Wings For The Jailbird

10. I Took A

A/N: I'm sorry if you expected me to suddenly whip out all that knowledge about trials and the law and stuff. But honestly, I have no clue how proceedings like those are. So before you go out of your way to comment about how that isn't right and stuff, remember that Silverthorne is a made up country by me and every law there is, is also made up by me. Ergo everything I write is right in Silverthorne. Thank you.

A few months later...

Belle Valery's PoV:

I took a deep breath and fixed my skirt whilst I was looking up at the big and ancient building. The court was older than the city, so I heard many times. But I didn't care in that moment. All I cared about right now was to calm my breathing and get inside to meet Killian for the first time in months.

We had the preliminary court appearance only a day after I first visited him months ago. Now we were all ready for the trial. I took one last big breath and walked my way up the stairs towards the entrance of the court. I pushed the heavy wooden doors open and looked to my right. I walked up the familiar stairs and met two guards guarding the entrance to the room that we were going to be in, in just a couple of hours. I smiled at one of them, who smiled back kindly as I passed, continuing my way down the hall. When I reached the door that I was looking for, I felt my heart skip a beat. But I ignored it, not wanting to waste any more time. I pushed it open.

I refrained from gasping out loud once I found Killian standing by the window across the door. He turned around once he heard me come in and stared. He just stared at me, his eyes roaming my body, just like mine did with his body. I gulped, realizing I was not ready to see him like that. To see him all cleaned up and in a navy suit. He looked so- so- I shook my head. No, he was my client and there was a time he took me hostage, I shall not forget that. I stepped forward, nodding at the two guards standing by the door. Then I closed the door and walked towards the table that was placed in the middle of the room.

"What's that?" I heard him ask as I placed my briefcase on top of the table.
"Just your files and some papers." I said, getting them out to lay them before him. I looked up at him, sitting down. He watched me and sat down himself. But he didn't glance at the files on the table, his eyes were drawn to me.

"What?" I almost stuttered. Killian Diesel blinked and just shrugged afterwards before looking down at the objects on the table. I watched him, shaking my head at his weird behaviour before explaining the whole process to him. After fifteen minutes of him listening, he looked up at me.

"And if everything goes well, they'll just let me leave?" He asked, not seeming to believe it.
"Yes. You get an escort back to jail, in case you want to get your clothes back, but you won't be staying." I said, biting back my smile. I could not even imagine how that must feel to him. Just the thought of being free after almost eight years of being a prisoner.

But when I looked at his face, I didn't see joy or excitement. I actually saw concern. Concern and worry, which made me frown in confusion. His eyes were drawn to the table and he looked engrossed in his own thoughts. It gave me a good opportunity to look at him without his heated gaze on me. I appreciated his clean up very much, especially the fact that his bruises from a few months ago have already faded. I was glad that he listened to my advice and didn't get into a fight since I first saw him again.

He must've shaved this morning, because I could still smell a hint of aftershave lingering in the room. His hair was shorter too and I immediately wondered how that happened in prison. Do they have barbers and stuff? I ought to ask him that once the trial was over. Once we won. But for now, I focused on him. On his little scar on his eyebrow. On his Adam's apple, on the collar of his white shirt. My eyes travelled down to look at his dark tie, hanging loosely around his neck. I frowned, maybe I interrupted him while he was still getting the tie on.

"I don't know how to tie it." He murmured, causing me to take in a surprised breath. I wasn't aware of him looking at me. Did he realize I was checking him out? Was I checking him out, though?
"My mom just dropped it off. I told her to leave." He told me, making me look up at him with an even deeper frown.
"How come you asked her to leave?" I asked.

"Don't want her here." He shrugged, grabbing his tie and looking down at it. I watched him tie a knot and cringed when he pulled on it. I couldn't watch that without thinking about my grandpa im the back of my mind, telling me to show Killian how it's done. I bit my lip and sighed.
"Let me." I said, reaching over the table and swatting his hands away. I heard the guards move behind me and rolled my eyes. Killian saw that and bit back a smirk, I was sure. He leaned closer to me, making it easier to tie his tie.

"Easy, Diesel." One of the guards warned him. I looked back at the two.
"Do you want to do it?" I asked them with an annoyed voice. The two exchanged a look and then shook their heads, before looking away from me again. I shook my head and finished tying Killian's tie.

"Your tongue just continues to grow, huh?" I heard his teasing voice for the first time in ages and shook my head with a grin. He chuckled, looking down at his tie.
"Thank you." He said, frowning soon after. He seemed to not only suprise me, but also himself when he thanked me. I smiled shortly.
"You're welcome." I cleared my throat, fighting back my smile.

What was wrong with me? I shook my head, now not having to fight back my smile, I just remembered who was sitting in front of me. He might be innocent when it came to the homicide of that family, but he was no saint. No, he was far away from being a saint. I stood up and packed my things, making Killian's head snap up at my sudden movement. He watched me clean the table wordlessly. Once I finished, I straightened my back and looked down at him. I figured he didn't like that as he stood up himself, now looking down at me.

"If that's all." I said, glancing at my wristwatch. I looked up into his green eyes and was once again surprised to see uncertainty in them. Nevertheless he nodded and looked away from me again. I narrowed my eyes at him, knowing I had to know what was going on in his head now, before I would be distracted during his trial. So I sat back down.

"What's wrong?" I asked. Killian stared down at me, before shrugging and sitting down again. He looked at me for a long time, opened his mouth to answer, but seemed to decide against it. He looked at the tabletop.
"I'm just afraid we won't win." He said. I knew that wasn't what was bothering him, but I was fine with it.

"I know, but trust me when I say we will. You've met the judge and the jury before. Nothing's different. I saw them nod a few times when you told your story. They're on our side. And upon further examination, even the judge knows that whoever was your attorney back then, was not even trying to get you out. I am and I have enough evidence to prove your innocence." I assured him.

Which reminded me of what he said when he was called to the witness stand. I wanted to ask him if he had somewhere to stay, especially after he said that he was looking for a home that night. That he had only been around that neighbourhood because his bipolar mother had locked him out again. It was really heartbreaking to listen to him and his mother talk in court. Yes, his mother was called to the witness stand as well for verification. I guessed Killian saw my facial expression, which probably gave my thoughts away. He stood up abruptly and neared the window again, looking out.

"That was all, you can go." He ordered me, more than asked me to leave. I inwardly sighed, accepting that he was just not ready to talk about anything yet. So I just nodded, took my briefcase and turned around to leave the room.

And in just one more hour, I would see him again during his trial.