paced back and forth. "Listen, I have an idea... Blackbeak is going to be too invested with the case right now, okay? I'll go to the police, we'll start looking, you just stall them okay?"
"But Cordon, he's the real boss and he's with Calum, as soon as the verdict comes in, then he's either going to kill him or... or.. I don't even know."
"Then stall Pierce. Don't let the verdict come in yet. I'll text you when we find him."
"Michael..."
"Luke it's the only thing we can do, don't you understand. Eventually they're going to realize that you lied and you will go to prison. And I'm not losing you, but they'll understand if you were trying to protect Calum..."
"Fine." Luke checked his watch. "But we only have 5 minutes."
"Then go now. Stall her. I'll call you." He pressed a kiss on Luke's lips.
"I love you..."
"I love you too." He turned and ran out. Luke ran out of the bathroom and saw Judge Pierce coming out of her quarters.
"I'm so fucked," he said under his breath before running over. "Your honor, I have a very important question..."
"What is it Mr. Hemmings."
"Uh... I-If Blackbeak is cleared of all charges, will Nia and the others go to court?"
"We'll see when we get there, won't we?" She said, trying to walk past him.
"Well you see, if they do they're going to use all of the lawyer loopholes that they can, I mean, they're excellent liars, they even had us convinced, and I can tell you're not an easy woman to convince-"
"Mr. Hemmings, it's time fire the verdict, I don't have time for your nonsense-"
"Of course you honor, just one last thing... if Blackbeak is dropped then-"
"Then Richard Miles won't ever be able to be tried for this again, you'll have won."
"Right and-"
"Enough! Now are you going to go into that courtroom, or do I have to have security escort you out of the building?" Luke stepped out of her way and let her pass him by, sighing. He only stalled her for ten minutes... he started walking towards the courtroom when he suddenly had an idea. He walked into the bathroom-easily avoiding being spotted on any security cameras-where someone sat in one of the stalls. He pulled a match from his pocket and lit it, holding the flame to a dry paper towel on top, causing it to burst into flames, quickly spreading to the others. He extinguished the match and put it in his pocket so they wouldnt find the starter, silently walked out and made his way to the courtroom, taking his seat. Right as the warden called for everyone to rise, the fire alarm went off, and then the sprinklers. If anyone finds out about him he's in deep shit. Everyone evacuated the building quickly, following protocol. The fire department showed up 7 minutes later and ran inside. Luke continued checking his watch and phone, hoping to hear from Michael. When the firemen came back out and gave the all clear, Luke sighed, crossing his arms. Everyone started going back inside, but Casey was stopped by a security guard.
"Sir, I'm going to need to talk to you... you were the only one in the restroom when the fire was started..." Luke's eyes widened and he quickly went inside, taking his place in the courtroom again. Judge Pierce came in and started rambling on until asking the head juror to read off the verdict. An older man stood up, holding a card and began speaking.
"After much deliberation, the people of the jury find the defendant not guilty of any of the charges," Luke felt something clench inside himself, even with the small amount of relief for Calum.
"Mr. Miles, you have been found innocent and have been cleared of all charges. As for you Ms. Lovelis, you and your colleagues should be expecting a court summons. Court adjourned." He banged the gavel before walking out.
"Come with me," Richard whispered, leading Luke out of the courthouse and to a silver SUV. "Don't argue, just get in." Luke was shaking like crazy as he stepped into the car. Miles got in and spiced a bag over his head as they started driving. It took over half an hour, but they finally showed up. He was forced out of the car and lead blindly through what seemed to be a maze. Luke reached into his pocket and dialed Michael, hoping they'd track his call. The bag was ripped off his head and he saw Calum, bruised and bloodied, kneeling infront of James.
"Well done Mr. Hemmings. You got us off. I have to admit. I didn't think you had it in you. That was an excellent framing job. Unfortunately for you, your job is done now... I'll keep my word, Calum will be let go, but you? I have no use for anymore." Suddenly Luke was staring down the barrel of a pistol. "Goodbye, Luke. It was lively working with you..."
"No!" Calum shouted, jumping up as a loud shot let out. Luke's hand instinctively ran up to his chest and his eyes closed, but he didn't feel any pain, he looked down but didn't see any blood. Calum stood infront of him, before falling backwards towards him.
"No, No Calum!" Luke caught him and lay him down hearing sirens outside. James and his people quickly cleared out. Luke pressed his head against Calum's chest as blood flowed from the large hole. "J-just hold on, baby, hold on. H-help is coming."
"You know," Calum said, choking on his words. "I never thought I'd have to be shot in order for you to hold me again..."
"D-don't say that."
"I have to admit... I can't think of a better way to die."
"Calum, you're not going to die!"
"Don't be naive, Luke. You know I am..."
"P-please. I can't lose you," Luke sobbed. "I love you. Calum shook his head and smiled.
"You love Michael. But it's okay. I-I just want you to be happy." Luke raved into his pocket and pulled out the engagement ring.
"You have to hold on, please... you have to marry me..." Calum let out a soft laugh, before coughing up blood.
"Just remember... I've always l-loved y-" he stopped mid sentence, before going limp, his dead eyes staring up at Luke.
"C-Calum?" He whispered. "Calum! W-wake up! Please!" He sobbed, pressing his forehead against the Kiwi boy's one last time. "I-I love you..." police officers ran in the room, guns ready, when they saw Calum and Luke, they rushed over, pulling Luke away from his best friend as medics ran in, but they were too late. He was gone.