The More Things Change

Twelve

Author's Note: There's legal discussions/matters in this chapter. I should clarify that I'm not a lawyer, have no legal training, have never dealt with criminal court proceedings—adult or juvenile—and basically filled this section out based on what I could garner from some online research. Which you shouldn't do if you need legal advice. tl;dr Don't get your legal facts/advice from fanfic. Especially my fanfic.

Mystic Falls' local jail was nothing more than the basement of the police station. Jenna and I had to sit on a bench outside a series of small interrogation rooms to wait for our chance to visit Jeremy. We'd already spied him, dressed in a light blue jumpsuit, being led by Sheriff Forbes herself from the elevator towards a room that was apparently set up for lawyers and their criminal clients. Jeremy had taken one glimpse at us and hung his head, hair swinging forward to hide his face.

Maria Miller, the attorney from Charlottesville Jenna had hired early this morning, arrived shortly after. She was a short woman—the top of her head barely came up to Elena's shoulder—who seemed to make up for her lack of stature with an authoritative presence. She marched rather than walked, shoulders thrown so far back it was a wonder her back didn't curve the wrong way. She'd greeted Jenna and I before following Sheriff Forbes, who knew her by name, into the room Jeremy had disappeared into. Liz assured us we'd be able to visit with Jeremy for at least an hour as soon as he was done with counsel.

"You picked a real good attorney, Jenna," Liz said. "Maria's gotten better deals than I think some of her clients deserved. In this case, I'm glad she'll be representing Jeremy."

"That's good to know," Jenna replied, still pale and wan from her meeting with Miller this morning. "She's going to talk to me as soon as she's done with Jer, but do you know when we can expect him to see a judge?"

"Well, it's hard to say for sure. But the docket isn't too busy. Should be within a few days."

"Thanks, Liz."

"No problem." She looked as if she wanted to say more, but just settled for a tight smile. "You two hang in there."

We waited for another hour before Miller marched out. She caught sight of Jenna and came straight over.

Jenna stood up as she closed in, and I followed Jenna's lead. "Thank you for coming," she said.

"It's my job," Miller replied. Sharp brown eyes turned to me. She held out a hand. "You must be Elena, Jeremy's sister."

No, but, "Yeah." My hold was considerably softer than hers as we shook. "Is Jeremy going to get to come home?"

"I was about to discuss that with your aunt," she replied diplomatically. Right.

"Elena, will you go get me a coke?" Jenna asked, digging a five out of her purse. "And whatever you'd like to drink," she added as she handed it over.

I guessed this was attorney, client, and client's guardian talk only. "Sure, Jenna." I took the five, gave a smile. "It was nice to meet you."

"You too."

I wandered off down the hall, hoping I'd find a vending machine sooner rather than later.

I followed the distant tap-tap of fingers on keyboards. It sounded so much like an office, a wave of homesickness flew over me. Biting the inside of my cheek, I soon found myself at the center of what must've been the sheriff station.

It was a large room with rows of desks to either side. A computer monitor sat on each on, each the same model a few years older than the year the show had started in. Tall file cabinets lined the walls between the windows. A few of the desks were manned, men and a few women sorting through files or tapping away at their keyboards.