The Reaper

Chapter 14: The Good, The Bad And The Dirty

Third Person POV 

"Miss. Murphy which witness do you wish to speak with first?" Asked the judge. He had very little to do with the proceedings and preferred to just watch what was happening. 

"I only have one witness your honour, one who can give us insight about how they, HYDRA, wired Mr. Gilbert's brain to work as she has been through it but for not as long or from as young of an age as Mr. Gilbert, Miss. Romanoff" Said the lawyer and the red head stood and made her way to the stand as the teenager tended when her name was spoken. 

She said the necessary words about telling the truth before she took the stand ready to answer questions with a stony looking face. A quick glance at Jeremy with narrowed eyes like she blamed him for everything bad that has happened. 

"Miss. Romanoff tell us what your impression of Mr. Gilbert is?" Asked the lawyer. She wanted to show how one of the most famous assassins thought he was a monster. 

"Well he's one of the best the Red Room has seen, everyone was weary of him but when they found out he graduated at 10 they were utterly terrified of him. If I'm being honest so am I considering what happened in Budapest" Said Romanoff. Everyone was confused but apparently nobody was bothered about elaborating about the happenings of Budapest. Another question was about to be given to Romanoff when the court room door opened. 

"Sorry were late we were on our way to Thailand when we got the call" Said Tony Stark as he entered the room along with Pepper Potts. They went and sat next to Caroline Forbes and Tony hugged her comfortingly. 

"So Miss. Romanoff whilst you've admitted to being scared terrified of Mr. Gilbert even have you ever seen any good in him?" Asked the lawyer and wasn't that a shock. Why would someone who wanted to send him to prison ask if he was a good person? 

"Once I saw some good but it took less than a week for any traces of the little good left to disappear completely" she said and a shuffle was heard as Caroline tried to stand to defend her best friend and Elena her brother but Tony and Peter stopped Caroline and Damon and Alaric stopped Elena. 

"And why do you think that is, Miss Romanoff?" Asked the lawyer and the assassin shifted like she was uncomfortable. 

"I'm not sure" she said but like she had an idea of what it was but not 100% sure on the right answer. 

"But you think you might have an idea?" Asked the lawyer and Romanoff nodded her head quickly looking down like it was upsetting her the subject. "and what do you think that is?"

"He lost the only person he'd ever learned to care for" she said and the prosecution nodded before telling Romanoff she was free to sit down. 

"Any other witnesses or evidence you wish to share Miss. Murphy?" Asked the judge and when he got a negative from the lawyer he called the defence to the stand, Elijah Mikaelson. 

"Jeremy Gilbert, in the beginning of his life he was called hateful names given no love and abused severely and then he lived in fear of being caught by those who did horrible acts against humanity directed at Jeremy and todays display is simply a boys, a child's fear of having to suffer even more" spoke Elijah to the jury and the judge convincing them that Jeremy wasn't a bad person just had been dealt a bad card, he hoped to god it worked. "I'd like to speak with Caroline Forbes as my first witness" said Elijah and Caroline took to the stand saying the truth thingy that Romanoff spoke. "Caroline how would you describe Jeremy?" 

"He's amazing I mean he's loyal and protective and I've never felt safer than when I'm with him. He's mysterious because he doesn't tell anyone about his past but you can see he's afriad and vulnerable and he's paranoid and desperate for it to go away" Said Caroline her tone filled with compassion. She looked directly at Jeremy when she'd finished speaking and he nodded at her showing more emotion than he had been during the rest of the trial. 

"Would you give us examples of the acts that made Jeremy make you feel this way?" Asked Elijah and Caroline nodded. 

"The first time I really spoke to him more than just a passing conversation he helped me more than someone who understood what I was going through, he helped me to cope and he taught me to fight and he made me feel safe. Then a few months ago he came to me asking if I want to leave the town we lived in and I did and since then I've not felt scared of anything and that's because of Jeremy" spoke Caroline. "I'd like to show something of Jeremy's if that's okay?" Asked Caroline hesitantly and when the judge nodded Caroline pulled out a sketch book. 

"And what is a book suppose to show as evidence that he's not a monster?" Questioned the prosecution in an outraged voice. 

"Well Jeremy is an artist who draws his thoughts and feelings like Elijahs brother does" Said Caroline and took out photo copies of sketches and handed them to a horrified Judge and Jury. "The photos are Jeremy's memories, traumatic events he's lived through and the people who did it to him. Jeremy once told me that he spent his third birthday being beaten and his sixth birthday being experimented on and he was a child he still is and he's lived through more hurt and pain than even the most sadistic minds can come up with" 

"Miss. Forbes thank you for bringing in this piece of evidence" said Elijah and he motioned for a testy eyes Caroline to sit back down. "I'd now like to call Elena Gilbert to the stand" said Elijah and after a moment Elena took to the stand. "Elena when your parents adopted Jeremy what was your initial feeling when being around him?" 

"Mainly I was confused" she started and everyone wondered what could have made her feel that way. "He wouldn't let anyone touch him it took him 3 weeks before he'd even say one word to any of us" she said and that was understandable. "But he wasn't scared of us he didn't flinch if we tried to touch him he was eerily still most of the time but he held himself in a way that said he could take anyone on that nothing could touch him and that made me feel safe" and as she spoke the jury took notes because what better way to judge his character than to hear it from someone that met him pretty soon after he escaped HYDRA. "The first time I went into public with him was about a month after he'd moved in with us it was just to the Grill a restaurant where everyone hangs out and he watched everyone like a hawk and I could see him get ready to attack if someone got too close like he wanted to protect me" Elena explained. 

"How did his behaviour progress?" Asked Elijah to the calm girl. 

"He got less on edge and he started to talk to others but he never let himself get close to anyone until Caroline but he got into a few fights after our parents died with someone called Tyler Lockwood.." said Elena but she was cut off. 

"I'm presuming he's either dead or in a coma in hospital then?" Spoke the prosecution with a snobbish tilt to her nose. 

"No Tyler is perfectly fine actually Jeremy wouldn't hurt Tyler maybe push he gently but he would just take the hits and try block them. And after Tyler's father died they became good friends for awhile until Jeremy moved to Denver for awhile before he came to New York" said Elena and Elijah let her sit back down. 

"As you can see Jeremy doesn't want to hurt people he merely wishes to live without the fear of HYDRA and the Red Room looming over him, he's different to what Miss. Romanoff remembers him and these acts of humanity that his friends and family can tell you about are alll the proof you need to show that he is human, one that has been violated and denied his human rights, he's part of the future and we must protect our kinds future no matter the cost" said Elijah as a closing speech before the jury went to the back to discuss their decision. 

"Kid everything will be alright okay?" Said Damon to Jeremy who just nodded his head and Elena and Caroline hugged him. 

"Things will go back to normal Alright we can blow up some more blenders and you and Peter can still be awkward around each other and we can have more of Aunt Mays cookies that you bring to your internship" Said Tony patting Jeremy's shoulders before Pepper and May took the chance to hug him. 

"Order, Order please" Said the judge as the jury entered the room banging the mallet in the stand. "The jury have come to a decision on how they feel is best to approach Mr. Gilbert's case" Said the judge before one of the jury stood with a piece of paper with their decision. Elena and Caroline leaned over the rails and took one of Jeremy's steady hands into one of their shaking ones. Peter, Ned and May took unsteady breaths filled with nerves and everyone else was tense and Damon's eyes were filled with worry and plans to murder or compel if they didn't get a good result. 

"We have decided..."