She almost started shaking as he stood and buttoned his jacket again and walked over to the stand.

“There seems to be a pattern of violence here,” he said, she gave him a confused look, was he taking her side? He continued, “it seems like there is one common factor in all these incidents, you.”

The crowd murmured and everyone looked pissed off except for Luke and his parents and a few of his supporters. About half of his supporters had just got up and left after they had played the tape and out of the half that stayed a few were looking at him angrily. They had been duped into thinking Luke was a good guy until they had heard what a monster he could be. She blinked at Mr. Adams and didn’t respond because she was in shock at what he’d just said.

“Ms. Valarian?” he said.

“You didn’t ask me a question,” she said.

“I said that you seem to be the common factor for my client’s violent outbursts,” he said.

“That’s not a question, it’s a ridiculous accusation,” she said.

“I’m not accusing you of anything Ms. Valarian, I’m just stating the facts, I’m not even saying you intentionally did anything wrong on purpose, just that maybe you bring out the worst in my client,” he said.

She let out a sarcastic laugh, “do you know how many abusers use that same excuse, it’s called victim-blaming and gaslighting.” She looked at Avery who gave her a look and put his hand out a little telling her to calm down. So she said, “I believe that you’re mistaken, I’ve told you about the times he was violent with me and only those times because I could not be aware of the times he was violent when I wasn’t there, you’re confusing my giving only my side of the story with causation.”

“Excuse me?” he asked.

“Just because I’ve told you what he has done to me, doesn’t mean he hasn’t been violent with other people that I don’t know about, which would make the common factor Luke instead of me,” she said.

He turned to the court, “do we have any evidence that my client has been violent other than the times that Ms. Valarian was directly involved?”

“He killed someone when I wasn’t there,” Raine said.

“Ah that’s my point, he was upset with you, he was mad enough to call you despite what you said was a fear of your connections to the mafia,” he said.

“A fear that was not based in reality,” she clarified.

“Nevertheless, what caused him to call you, as we heard from the tape was that you were out with another man,” Mr. Adams said.

“My boyfriend, I was on a date with my boyfriend, I don’t see that as being anyone’s business especially not someone I had broken up with over a year prior,” she said.

“I’m not saying the anger was justified, or that you did something wrong, but I am saying that you are still the common factor,” Mr. Adams said.

“Objection,” Mr. Knight said then sighed, “Is there even a point to this Mark?” Apparently, Mr. Adams first name was Mark.

“Of course, the prosecution is trying to make a case that my client is a dangerous and violent person who should be locked away for life, and I’m saying that maybe the problem isn’t with him, maybe it’s her,” he said pointing to Raine.

“Even if that were true, what are you going to do send me to mars?” she asked.

Mr. Adams laughed, “I’m not suggesting we do anything with you besides tell you to stay away from my client because maybe you do bring out these violent tendencies in him.”

She sat back and crossed her arms and glared at him, he continued, “let’s talk about the fight you had about having kids.”

“I already told the court everything that I remember,” she said.

“But my client says you pushed him, insulted him, called him a what? A monster?” Mr. Adams said, “you didn’t tell us that part, walk us through it.”

She just glared at him some more, so he said, “okay, I have Luke’s description of the events, you were watching a movie at his house, he picked the movie ‘knocked up’, sound familiar?” She nodded so he continued, “then my client started talking about how many kids he’d like to have, not in an argumentative manner, just casual conversation. To which Ms. Valarian replied her distaste for children,” he stopped and looked at her and shook his head.

“I didn’t say that,” she said.

“What did you say then?” he asked.

“I said, that we’d already discussed it and he knew I didn’t want to have kids, then he got mad,” she said.

“And then he told you he’d always wanted to have kids and that he thought you might change your mind, so you responded that even if you did change your mind someday you’d never have kids with him because he is a monster,” Mr. Adams finished. He looked at her expectantly, but she was already smelling the pine scent of Luke’s living room, she could hear Seth Rogan’s silly laugh in the background, her vision got blurry as Luke started walking toward her and he started punching her in the abdomen, she cried out in pain. She heard a voice, “she’s having a flashback, Raine, come back, it’s not really happening right now, you’re in court with me, Krista.” She started to remember something someone had told her as Luke delivered another blow and she cried out again and fell down. Breathe in through your nose and count to three, and exhale and count one, two, three, Luke kicked her in the stomach, and she held it defensively and started sobbing, “please stop kicking me.” She had to get out of this, something she could smell, Krista’s perfume, she opened her eyes and saw the floor, she was bent over holding the front of the podium she was setting behind. She was hyperventilating, and she tried to hear something other than Luke yelling. Krista’s muffled voice came to her and she was holding out a stick of gum, already unwrapped and Raine let her stick it in her mouth and she started to chew. The taste was cinnamon, and she focused on that taste for a second. She could smell the cinnamon, and taste it, she could feel the wood of the podium digging into the flesh of her hands from where she was squeezing so hard. She could see the courtroom and everyone’s wide eyes looking at her. Elliot was standing with two officers holding him by the shoulders as he looked at her desperately, wanting to come to her aid. They must’ve only let Krista come up because she was a professional psychologist.

“Are you okay?” Krista asked, rubbing her back.

“I… I was there, I remembered him,” she stopped afraid it would trigger more flashbacks, “I need Elliot,” she sobbed.

Krista turned to the Judge, “we have to take a break, she needs a break, it’s not negotiable.”

The Judge nodded and said, “the court will take lunch, and resume in half an hour.” She banged her gavel and people started to get up, the officers let Elliot go and he jumped over the gate separating the attorneys from the audience. He ran up to Raine and she saw the Judge eyeing him curiously, as he and Krista helped her down onto the main floor. Raine grabbed his shirt with both hands and he put his arms around her and whispered, “I’m here baby.”

They walked her out into the hall, and she leaned back against the wall, Elliot put his arm around her under her arm to help her stay standing.

Darlene ran out, “is she okay?”

“Darlene please go tell Papi I’m okay, so he doesn’t worry,” Raine said.

The Judge came out as she said it and gave her a sympathetic look, “is she alright?” she asked Krista.

“She will be okay, she just had a major flashback to something she previously had suppressed, for her it’s like it was happening at that moment,” Krista explained.

Raine was holding her stomach, “it still hurts.”

“That’s psychosomatic, it will ease up, it’s not real,” Krista told her.

“It still hurts like hell,” Raine groaned. Elliot whimpered and pulled her to him kissing her forehead, she could feel his bottom lip trembling against her skin. She touched his face and nuzzled her head into his shoulder and neck. A crowd started to form around them of people coming out of the courtroom. Avery stopped to ask how she was and then Bethany and Papi came out assisted by Leon, Darlene followed.

Krista put her hands up, “she’s going to be okay but she needs some room and air, please don’t crowd her.”

“She can rest in my chambers,” the Judge said, “I’m going to go get some lunch anyway.”

“Thank you so much,” Elliot said.

“Okay, thank you,” Krista said. A cop escorted Krista, Elliot, and Raine to the Judge’s chambers and Elliot sat her in one of the chairs. The cop stood inside the door with his arms folded in front of him.

“She can’t continue this, not today,” Elliot said.

“I don’t want to do this again, I want to get it over with today,” Raine sobbed.

“We can see if you can come back next week if the Judge allows it if you can’t finish today,” Krista said.

“No, I want to finish this today, I have to, it’s the only thing that will really make me feel better, I need to hear that he’s never going to hurt anyone else,” Raine said, “please let me do this, I can fight through it, I know I can.”

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Krista smiled at her, “there you are.”

“What do you mean?” Raine asked.

“I knew you had that fighter in you,” Krista said. Raine smiled and asked Elliot if he could try and find her some ginger ale and bring her the rest of her crackers. Surprisingly he found some and helped her eat her crackers by handing her one at a time, so it didn’t seem like she needed to eat a lot at once. The cop by the door watched her and tried to be as out of their way as possible.

“Don’t you guys want lunch?” Raine asked them.

“I ate a big breakfast,” Krista said.

“I’m fine,” Elliot told her, and she said, “hey you were on my case about not eating.”

He smiled, “but someone brought me a bunch of food yesterday like the sweetest girlfriend in the world and I ate a lot, then I had some mac and cheese and then I ate most of the ice cream you said you wanted.”

She smiled at him, then the Judge came in and said, “is she feeling better?”

“Yes, I think she wants to get back to it and get it over with, quickly if possible,” Krista said.

The Judge nodded and they all headed out to take their places and let the Judge prepare for the rest of the trial. Raine sat back down next to Elliot and she made sure Papi saw that she was doing better.

Avery and Sarah’s parents turned to ask how she was, and she smiled and assured them that she was fine. It broke her heart more to know they were concerned about her mental state even though they’d just lost their own daughter. People like them did not deserve to have pain like this.

When the Judge came back Mr. Adams got up and called Raine to the stand again. She got up and a cop walked beside her to make sure she made it okay. Her legs shook but she made it on her own. Once she was seated Mr. Adams asked her if she was okay and she nodded. She saw the pain and apology in his eyes and knew that he hated being Luke’s lawyer.

“So where were we?” he asked, “oh I was going to ask for clarification, you said that he took your internal organs, but lots of women get hysterectomies, especially ones that don’t want children like you’ve stated to be the case with yourself.”

“He still took the choice away from me, it wasn’t some medical problem or a decision, he beat them until they ruptured,” she stopped to focus on the room before she had another flashback, “the point is it doesn’t matter what I wanted, I still don’t want kids, but he took that from me, he took that choice from me, he took organs from me, he took and took and took… but he didn’t take everything,” she paused and looked at Sarah’s parents, “not from me anyway, I’m still here, I’m still alive, but there are the parents of a fifteen-year-old girl setting right there who lost their world, he took their daughter, he took her life… sure he took a lot from me but I still have a chance to live my life and be happy, aside from my mental problems and PTSD, I am happy. But Sarah, the girl we are really here fighting for today doesn’t get that chance, no matter what he has taken from me, it doesn’t compare to all that he has taken from that little girl. And you know when I first heard about what happened to her I felt guilty like I should have stopped him sooner, but you know what, someone reminded me that I tried, I went to the police multiple times, I reported him multiple times but they never did anything, why? Because it’s a ‘personal issue’? Because women are dramatic and overreact? Because women are trying to get innocent men in trouble? Because women are asking for it? No those are excuses told over and over again by a sexist system and society. A society and a justice system that watches men like Ted bundy and Elliot Rodgers massacre women and watches young men commit mass shooting after mass shooting and murder after murder when in almost all those cases, all those men had previously been reported for domestic violence, when are we as a society and when is the justice system going to start taking domestic violence as seriously as it is, because it is almost always the first act of violence when it comes to these massive tragedies, if you don’t care enough about the victims of domestic violence at least care about the murder victims that will almost certainly follow, I don’t mean any disrespect to this court in particular but we have to start somewhere and if I had been taken seriously the first, second or third time I tried to report my abuser, that little girl would still be alive today, I know that and we all know that, don’t let another white man who gets mad and hurts people when he doesn’t get his way, get his way one more time because it will lead to more people getting hurt and possibly killed. We can’t undo the mistakes of the past and we can’t go back and take the domestic violence victims of Ted Bundy and men like him seriously before it’s too late, because it is too late, but we do have the choice to start today,” she took a breath and looked at the Judge, “you have that choice, we can’t give Sarah back the choices he took from her, but you can choose to give her justice, and you can choose to help me feel safe again for the first time since I met that man.”

The Judge looked at her with tears in her eyes and Raine realized she was standing up, the whole room was quiet and most of the people in the room started to clap. The judge banged her gavel, “that is enough, not saying it wasn’t earned but it’s not appropriate for the courtroom.”

“I still have some questions,” Mr. Adams said.

“I think you are quite done, don’t you Mr. Adams,” the Judge said winking at Raine, she knew then that she had won, that justice had won, the Judge said, “Ms. Valarian you may take your seat.”

They sat through some more court talk about legal issues that Raine didn’t hear because her head was spinning. The Judge said she’d be out with a verdict and sentencing in a couple of hours and that everyone could come back then.

“Doesn’t this usually take a few days or something?” Raine asked Avery when they were walking out.

“Usually but the FBI has really been rushing this one,” he said. Dom joined them and they all went to a nearby pizza place to eat and wait for the verdict.

Once all eight of them were able to get a table together, they ordered some food and talked.

“I can’t believe that speech you gave,” Dom said to Raine.

“Girl was on point,” Leon said.

“I don’t know where it came from it just started coming out,” she said, blushing a little.

“I am so proud of my Raindrop, no matter what happens, you are everything I hoped you’d grow up to be,” Papi said taking her hand. She looked around the table at all the people who were there for her and smiled. They talked and laughed, and she was so glad her part of this was over, but deep down she was still nervous about the outcome, she prayed he would get life. She finally was able to eat, so she downed a slice of pizza and even made Elliot give her a couple bites of his, which he gave happily. When they were done he asked her to step outside for a minute, so they excused themselves and went out and found a quiet corner of the street.

She took his hand and smiled at him, “what’s up?”

“I just wanted a minute alone, to tell you how proud I am of you when you stood up and started saying that stuff,” he paused and grinned, “it just made me realize how much we have in common, you care… you care about the world and people, and I somehow love you more than I did already, it’s like everything you do makes me love you even more. Also, Mr. Robot was there with us, he wanted me to tell you that your ‘cool uncle’ couldn’t be prouder?” he said with a curious expression.

She laughed, “it’s a little inside joke, tell him thanks… and thank you, I couldn’t have made it through today without you, I know I was trying to be strong and didn’t want you to baby me but you knew that’s what I needed and I did, it really was necessary and I…” she paused, trying not to cry, “I can’t thank you enough.”

“Come here,” he said pulling her into a hug.

“Now comes the waiting,” she sighed.

“Are you nervous about it?” he asked as she pulled back and looked up at him.

“Yea, not as nervous as I was about testifying and I truly feel like we won, that Sarah won, the Judge gave me a look and I don’t know I just feel like it’s going to be okay, but I still can’t help but be a little nervous because we don’t know for sure yet,” she said.

“Well you did all you could, now we just have to leave it up to the Judge,” he said, “let’s go in and try to get our minds off it for a while, Darlene is probably telling everyone we came out here to fuck or something.”

She laughed and took his arm and let him lead her back in, to their table. Everyone was talking about everything besides the trial and she knew it was for her benefit and she was grateful. Time passed and she almost forgot what they were waiting for. Then Dom got a text on her phone and told them it was time to go back.