Chapter 24
Barely three months after the fateful night at the loft where Brian shared the painful details of his past, the trial went ahead and started at the Pittsburgh Municipal Court under the presidency of Judge Miltner. Melanie had warned them that Judge Miltner was not a good choice for presidency of their case as he was known for his conservate views, but they had been prepared from the beginning that this might be a legal battle that could involve several levels of jurisdiction and would most definitely involve appeals from both sides and might in the end go up to the Supreme Court of the United States if needed. Melanie had informed them that her law firm would fight this battle until the bitter end and would fight for Brian's freedom on every level that was needed. While it had been nice to hear that, Brian and Justin hadn't been able to hide their disappointment when they had heard that the first judge to preside over their case would already be a hard nut to crack.
The legal proceedings went on for five weeks and many witnesses and legal experts had been heard. On this level the case had only attracted some local media, but everyone had been aware that that would change once the case moved on to the next level.
There had been some favourable reports in anti-slavery affiliated press outlets and they had received many messages of support from anti-slavery groups, but they had also received just as many messages of hate from the other side, telling them to go back to where they had come from. Some messages had even included threats to both Brian's and Justin's safety which everyone involved had taken very seriously.
The five weeks had been hard on both men involved, but especially Justin had shown a strength and will that had also pushed Brian forward. Justin had not allowed any of the negative press or messages to get to him and also hadn't allowed them to impact Brian too much. He had made sure to not keep any messages from Brian and they had openly talked about the threats as well, but it had been Justin who had pulled them through that first trial and had kept them going.
On the day they had received the verdict, which much to their disappointment, but not really surprisingly hadn't been in their favour, it had also been Justin who had pulled Brian through that low and had made him keep on fighting for his freedom. It had been Justin who had been by Brian's side when Brian had refused to see or speak to anyone and it had been Justin who had reminded Brian that they might have lost this one battle, but the whole fight was far from over. It had been Justin who had refused to give up and who had refused to let Brian give up either. It had been Justin who with his gentle ways of loving, caring and persuasion had gotten Brian to agree to what they had talked about months before: They would fight to the bitter end and would try whatever they could to get Brian's freedom. It had been Justin who had reminded Brian of why they were fighting and it had been Justin who had been by Brian's side when Brian had seen his mother and sister appear on local TV and applaud the judge's decision to keep Brian's status as a slave as it was, claiming that it was what Brian deserved after having been nothing but a troublesome boy when he had grown up. Brian had been by Justin's side when Justin's father had appeared on TV claiming that Brian and Justin were nothing but sick perverts and that any claims of torture were ridiculous and that yes, punishments had taken place, but he had been well within his rights to administer those punishments.
It hadn't been easy, but they had made it through that first trial the way they would make it through the rest of the fight as well: Together with the support of their friends and family.
Almost every evening some family members had come over and had spent time with them, distracting them from only thinking about the trial even in their spare time. Whenever possible the family had sat with them in the courthouse showing their support by sitting right behind them during all of it.
Brian and Justin had felt loved and well cared for and had appreciated all the support they had received from the family they had chosen to be theirs.
As promised, Melanie and her colleagues had taken their case to the next level and barely six months after they had lost the first trial, their case had been heard by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. This time they had been prepared for the kind of media attention they would be getting and had been prepared for unwanted interviews with people they didn't really consider family anymore.
Being prepared however, didn't mean that hearing supposed family members say on TV that you deserved to be tortured and abused got any easier.
Justin hated what the media attention was doing to Brian and he hated how withdrawn Brian became during these trials. Brian would become really quiet, would hardly talk, not even to Justin and would mostly keep to himself even if they were spending time with family and friends. Justin could only imagine how hard all of it had to be on Brian and all he could do was support his boyfriend in any way possible that he could come up with.
Once again they lost their case and this time Justin was scared to see that Brian was losing his will to fight. He could remember many fights and discussions about what they were doing obviously not working and maybe not being worth all the media attention and trouble they went through.
It had scared Justin to see Brian that hopeless and in the end it had been Melanie who had sat down with Brian and had explained to him how many cases got lost on a state level, but then got overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States. She reminded Brian that the fight was not over until they had lost their case there and that she and her law firm would keep fighting for him until they had made it there. She would not be giving up on him and he better not give up on them either.
Justin had felt Brian's reluctance when the case had moved on to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, but had been glad that for whatever reason Brian had agreed to still keep on fighting even though it was obvious to everyone around him that he was slowly beginning to lose hope.
Their friends and family would do their best to encourage Brian and especially Melanie would throw numbers at him of cases lost in the lower levels of jurisdiction but then won at the Supreme Court, but it was obvious to anyone that by that time Brian was quickly losing whatever will to fight he had had in the beginning and was ready to let go of their case.
“Brian? Do you want us to end this right here and now?” Justin asked quietly as he looked over at Brian's tense shoulders on the chair next to his.
“What?” Brian seemed to come back from being caught in his own thoughts and looked at Justin in confusion.
“Do you want us to end this right here and now?” Justin repeated his earlier question and looked at his boyfriend from worried eyes.
“Why are you asking that?”
“Because your heart is not in this and hasn't been in weeks. You don't want this, do you?” Justin asked honestly, running his hand over Brian's thigh. “You hate every minute of it.”
“Justin...,” Brian sighed, but then didn't continue. He raised his head and looked straight ahead, refusing to meet Justin's concerned gaze.
“Just be honest with me... if you don't want this, I will tell them to stop it right now!”
“Ten minutes before the case is being heard by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania?”
“I don't give a shit,” Justin shrugged, then gave Brian's leg a squeeze. “All I give a shit about is you and you obviously don't want this. So... say the word and I'll let them know it's over.”
“And then? What?” Brian frowned, for the first time meeting Justin's eyes and Justin could see the pain in the hazel ones that met his blue ones.
“Then we just go back to our lives and make it work. As we have for years...,” Justin whispered.
Brian silently shook his head, but didn't say anything else which made Justin frown.
“Brian?”
“You're right. I hate this. I hate every minute of this and no, if it were up to me, I wouldn't want this, but...”
“It is up to you. If you don't want this, we're out of here in a minute,” Justin promised and Brian could hear the honesty in his voice.
“And what will I say to Gus when he's old enough to understand? What will I say to Molly? Everyone has been through so much because of me, because of us, because of our idea to take on this fight...,” Brian started, but didn't finish.
Justin could hear the pain in Brian's voice and he knew that Brian felt responsible for Molly having left her school when the hostilities of some right wing students and their parents had gotten too much. Molly hadn't cared much, had only said that she had hated school anyway and she had only been too happy when Ben had offered to step up and help her with homeschooling, thankfully, much like Justin she was extremely smart and did very well even without being in a formal school environment, but Justin knew that Brian had blamed himself for Molly having had to leave her school. He knew that Brian had taken it very hard and that no matter what he himself, his mom or Molly had said, Brian had continued to see it as his fault.
“They will understand. You know they will...,” Justin said seriously, knowing that he was right. Everyone had seen the strain the last year and a half had taken on Brian and everyone knew how hard this trial was for him. They would understand if he didn't have the strength to go on.
“And you? Would you?” Brian didn't look at Justin when he asked that question and Justin's heart broke.
“Of course,” Justin whispered, making Brian look at him. “This is your decision, not mine. I promised you it would always be yours and... I promised to be by your side for whatever you decide.”
“I hate this... I fucking hate this...”
“I know,” Justin whispered once more, slowly leaning in and kissing Brian's lips gently. “I know you do and you have no idea how much I love you for having fought for this long.”
“I am tired of it all... I just... I just want a fucking normal life. Is that too much to ask?”
Justin felt all the pain he could hear in Brian's voice like stabs to his own heart and his heart broke for his boyfriend at his side. “And you would deserve it. More than anyone.”
“Lets face it, it will never be a reality. Not as long as the system is the way it is... All these court dates, all these trials... we never stood a chance anyway with how the establishment works...,” Brian spat and Justin ran his hand through Brian's hair. He hated to hear Brian speak like that, but he knew only too well why Brian felt the way he did.
“Don't say that... it's not over until it's really over,” Justin said quietly, repeating a mantra their lawyers would often use in their presence.
“You really believe that?” Brian raised an eyebrow and his challenging look met Justin's.
“Yes, I do! I have to... for both of us,” Justin whispered honestly, leaning in once more for another gentle kiss of support.
“I wish I had your fighting spirit,” Brian murmured and Justin couldn't help but chuckle.
“Don't let them take that away from you, too. It's not over until we say it's over or the Supreme Court does,” Justin said seriously.
“And we both know I would regret it for the rest of my life and would never hear the end of it from Molly and Gus once he's old enough to understand if I gave up before we made it there,” Brian sighed, though his eyes were dancing with the mischief that Justin loved to see so much.
“You would regret it, but not for them... you would regret it for yourself. You don't shy away from a fight just because it's hard. Don't let them make you start now,” Justin said sincerely as he once more squeezed Brian's leg in support, then looked at his boyfriend with a question in his eyes.
“So... what do you want to do?”
“Lets win this thing,” Brian said with a smirk, squeezing Justin's hand on his leg, smiling when his boyfriend directed his Sunshine smile at him.
And that had been that decision. They had gone on with their case being heard by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania which had now also started to garner attention on a national level. Other news stations around the country had started to pick up on the anti-slavery case from Pittsburgh and Justin's and Brian's names only became more known around the country. That increased the support, but also the hate that was directed at them and by now they mostly didn't leave their apartment anymore unless they had to attend a court date or a meeting with their lawyers.
They both hated the unwanted attention, but they had been prepared for it and had known that it would die down once the case was over.
Their friends and family did what they could to support them and often came by for visits and to spend time with them. Gus also spend a lot of time with them at the loft which did them both, but especially Brian, a lot of good. Gus was a ray of sunshine and always managed to make them forget about what was going on.
After another four weeks of their case being with the State Supreme Court, they got their verdict which had once again been a ruling against them. Neither Brian nor Justin had really expected to win the case at this point, but some good news would have been nice for a change.
Melanie and their other lawyers had met with them and had advised them that the case would now be moved to the Supreme Court of the United States and they were hopeful that they would get the case heard there and that the Supreme Court judges would consider it a case worth hearing.
Brian and Justin only hoped that they were right because at this point they just couldn't wait for everything to be over and for finally getting a final decision, no matter what that decision might be in the end. Especially Brian was growing tired of fighting and their friends and family also noticed how Justin's cheery and positive facade slipped more and more often. Both men had been fighting for more than two years now to get Brian his freedom legally and it was time a final decision would be made. Everyone agreed.