Reading Time: 92 Minutes

Title: Finding Justice
Series: Priceless
Series Order: 6
Author: SASundance
Fandom: NCIS, Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis, Criminal Minds; JAG
Genre: Crime Drama, Crossover, Family, Kid!fic, Science Fiction
Relationship(s): Gen, background pairings
Content Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Rape/Non-con/Dub-con, Slavery, Torture, Violence – Graphic, Violence – Domestic and/or Against Children , Violence – graphic, offscreen torture, discussions of past and offscreen rape/non-con, issues around the loss of free will, loss of bodily autonomy, mind control, past murder of OC character, discussions of miscarriage and abortion, discussions of slavery and implications of mind control, non-consensual drug use, discussion of past domestic violence, discussion of canon vaccination and future vaccination programs, discussion of past canon unethical medical experimentation, character bashing (Elizabeth Weir and Ziva David). Not friendly to: McKay, Gibbs, Keller, McGee, Vance. (Note: slavery, mind control, autonomy issues are related to canon events)
Word Count: 108,153
Summary: The Interstellar Tribunal begins hearing the first of the two trials of Lucius Lavin for being an accessory to Col Sheppard’s abduction before he must finally answer to the Tribunal for his actions, seizing control of Atlantis and the sexual assault and rape of five Lanteans, six years ago. The survivors will get a chance to confront Lucius and tell their stories to the court, hopeful of finally seeing justice done and putting their demons to rest. Halling helps to outmanoeuvre the Winyan Elder Council, aided and abetted by Ishta, and the Tribunal agrees to hear an appeal to overturn the conviction of Winyan survivors. Meanwhile, Tony and his alter-ego, Thomas Magnum, track down the attacker of Leoosh Benn, who is still fighting for his life, uncovering even darker motives that will rock the villagers.
Artist: Angelicinsanity

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Chapter 10

Aaron watched relieved as the two Pegasus members of AR-1 began their preparations for the ritual Teyla wished to carry out. First off, the Athosian and the Satedan approached Kanaan and Alex who were seated right in the front row where they could offer moral support to her. The two warriors proceeded to shuck off their long leather coats which were obviously of Pegasus design and origin, before handing them over for safekeeping to the two men in the first row. In return, Alex produced a set of bantos rods and passed them over to Dex while Kanaan did the same for his beautiful Athosian lover. He also pulled a piece dark coloured soft fabric – silk or something similar- out of his pocket and gestured for Teyla to turn away from him. Swiftly and confidently, he blindfolded her, placing Teyla’s small hand into Ronon’s much larger one before the Satedan man led her gently into the central space and helped her to sit cross-legged on the ground.

She began to chant lowly – a prayer to the Ancestors – as Ronon set up a scented candle before her and the chamber filled with a spicy but unfamiliar scent. At the end of her invocation to the Ancestors, calling for strength and wisdom, Ronon extinguished the candle’s flame between his thumb and middle finger before disposing of it, handing it off to Ishta with a respectful bow. Next, the tall powerfully built Satedan took a small leather drawstring pouch out of his leather pants and removed his boots, tucking them out of the way behind the Decerno’s seat as everyone watched mutely and Teyla waited silent and regal. Ronon tipped the contents of the pouch into his hand and people could see he held some sort of dust or bright yellow sand in his large palm.

In reality, Hotch knew that it was chalk, used especially in Athosian rituals and ceremonies but this particular batch of chalk was of special significance to her as she explained to him earlier after she collected it. It came from their old planet where she had grown up from childhood and then served as the Athosian leader when Teyla’s father Tagan who was the Athosian leader, had been culled by the Wraith. She’d collected a plant that seemed somewhat like the saffron plant back on Earth so she could dye the chalk a golden yellow. Yellow, she’d explained was a colour which was sacred to the Ancestors – yellow being associated with light and Ascension. Now while she waited, with great care, Ronon sprinkled it in a wide circular boundary line, roughly two fingers thick, enclosing them in a circle and lastly, returning the leather pouch deep into his pocket before picking up his own bantos rods and taking up a place directly opposite Teyla.

The two warriors from the Pegasus galaxy now stood facing each other, one wearing a blindfold. That was when it struck Hotch as he viewed the two, dressed as they were, in their own Athosian and Satedan style of clothing, which starkly emphasised that these two were not from planet Earth. Of course, he already knew that but seeing them dressed every day in their Atlantis uniforms which helped them blend in, it was very easy to overlook the fact that they came from very different worlds to him. As they prepared to participate in an important ritual, both warriors wore a combination of leather clothing and hand spun and handwoven fabrics, well designed for utility of purpose, fashion and aesthetics coming in a distant second. Which was not to say that the clothes were ugly. Far from it. But it was both the utilitarian characteristics and their bodies which their outfits clothed, honed by a lifetime of training, scars that marred their physical perfection but spoke of survival, which augmented the clothes in a way that fashion or mere physical beauty would never hope to emulate.

Particular Teyla, whose clothing was both form-fitting, yet yielding and feminine. She wore a mostly leather top that covered her breasts but ended just underneath them. The midriff top showed off her smooth expanse of copper-coloured skin, revealing various scars attesting to her status as a warrior of skill and cunning, definitely nothing of the dilettante about her. Teyla’s toned, well-defined abdomen was hard and flat, while her bare shoulders and well-muscled yet slender forearms and lean back bore further witness to her strength and power. Her life force fairly radiated from her like an energy field.

At first glance, the bottom half of her outfit seemed far more demure – a wide band of leather sat low on her hips, Athosian strips of homespun fabric descending to the tops of her calves at right angles to the leather waistband of her skirt. It seemed to cover her lower half quite modestly. However, when she moved, the fabric would flare out, the slits revealing her shapely thighs and legs which were also toned and muscled from years of fighting. Her small feet were bare, and Hotch thought she moved with the grace of a big cat such as a jaguar or a tiger. She was a beguiling combination of grace and stealth, power, and finesse and Hotch couldn’t help but admire her loveliness.

Turning his attention to her fellow warrior, who was built like a mountain, his Satedan clothing showing off his impressive musculature which had females in the tribunal chamber trying not to swoon, including several SFs. With his long dark locks and unique handmade clothes – he looked as if he had just stepped out of the cover of a chick-lit novel that graced the checkouts of some grocery stores in the past. Although his leather trousers weren’t painted on, they were roomy enough to allow him room to move and fight without restriction. His sleeveless vest with the leather thong laced through eyelets ensured that it stayed in situ while it still left plenty of his torso exposed, showing off his massive biceps but unlike Teyla’s form-fitting and tiny top, Ronan’s covered the majority of his broad back.

As if by some psychic connection, the pair bowed silently to each other before Teyla struck out with her bantos rods coming far too close for comfort, almost connecting with Ronon’s stomach. He ducked and weaved out of her way at the last second before pivoting and striking out at her left shoulder. Although she was blindfolded, she seemed to have an innate knowledge of where he was and where he planned to attack her. Several times each warrior manage to land a glancing blow to their opponent but neither Teyla nor Ronon flinched or made a sound. The chamber seemed entranced by their battle; Teyla in particular seemed to become a whirling dervish of spins and counter-spins. Their intensity seemed to step it up a notch and Teyla rather than tiring, seemed to go from strength to strength.

Ronon, though big and powerful seemed to gradually become less graceful while Teyla maintained an economy of movement, every spin, weave, and pivot deliberate and controlled. Aaron could not take his eyes off of the pair, although he forced himself to check out Lucius Lavin and Paracletus Hano and saw that both men seemed mesmerised by Teyla, and he suspected rather intimidated. There was no doubt in Hotch’s mind that the balletic display, while breathtakingly beautiful, was also deadly if her opponent was not as skilled as Dex. Still, there could be no confusion that for all the grace and beauty Teyla demonstrated with her bantos, she was a master proponent of this Athosian martial art, and her ability truly elevated it to something akin to high art.

As Ronon stumbled slightly, the blindfolded artisan struck, going in for the kill. Striking at the underside of his kneecap and forcing him to the ground, she attacked with a not-so-gentle blow to his solar plexus as she finished up with a rod to his throat, cutting off his airway.

At this point, Ronon knew he was on the ropes and announced, “I concede,” making sure he went limp, so she knew it wasn’t a feint to catch her off guard.

Bowing her head in recognition of Ronon’s submission, Aaron realised that the two words spoken by Dex had been the only verbal sound uttered during their ritual interaction. The only other sounds which had punctuated their encounter were the staccato cracks of their bantos connecting with each other, the duller thud of the bantos striking flesh, the rustle of clothing, particularly Teyla’s flowing skirt, the sound of bare feet on the ground and occasionally bantos striking their adversary. Other than that, the challenge had been conducted in total silence – even their breath had been slow and measured, practically right up until the surrender.

Ronon extended his hand and Teyla seemed to know it was there – how she knew, Hotch didn’t have the foggiest notion, but he knew that in lieu of her eyesight, her other senses had obviously become more acute. She helped the Satedan to his feet, despite her weighing far less than Dex and once he regained his feet, he unbound her blindfold with gentle reverence and obvious fondness for her that neither Kanaan nor Ronon’s partner Amelia seemed bothered by.

Finally, they faced each other, both slightly bloodied, with cuts a testimony to their commitment to the ritual. This had not been performative, this had been a genuine test of her skill, her belief in herself and her commitment to the martial art; not for show but to prove something crucial to herself. Teyla smiled at her opponent although Hotch felt that Ronon was more like a partner in a subtle and intricate dance than an adversary. He felt privileged to have been a part of something profound and venerable and he suspected that most other the other spectators felt the same.

~o0o~

Teyla felt a slow awaking taking over her being. Her smile was one of contentment that she’d been able to focus on the ritual, despite her personal Oogliusa sitting right there just outside of her ritual circle. She’d overcome her feelings of weakness and shame and learnt to trust her instincts and senses as she felt the eddies and wisps of the air movement on her skin to tell her where Ronon was and what he was doing. She trusted in her sense of smell to inform her about where he was, in relation to herself and had faith in her hearing to know where in space he was with enough certainty to able to strike him, and in the end, to make him concede to her skill.

Teyla had prevailed and she no longer felt like a victim, she had taken back her power. She had done it before Lucius for him to see what he had taken from her and what she had now reclaimed. Now she was truly ready to fight for justice. Approaching Ronon with assurance and resolve, she grasped the tall Satedan’s shoulders and pulled him down so that she could thank him in the time-honoured Athosian way, forehead to forehead.

She whispered to him, “Thanks be, my friend.”

She noted automatically that Dex left the space, melting back into the audience with a humility that was at odds with his usual swagger. Teyla took it as it was intended by her friend and sometimes hot-headed, stubborn warrior brother and teammate. At times he reminded her of an Athosian nartok, a rodent-like creature that was all but unkillable, fiercely monogamous to its mate and passionately protective of his family. Ronon was as respectful of her spiritual beliefs as she was of his Satedan ones. He had supported her decision to undergo the Ba Maytu Xne ritual and he’d been utterly devastated when she told her teammates what Lucius had done to her and several others. She knew that in their own ways, each man was shocked and distraught over what they saw as their failure to protect her and by extension all of Atlantis from Lavin’s attack on the city.

However, it was Ronon who took his guilt and anger, transforming it into steadfast support to help her face her demons and get through this ordeal a stronger person. Others tried to convince her that she did not need to subject herself to the Ba Maytu Xne ritual and that she didn’t have anything to prove to anyone, but Ronon understood and supported her, offering to help by participating in the ritual with her. While Kanaan would have willingly taken part in it, he was not as skilled in bantos fighting, therefore the test would not be as meaningful as it had been with a warrior who was almost her equal. As she glanced back at Alex, and smiled, she was eternally grateful that he had advocated for her and found a way that she could find her power. Kanaan, Ronin, and Alex had been her cheer squad – they believed in her and through them, she had been able to believe in herself once more.

Teyla felt reborn, almost euphoric as she realised just how much autonomy she’d gradually been relinquishing, covering up the truth and fearful of being seen as weak, a victim. During the ritual, she experienced an epiphany – that which she was most fearful of had started to affect her in many small ways that saw her surrender her power to a man who Alex called a narcissist. A man whose entire existence revolved around his needs and desires and anyone in his life was only of value if they fulfilled his need for constant and undying adulation. This was the man she allowed to become her personal Oogliusa, her mythical two-headed six- tailed-beast with razor-sharp teeth and foot-long talons. Now she realised he wasn’t worthy of that power.

Facing the tribunal members, she stood proudly in front of them, queen-like in victory but imbued with a humility that was present in all truly great leaders as she thanked them for the opportunity to regain her self-trust.

Ishta leaned forward in her seat ever so slightly and stared into the gaze of the Athosian. “And now Teyla Emmagan, former leader of the Athosian people, daughter of Tagan, leader of Athos, are you ready to tell us what happened to you when Lucius Lavin came to the City of the Ancients five years ago?”

“I am,” she replied with conviction.

“Then please take your seat in the testimony chair and we may begin,” Ishta instructed calmly.

Teyla crossed the space and sat down, taking an oath to speak the truth and her testimony got underway with no further delay. She described, after being questioned by Hotch, how she had first come to meet Lucius Lavin. Her account was remarkably consistent with the one Colonel Sheppard had given several days ago.

“What was your impression of Lucius,” Hotch inquired.

“He made me feel ill,” she said in complete honesty. “I wanted to get far away from him.”

“Why?”

“Apart from finding his sexual advances to be entirely inappropriate under the circumstances, not to say, disrespectful and rude, the whole nature of the man made my skin crawl,” she admitted.

“Because he is of a rather unattractive appearance and is physically out of shape, soft, overweight,” he said bluntly as Lucius scowled poisonously at the persequor.

Teyla looked across at Lavin, and replied, “I will not deny that both of those observations are somewhat accurate, however, people cannot help the way they are born. To me, the most important aspect of a person, let alone one who I might be attracted to is a good and kind person. Some physically beautiful people can be very mean and ugly inside and I find that very off-putting. It repels me.”

“Did Lucius repel you?”

“Yes, I found his personality and his manner to be quite repulsive, I had a similar visceral reaction to when I was close to the Wraith. I fear his soul is full of sickness so that Lucius is incapable of any higher-order behaviour and his only motivation is himself, thus if his family or friends were in danger, he would be incapable of sacrifice. In short, he would not make a good mate and would take the food out of an offspring’s mouth if there wasn’t sufficient sustenance to go around.

“Sounds like Lucius Lavin was not your ideal mate to have a child with,” Aaron observed, revealing a real gift for understating facts.

“Honestly, if faced with a choice between him and a Wraith I’d probably pick the Wraith since they don’t try to pretend to be anything other than what they are. Nor do they make any secret of why they seek us out. Lucius is conniving and dishonest along with his other less-than-admirable qualities, so no, I would never choose to have a child with him.”

“And yet you did?”

“Yes I did, but I DID NOT CHOOSE TO. I was drugged by his special herb and my mind was not under my control. All I wanted to do was whatever made Lucius happy, and he told me that having intercourse with me would make him happy and suddenly I had to do what HE wanted. Nothing else mattered.”

Aaron looked at his witness appraisingly. She seemed calm and resolute, but they had worked out a duress word should she need to take time out.

How many times did he force you to have sex with him on Atlantis, Teyla?”

“Four times,” she replied.

“And how many times did he give you his fertility tonic?”

“Four times,” was her response.

“And did you take your own Athosian tonic to prevent you from conceiving a baby?”

Sighing, she said, “I did not. He refused me leave to take it.”

“And you obeyed him, is that correct?”

“Yes. Even though Kanaan and I had agreed not to have a child yet, because of the situation with the Wraith, I didn’t take my tonic so I couldn’t conceive.”

“So even though you and the man you call your soul mate had agreed to wait before having a child, you did not take it after Lavin forced you to have unprotected sex with him, is that right? Because he forbid it,” he clarified, and she answered affirmatively.

“Despite saying if you were forced to choose between him and a Wraith you would choose the Wraith, you allowed him to have sex with you?”

“No, Persequor Hotchner, I did not choose to, I had no choice. My head would not allow me to resist his will and even if it had, I believe that the other people who he’d drugged would have willingly held me down anyway if they thought it would make him happy with them. That was the extent to which he was able to control us all.”

“He control you enough to order Colonel Sheppard to be locked up when he dared to argue with Lavin, and you agreed?”

“Yes, Persequor.”

“Enough for him to tell you that the escaped Colonel Sheppard should be hunted down and captured because he was a threat?”

“Yes, that is true too.”

“Enough control over your mind that he was able to convince you, Dr Beckett and Ronon Dex to go to a planet that had been set up as an outpost for a large number of Wraith because he had run out of his special herb and wanted you to get more for him?”

Taking a deep breath Teyla bowed her head. “That is also correct. If I or either of the others had been in our right minds, we would never have agreed to do it.”

“Tell me Teyla, did Lucius put you or Ronon in charge of the highly dangerous mission,” Aaron asked in his slow measured way, not deigning to resort to histrionic theatrical performances. There was no need!

“No, he did not,” she replied.

“Then who did he put in charge?”

“Lucius informed us that Carson Beckett was to lead the mission.”

“Really,” Hotch said sounding surprised, as were the other members of the tribunal and audience and the remainder looked on knowingly. “After witnessing your skill and the Satedan Specialist, Ronon Dex’s fearsome abilities, not to mention your experience as warriors, for the two of you to have been overlooked for such a dangerous mission, Dr Beckett must be a veritable demigod among fighters,” he observed with just a hint of irony.

Teyla looked at Hotch and shook her head. “Not really, Persequor Hotchner. Carson could barely handle a handgun without shooting his foot off by accident As for his fighting skills, they are virtually non-existent. But Carson delighted Lucius and impressed Rodney McKay by demonstrating that he could walk on his hands, which was why Lucius told us that he was to lead the team.”

“Do you honestly believe that Dr Beckett being able to walk on his hands was the reason why Lucius put him in charge,” Aaron asked her incredulously.

Shaking her head as her copper-coloured hair flew out around her she replied, ”No Persequor I do not believe that for a second.

“Then why? What possible motive could there be?”

“Humiliation,” she answered, staring implacably at Lavin who was smirking at her. “He wished to humiliate Ronon and myself and he didn’t care that he was endangering all of us by appointing someone utterly incompetent to lead such a dangerous endeavour.”

“Why would he do that?”

“Because I rejected his advances, his marriage proposal, first on Winya and then later on Atlantis, while Ronon made no secret of his dislike and his utter disdain of Lucius. It is my belief that he wished to punish us. I’m fairly certain that Lucius believed that Ronon and I were a couple because of Ronon’s anger when Lucius suggested I could become his seventh wife. So, he wanted to humiliate him to make him pay for his disrespect,” she said, maintaining eye contact with the Accusatus who was the first to look away in their battle of wills.

Aaron nodded thoughtfully. “That does seem to make a whole lot more sense than picking someone for the trick of being able to walk on their hands,” he commented dryly, and he knew he’d scored a bullseye with that shot.

On that significant note, they’d adjourned for the luncheon break, and they’d resumed one hour later. Aaron picked up on Teyla’s testimony noting that she had used most of the break to meditate, returning calm and collected, although they both knew that the pace was going to be stepped up a notch since he would be asking her some extremely detailed questions about her assaults. Plus, thanks to Agent Paddington’s prior testimony and the upcoming evidence by their forensic expert Dr Biro, it would help in joining the dots, so to speak, since Teyla and the other victims had all independently during their sworn witness statements commented on an identifying feature. One that the investigators hoped would help to corroborate their allegations.

Oh course, the DNA tests on Torren Emmagan and Felix Girard were conclusive but if there was one thing Hotch learnt about the Associate Director of the Interstellar Bureau of Investigations, he didn’t take anything for granted. He was a stickler for details and wasn’t satisfied until he had gathered every last skerrick of evidence and carefully wrapped it up in a nice big bow for presentation at trial. Never complacent, he strove for multiple avenues of conviction and as a prosecutor (or in this hearing based on the Ancient Codes of Law, the persequor) Hotch liked his style. Having multiple modes of evidence took a lot of the burden off his shoulders and he was enjoying his second stint as a prosecutor.

Of course, he didn’t enjoy what came next – forcing Teyla to go through her ordeal in excruciating detail but she was prepared, he had worked extensively with her and so had Dr O’Shea. Teyla knew what she’d signed up for, yet Hotch always felt like making a victim relive their torment in public before a bunch of strangers was a most unsatisfactory means of achieving justice. It felt a little too much like the justice system was actively participating in perpetuating a victim’s pain and humiliation and sometimes even when they won a conviction, Hotch found himself wondering if the cost was truly worth it.

Still, Teyla had been determined to hold Lucius Lavin accountable for his heinous crimes in the name of all his victims and he was forced to accept that it was her right…her choice. As Alex had reminded him, it was not their place to decide for the Athosian if the cost was too damned much for justice, since they couldn’t know the personal cost she’d already paid for what the perp had done to her. Each victim’s experience was unique. She alone must decide, and it was their job to support her decisions.

Tamping down his distaste at the next portion of the testimony, he would help her to tell her story as eloquently and succinctly as possible. If she was going to do this, then it was his responsibility to ensure it had maximum impact and went off as quickly and smoothly as possible.

Thus, Aaron did his best to help the Athosian as she recounted the litany of humiliations that Lucius had put her through. The parading of her around in front of other victims naked, as he cast aspersions on her anatomy. Forcing her to debase herself as punishment for her previous rejection of his overtures, he forced her to grovel at his feet and beg him to pleasure her. He demanded that she crawl around behind him, he spat on her and urinated on her, forcing her to beg him to treat her like a piece of filth before raping her roughly multiple times even while he manipulated her into believing that it was what she wanted.

She further testified that once she had regained control over her thoughts and emotions she was left bruised, bloody, and degraded by what she had ‘allowed’ him to do to her. Something that she would under normal circumstances allow no man to do to her and submissively accept such abuse, and even worse, to feel and express gratitude to him.

And yet, when she had finished describing the sickening abuse she had endured during the multiple rapes and sexual assaults, her spirit remain defiant, undefeated as she faced her abuser. It was Lucius Lavin who was forced to look away, forced to endure the disapprobation of the people who were present, even his paracletus… his own family could not look at him with any degree of respect, fear, or admiration – all of which he needed to bolster his enormous, yet incredibly weak ego. While in contrast, every other individual in the chamber was more than a little bit in love with Teyla Emmagan as she confronted her Oogliusa, which had beaten her down for the past six years.

She faced him down him with dignity, grace, and breathtaking courage, reclaiming her spirit while Lucius was belittled and despised. This was a situation he could not abide… but if he thought that his circumstances could not get any worse… well he was about to be disabused of that notion almost immediately. His humiliation was far from complete.

As the chamber was in awe of this warrior whose presence (some would call it her aura or energy) filled the space in the chamber, more than making up for her small stature, Aaron prepared to bring up the final nail in Lucius’ coffin that would mortify the narcissist quite comprehensively.

“Teyla we are nearly done here but if you are alright to continue for a little bit longer then I wish to ask you to identify some photos for me. Would that be okay, or do you need to take a short break before we finish up?”

Closing her eyes, she took three long deep breaths before opening her eyes and staring into Hotch’s dark brown eyes. “I am fine to continue. I wish to finish up my testimony so I can return to my family, Persequor,” she said with a serene countenance. Smiling calmly, she said, “Ask me what you will.”

He stood up, a sheaf of eight by-ten-inch photographs in his hands and approached the testimony chair which she occupied, knowing that he was heightening the curiosity of the tribunal members as Lavin and Proculus Hano began to look supremely uncomfortable, knowing what was coming next.

A few steps from Teyla’s chair he stopped. “Sorry, before I show these photos to you, I wish to show you a portion of the sworn statement you gave to Agent Alexander Paddington after you admitted to him that you had been raped by Lucius Lavin.”

He flicked a remote control nonchalantly and the highlighted section appeared on the giant screen to the right of the Venerabiles Sodales as everyone turned to study it.

“Agent Paddington asked you if the man who raped you had any distinctive features or markings that could help identify him, is that correct?”

“Yes, he did ask me that,” she confirmed.

“And what was your answer?”

“I asked him if he meant that Lucius had a smaller-than-average male organ or that he had a strange red birthmark on his left testicle,” she said.

“What was his response?”

“Agent Paddington told me, yes, exactly those sorts of details were helpful to his investigation.”

Aaron asked her the question that everyone else in the room apart from Lavin was dying to know. “How much smaller than average is Lucius Lavin’s penis, Teyla?”

She held up her hand. “I estimated that it was a little bit longer than my index finger. Agent Paddington measured my finger with an implement that he said was a ruler for measuring objects and said it was three and a half inches long, so we estimated that his organ was probably about four inches long.”

“Okay, that is a fair bit smaller than most, he said with a serious professional look on his face, but he could feel the ripple of amusement that ran through the chamber. And no doubt Lavin could too since his face was tinged a purplish shade of rage by this point. Profiler Hotch knew perfectly well that narcissists hate more than anything to be the object of laughter.

“And the strange red birthmark on your attacker’s left testicle, Teyla, how did you describe it in your statement to Agent Paddington?”

“As a roundish but irregular shape that was raised above the rest of the skin like a lump. At the time I believed it could be a blister filled with blood. Athosian children sometimes get these blisters when they jam or pinch their skin in some way.”

“How big did you say this was?”

“I estimated it was probably the size of a male’s thumbnail,” she said confidently.

“Thank you. Now if you wouldn’t mind taking a look at these photos, can you identify if this is the odd red birthmark on the left testicle that you saw on the man who raped you,” he requested, handling over half of the batch of photos.”

She looked at all of the photos quite carefully before nodding. “I believe so, Persequor Hotchner.”

He flicked his remote and up onto the screen flashed a photo of what Aaron knew to be a benign vascular tumour commonly known as a hemangioma (thanks to the forensic pathologist) on a testicle. Accompanying the photograph was a picture of an accompanying ruler and beside it a shot of a male thumbnail showing it to be of a similar size to the testicle.

“Now if you wouldn’t mind looking at these photos of the Accusatus’ organ and see if you can identify it as the one which belonged to your attacker please Teyla,” he requested as Paracletus Hano got rather reluctantly to his feet before Hotch had a chance to give Teyla the second batch of photos.

“Decerno Teal’c, I must protest. What proof is there that these photos that the witness is being shown are images of the Accusatus Lucius Lavin? This is very prejudicial to his case.”

“Only if these images are not of the Accusatus,” Teal’c rejoined before directing his unerringly focused stare on Hotch. “What do you have to say to this, Persequor Aaron-Hotchner?”

“I agree that it would be prejudicial if these were not photos that we took yesterday in the presence of his paracletus, Tulee Hano and the Atlantis forensic pathologist Dr Barbara Biro, who I intend to call to the stand after this witness to authenticate the photos I showed Ms Emmagan are those we collected yesterday in his cell.”

Decerno Teal’c cocked his head just off-centre as he considered both sides before asking Tulee, “Is this a satisfactory arrangement, Paracletus Tulee-Hano?”

Hano frowned, “No, it is far from satisfactory. I must continue to protest this matter strongly.”

Teal’c glanced back at Hotch, this time merely raising his eyebrow.

Hotch responded reasonably. “Well, the alternative as I see it to ensure that there can be no accusation of us tampering with the evidence and substituting in photographs of another man’s genital, is to examine the Accusatus’ genitals right here in court in front of the Tribunal. The second option is we could step into the room set aside for in camera testimony with one of the Venerabiles Sodales of the Tribunal and yourself to verify that these are indeed authentic photos of the Accusatus’ genitals and telecast it here into the hearing via the camera.”

At this point, Hano decided to quit while they were behind.

Chapter 11

Hotch felt a pang of guilt at Lavin and Hano who were so clearly outmatched in every regard, but he ruthlessly stomped on his compassion. Lucius Lavin was a vile and reprehensible individual who was getting better treatment than he’d offered his victims or the multitude of children he’d brought into the world because his pathetic ego needed propping up. At which point they continued with Teyla’s testimony.

Teyla agreed that this photo looked to be a similar appearance to her attacker’s. “However, I am not much experience in undersized male organs,” she told him with a regretful mien as Lucius sat glaring at her. He was fuming, his face dark with rage at the thought she was sniggering at him.

Of course, the opposite was true. She conducted herself throughout the ordeal with a great deal of grace and enviable aplomb – it was Lucius’ who projected those emotions onto her, ones he’d be experiencing if he was in her shoes. Which would have been his downfall because he was pathologically incapable of empathy. As Aaron wrapped up what must have been a harrowing ordeal for the Athosian beauty, she smiled a brief but genuine one before returning to her mask of equanimity as he sat down with a sigh of relief combined with his concern over how she would cope with the cross-examination.

Aaron had profiled Tulee as a misogynist and he’d already taken note that Teyla’s serene unflappable demeanour was like waving a red rag at a bull to him. He obviously felt that as a Winyan Council Elder, he deserved to be treated with respect, but Teyla had a high status in her own right as the daughter of a leader of her people, as well as serving as their leader before she stepped aside. She had also earned respect due to her defence of the people of Pegasus. Unlike Hano, who tried demanding respect, she was humble and polite, careful not to disrespect the beliefs of others. Hotch could see in advance that any cross-examination would be adversarial because Tulee would try to prove that as a man he was superior.

Aaron was right. Every time that Hano attacked her credibility, he chose to do so in a sneeringly superior manner, suggesting that the reason she had succumbed to the effects of the special herb so quickly was that she was weak-minded and that she should have tried harder to resist. Then there was the condescending insinuation that maybe she was a female of loose morals and thus was trying to shift the blame onto a man because she was feeble. Since that was what he believed about Lavin’s Winyan victims, this was always something that they’d all anticipated, so it wasn’t any sort of surprise. Not that anyone paid him any heed, everyone had already witnessed her taking on and beating Ronon, a man who had killed untold Wraith while he’d been on the run, many of them with his bare hands. Hano’s innuendo about her weakness was seen as exceedingly patronising and foolish. It certainly didn’t predispose anyone to look favourably on him or the man he was advocating for and Aaron at times wondered if this was a deliberate case of sabotaging Lucius. However, Tulee was a man who was convinced of his own invincibility, and he had shown a distaste at being bested in the hearing, so he thought it was more of a case of being a sore loser. What was more probable was Tulee just couldn’t help himself, even if it hurt Lucius’ cause.

The man was truly the best example of a concrete thinker that he’d encountered in eons. Again, Hotch was conscious of the flurry of guilty feelings as the paracletus continued to destroy any faint hope of getting the upper hand against Emmagan, who was simply magnificent by contrast. Her polite unflappable response to his misogyny was a masterclass in how to not let a most unpleasant individual get under your skin. He noted with amusement that Ronon Dex, who by no stretch of the imagination was patient, was being restrained by Alex, Kannan, and his partner Amelia from interjecting verbally or physically.

Finally, Hano must have read the room or finally figured out that trying to get Teyla to make a mistake was a waste of time and he threw up his hands in disgust. “Bah! It is clear that the witness is incapable of answering truthfully, I’m done!” he announced proudly like he was the one who had come away from the cross-examination as the victor instead of practically belly crawling for the door for a recess.

Of course, after a short break, Aaron had immediately called Dr Biro to authenticate the photos that Agent Paddington had collected under the supervision of Hotchner and Hano. She confirmed that they had measured the length of Lavin’s flaccid penis and determined it to be 6.62 cm, she held up a strip of red coloured cardboard to demonstrate how long that was.

“What is an average size?”

Dr Biro answered promptly, “Average flaccid measurement is 9.16 cm,” and held up another strip of blue cardboard before holding the red cardboard in one hand and the blue in the other, making it easy to compare the two.

“So, it would be reasonable for Teyla Emmagan to note that Lucius’ penis was smaller than normal,” he quizzed her over the cry of outrage from the Accusatus.

“Yes, I think it might,” Biro said mildly. Dr Biro was a good witness, she answered questions without any theatrics, and considering that forensic evidence was often crucial to getting a conviction, he figured her manner was perfect.

“And I assume that you can authenticate that Lucius Lavin does have an odd red birthmark on his left testicle?”

“Yes, I can. It is what we refer to as hemangioma, a benign vascular tumour that occurs anywhere on the body.”

When it was the turn of Tulee Hano to cross-examine her, he was loud in his protestations. “It is not seemly for a female to be discussing such intimate details of men’s anatomy in a public forum,” he objected strenuously.

Decerno Teal’c looked to Aaron for his response. Hotch grinned. “I think what Paracletus Hano is trying to say is that he is uncomfortable discussing male penile dimension with Dr Biro because she is a female,” he shrugged. “Personally, I don’t see what the problem is. Dr Biro is a respected and fully certified pathologist and medical examiner. We do not have anyone else who is as qualified to answer our questions.”

Teal’c considered the matter for all of five seconds before he announced, “I have considered Paracletus Tulee-Hano’s objection and have found it to be without merit. Do you wish for me to dismiss this witness, or will you cross-examine Dr Biro, Paracletus Tulee Hano?”

“I will do so under protest,” he grumbled, shooting a pissed-off look at Aaron.

Aron was amused that he ignored any mention of penile dimension and moved straight to Lucius’ left testicle.

“I believe during her testimony and also in her written statement, Teyla Emmagan described the distinctive mark on Lucius’ um genital region as being a blood blister. Isn’t a blood blister something that occurs due to injury?

“This is true, and a blood blister goes away.”

“If that is what it was and not a growth – a birthmark of the type that Mr Lavin has, then she was mistaken about this fact, and I submit that she is mistaken about other parts of her testimony as well,” he said contemptuously.

Dr Biro pointed out that Teyla didn’t say the mark WAS a blood blister only that it was LIKE a blood blister. “It is a common enough reaction to someone who isn’t a medical person.”

Aaron was pretty sure that no one aside from Tulee was doubting her veracity, so he wasn’t going to worry about it over much. All in all, Dr Biro finished up her testimony in her capable and understated manner before he called Captain Laura Cadman to testify about taking Kanaan’s statement, feeling happy enough with the way the hearing was proceeding. Kanaan went after Cadman and he was surprisingly rock solid, even under cross-examination by Hano. The Athosian was calm and bore out what Teyla had testified to, although he did express his anger at being robbed of fathering their child.

That not unexpectedly, had led Tulee Hano to ask if he was so distressed at not being Torren’s real father, not that he was conceding that Lucius was the boy’s father, then why didn’t he father a child with her?

Kanaan who was a gentle soul, fixed a baleful glare at Lavin and said, “Because the time has never seemed to be right for Teyla to have another child. I think she is worried that she might feel differently about a child where I was the biological father and that is scary, so as much as I would love to make a baby with her, it is my mate’s decision. I would never force anyone to have sex or carry my child against their will.”

Aaron noted Ishta looking at Kanaan in approval and Hotch was pleased. As Alex pointed out, it wasn’t just that he was a corroborating witness who Teyla had confessed to right after being attacked, but since neither he nor Teyla had ever been able to attain justice from the Wraith Michael. That lunatic had inflicted so much pain and misery on Kanaan, who had nothing whatsoever to do with the genetic manipulation that the Atlantis scientists had inflicted on the Wraith. Although, he seemed to directly blame Teyla for lying to him, despite her reservations at the time regarding Carson’s meddling. But at least they were getting a shot at justice for what had been done to them when Lucius Lavin decided to make Teyla pay for daring to reject his invitation to share his bed.

And that had to count for something!

~o0o~

That night Atlantis was buzzing. Everyone was aware of the new improved Teyla Emmagan. As leader of her people when the expedition had first stepped foot on Atlantis she had been a real force to be reckoned with. Her presence was arresting, and that was even when she was reading a mission file or only had a set of eating implements in her hands and not her beloved bantos rods, which were something a natural extension of the proud warrior. Yet, after she returned from the Odyssey having testified in the trial of Lucius Lavin’s insurrection attempt midway through their third year after their arrival, everyone noted the change. Yes, it was subtle and yet it was also utterly unmistakable.

It was her proud and confident carriage, and the way Teyla held her head up just a little more proudly than she had this morning. Always graceful, tonight she seemed to glide across the ground with dignity and leonine elegance that turned heads to watch her as she made her way into the Mess with Kanaan and Torren. The joy on her face made people curious, surely testifying about how Lucius had drugged the entire base – bar Colonel Sheppard could not be such a wondrous experience. Particularly when she was forced to admit that she had been so thrilled to go running off to a planet that was crawling with Wraith to collect more of his drug for him. Most people would find that incredibly mortifying to have to admit to and were just relieved that none of them still serving on Atlantis from that time had been tapped to testify.

However, Teyla seemed to have found it a personally fulfilling task. A few of the old-timers, those who had been there on Atlantis since the first days remembered that she and Ronon had not been in favour of returning him to his home planet like he was a naughty little child. They’d argued fiercely that he’d gained highly crucial

knowledge of everything that was in their database, including classified data on Earth and the SGC, so it was simply too dangerous to just let him go. And how prophetic had that insight been? Perhaps in testifying today, Teyla had been provided with the opportunity to say, ‘I told you so,’ and if that was the case, surely no one would begrudge her or Ronon that little indulgence. Indeed, at this point, it was universally acknowledged that Dr Weir fucked up big time when she let Lavin go back to his planet with little more than a slap on the wrist.

True, most people hadn’t given it any thought for a very long time. The fact was that anyone who’d fallen under the drug’s completely humiliating effects had tried very hard NOT to think of it at all if possible. No one had been able to resist him, and they’d all completely debased and humiliated themselves, trying to curry favour with him. More than happy to do so by sabotaging their fellow Lanteans to win his approval, but that was too damned painful to recall, so by and large, most people didn’t. They put it determinedly out of their minds and their rather battered self-esteem couldn’t help but be grateful for the self-imposed amnesia.

Yet it was human nature to ascribe to others the very motives that they were guilty of. While most people noted the rather dramatic changes in Teyla and decided it was a simple case of being vindicated which buoyed her spirits, no one who knew the truth had any intention of disavowing them of that notion. Therefore, most individuals did not know the real reason why the ISIB, ADoJ and Homeworld Command had decided to prosecute the past insurrection case. They didn’t have the slightest clue what was going on and Alex and Hotch intended that it would stay that way, not solely for the victims’ privacy.

Indeed, while Teyla felt freed after standing up to her Oogliusa and was no longer overly concerned with keeping what had happened a secret, quite literally swimming in the euphoric mix of hormones and neurotransmitters flooding her brain, clearer heads prevailed. It was Kanaan who pointed out that while she had fought and defeated her demon – and that was an awesome achievement – there were still other people to be considered in this matter, not just herself. Victims like Sofie Danziger, Monique Girard, Miko Kusanagi and Lieutenant Emilio Navarro may not wish people to know what had happened to them, plus Torren, Felix, Kazumi and Ilsa Meier would be affected if the information became common knowledge of Lavin forcing them to have non-consensual sex. Teyla agreed with Kanaan that it wasn’t just her decision and conceded that for now, it needed to remain classified, particularly since General O’Neill had pointed out that it was tied to the special herb. She agreed that the data was incredibly dangerous, as John Sheppard’s abduction and torture demonstrated.

Still, the people closest to Teyla knew why she was suddenly feeling so free and happy, having found her self-confidence and her ability to believe in herself once more. So, she reminded herself that her not speaking out about her testimony had nothing to do with shame or not wanting people to judge her for being weak and pitiful. It had everything to do with protecting people she cared deeply for and while she did not realise it yet, her personal triumphs would inspire others who needed to find their own courage.

~o0o~

Miko Kusanagi had been plagued with doubts, bad dreams, and crippling anxiety over the upcoming trial. She was wavering back and forth over whether or not to testify. Honestly, she didn’t believe she had the intestinal fortitude to testify against Lucius, even if she didn’t have to face him in court but was able to give testimony in camera during the hearing. She knew that she was weak, but she feared that if she stood up and admitted out loud to the Tribunal she’d been raped and it would make the whole ordeal more real, that she’d be less able to act like it never happened. Most of the time it was possible for Miko to pretend it hadn’t happened but in the wee small hours, when she wasn’t able to sleep for the nightmares and terrible shame of what she had done with that monster, her secret fear loomed large. Large and terrifying – as was her fear that Radek was not Kazumi’s biological father, because, in every other way, he was.

And if the worst was true, that Lucius Lavin was her daughter’s sperm donor…what then? What would she tell her daughter when she was old enough to understand? Coming from a culture where she’d been taught that being demure was an ideal for women to strive for and then for her to remember how very NOT demure she had been when that evil demon had raped her was an extremely difficult thing for her to reconcile. It made Miko feel as if she’d failed Radek, Kazumi and herself and her way of dealing with her feelings of failure was to pretend that there was no chance that Lavin had fathered her child. Now with the trial finally happening, all of the old doubts that she’d pushed very firmly aside resurfaced and Miko was seriously considering not going through with her testimony. She told herself there was Teyla and Monique who could testify so she didn’t need to. And then she would remember that Dr Sofie Danziger, a brilliant scientist, was unable to testify because she was dead and Dr Miko Kusanagi felt a moral obligation to do so in her stead.

However, it wasn’t until tonight when she saw the inner glow of redemption in her friend that Miko felt an odd mixture of envy and a desire to experience what Teyla had. To release her burdens and yes, she’d borrowed that much-abused phrase from Dr Weir, who tossed it around with no true understanding of what it truly meant. Miko longed to let go of all of the thoughts, feelings, and emotions that she’d been keeping under wraps. After seeing Teyla tonight, Miko found herself starting to believe that not only was this something she must do for Sofie, Kazumi and yes for Radek too, but that it was something that she MUST do for herself.

Radek had been hinting in a very gentle way for some time now that perhaps they should think about having another baby so that Kazumi would have a sibling. As a scientist, she knew that the idea had merit and that if she kept putting it off, her reproductive clock would run out; the decision would effectively be taken out of her hands which part of her hoped would happen. But tonight, Miko found that she was asking herself, was this really how she wanted to live her life – menopause taking the burdensome decision about whether to get pregnant again made for her, all because she didn’t dare to make a choice?

As she watch Teyla interact with Torren and Felix, Miko wondered what it would be like to have a second child and to know without a shadow of a doubt that Radek was the baby’s father. To be able to rejoice every single of her pregnancy that they were having a child together. Maybe if they did decide to have a second child, this time they would have a brother for Kazumi – who would help bring the shy child out of her shell a little.

Miko decided that she did want that future; she deserved it, as did Radek who was so loving and patient with her after what had happened. Never pressuring her to become intimate in the wake of Lucius’ assault, waiting until she was ready to finally resume a physical relationship with him again. However, she often wondered if he’d realised that the resumption of their sex life was more down to her strong sense of obligation, drummed into her from childhood that it was a wife’s duty to see to her husband’s needs, of which sex was a component in a marriage. She hoped that he never knew, because Radek would be hurt that she felt it necessary to conceal such an important thing from him, and she truly longed to ignite the desire she’d felt for sex when they first got together.

Miko decided that perhaps, like Teyla she needed to find herself worthy by facing down her Oni demon before she could truly learn to forgive herself for what she’d done. She knew from all of the near disasters they’d faced in Atlantis that they never would have survived all of the catastrophes that they’d encountered if they hadn’t done things that may seem wild and reckless. Rodney and Radek frequently had been forced to throw caution to the winds and maybe she needed to be bold and brave. She needed to fight for herself and her family.

~o0o~

Hotch had intended to have Dr Girard testify next up after Teyla, but Monique came to see him after dinner, suggesting that Miko Kusanagi should go next. She explained that Miko was vacillating about whether she wanted to testify – still dealing with the rape by mostly pretending it didn’t happen. But Teyla’s triumphant return from the Odyssey this afternoon had set tongues wagging amongst the Atlantis crew and it seemed to have inspired Dr Kusanagi to gather up her courage and decide she needed to be brave and follow Teyla’s example.

He nodded, thinking about a quote he’d once read by Billy Graham about courage being contagious. When a brave man or in this case a woman takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened. And it seemed that it was true in this instance.

Aaron looked at Monique, assessing her carefully. “What about you, Monique? How are you holding up?”

Girard nodded, ”Yes, I’m okay. I am eager to testify but only because I want justice and I recognise that I’m never going to get it with Dr Weir or Ambassador Shen. I’m not faltering over whether to testify or not. Miko is different. She goes out of her way to avoid confrontation, Hotch. This is extremely difficult for her. She wasn’t going to do it, even though I genuinely believe that she needs to, but the longer she thinks about it the more conflicted she’s going to get. “

“So, you’re saying that you think Miko should bite the bullet and get it over and done with?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” she said, looking pleased.

“That’s very kind of you,” Aaron told her.

“Eh… everyone has been so kind to me, I’m just trying to return their kindness – pay it forward if you like! And there is a selfish motive for my interest in helping Miko too, you know. I want that monster to pay for all the pain and suffering he’s caused, not just me and mine but my friends and the women and children of Winya too. And I know that we’ll probably never know for sure, but Alex Padding believes that there are probably other women he drugged and had non-consensual sex with on planets he used to go to trade. I want justice for them too,” she said firmly.

Hotch heaved a mighty sigh. “As much as I wish Alex was wrong about other victims, I agree with his assessment,” he told her heavily.

“So are we doing this,” she quizzed him seriously.

“Yes, I think we should. I’ll go and talk to Miko and Radek now and offer her your slot so she can get it over and done with, first thing in the morning. If you don’t hear back, assume that Miko will be testifying first thing tomorrow and you’ll probably be up after lunch since it makes sense to have Radek go right after Miko.”

Monique nodded. “Yeah, I figured that would be the case. Well, if I don’t hear from you, have a good night and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

So, with a degree of trepidation, he approached Zelenka and Miko gently explaining that Monique thought that Miko was suffering from nerves about having to testify and thought she might appreciate being first up in the morning with Radek testifying right after her. He was still a bit surprised when Miko jumped at the chance to go first.

“I’m not very good at waiting and I’m even worse when it comes to speaking in public,” Miko told him and once again Hotch was struck by how demure, almost prim Dr Kusanagi was.

He had a feeling that if anything, she was understating the case about speaking in public, so he reminded her, “The tribunal hearing is being held in private, Dr Kusanagi. Other than the tribunal members, me, Decerno Teal’c and the defendant and his advocate, the only others there will be security staff from the Odyssey to guard Lucius. Even Radek can’t be there until after he’s given his testimony. But Dr Nkusi has offered to be with you as your advocate and support person, since she had nothing to do with the trial or the investigation, so no one can accuse her of bias.”

“And I don’t have to come face to face with him,” she double-checked with him again.

“Absolutely not. You will be in a separate room which is set up with a camera, a screen so you can see me and answer my questions and Lavin’s paracletus Tulee Hano when he gets to cross-examine you, but you won’t have to see Lavin at all.”

~o0o~

Radek thought she was doing the right thing testifying next, not waiting until after Dr Girard had given her evidence. After all, it would only get more difficult for Miko who wasn’t comfortable speaking publicly at the best of times. This was not the best of times – more like a nightmare for her – so it made sense. She needed to get it over and done with and then maybe Miko would finally find a way to put it behind her…put it behind their family. It was nearly six years ago when Lucius Lavin ruined their lives, and Radek knew that nothing would ever be the same again. They’d tried to move on, to pretend that even though he’d raped Miko multiple times because she had dared to refuse his advances before he started drugging them all, it hadn’t affected them but that was a lie they kept telling themselves.

Neither Miko nor Radek had been able to understand why Lavin had singled her out, they never really even realised she wasn’t the only one he targeted…not until Teyla and Monique were both suddenly expecting babies at the same time as Miko. Even then, it was easy enough for them to convince themselves that it was co-incidence, after all, Teyla was with Kanaan, and they announced they were having a baby. Just like Miko and Radek did and as for Monique, she certainly never announced anything, but she was still seeing someone for a month or two following Lavin’s takeover of Atlantis. Naturally, everyone assumed he was Felix’s father. What they didn’t know at the time was that Monique had tried to take a stand and make a formal complaint and Dr Weir had blocked her every step of the way. In hindsight, Radek realised why she had become more and more remote and closed off from everyone, she must have felt like she was all alone. Sometimes when he couldn’t sleep Radek felt guilty that he and Miko hadn’t been there to support Monique when she needed it, but they were far too focused on pretending that Miko’s pregnancy was a happy event for them to notice her distress.

It wasn’t until Agent Paddington came to Atlantis looking for a safe place to live with his little daughter and started searching for Colonel Sheppard, that all of the rotten foundations haphazardly propping up their families begin to fall apart as the trained investigator unravelled the massive serial sexual offender’s crimes. At least one good thing came out of the ensuing mess. Alex was able to explain to them why Miko had been targeted – he told them that every female that Lucius raped had several things in common. They were all smart, beautiful women who had the temerity to turn down his invitation to have sex with them; he decided they were arrogant and vain, so in his mind, he wanted to teach them a lesson. He wanted them to know that he was more powerful than they were and that he could force them to do what he wanted. Of course, his attribution bias had led to him mistaking Miko’s painfully shy personality for haughtiness and assuming she felt like she was better than he was.

Ever since Radek had first met Miko, she had been horrendously shy. He also suspected that her extremely introverted personality combined with her cultural upbringing that encouraged her to be obedient, demure, and feminine was in part responsible for her fear of speaking in social situations. He saw similar traits in their own daughter Kazumi, who also battled shyness, but how much of that was nature and how much was Kazumi imitating behaviour modelled by Miko he didn’t know. He was grateful that her best friend Belle Paddington had a very different personality to his daughter, and he hoped some of her confidence and boldness would in time, rub off onto Kazumi.

Thinking about Miko and how she tried to avoid speaking to people whenever she could get away with it or avoid making eye contact with people, Radek supposed if you didn’t know her all that well perhaps you could be forgiven for thinking her manner was arrogance. She was after all a brilliant scientist and had a lot she could be arrogant about if she chose to be, but it made Radek furious to think that Miko had been singled out because of something that she couldn’t control. Lucius Lavin was an animal, and he must be made to pay for the unimaginable harm he’d caused for so many people.

As Radek lay in bed that night beside Miko, who like himself couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning, he felt enormously grateful to Alex Paddington who had stopped by after hearing the news of her testimony being moved up to offer his support. Radek was very glad that their friend had offered to have Kazumi spend the night with his daughter Belle, as it meant that now he could suggest to Miko that they get up and take a stroll in the moonlight rather than tossing and turning in bed. He was hoping that some exercise might help her sleep better and she agreed with him. Although, if Kazumi had been in her bed that night, they wouldn’t have been able to take the crucial walk which enabled them to talk about the very topic that they’d been avoiding for the last six years.

As they walked along the edge of the concourse outside the family quarters, Radek slipped his hand into Miko’s much smaller one, and he felt her grasp hold of his fingers like she was drowning. Walking along in silence, he matched his longer stride to hers and soon they were walking in unison. Slowly as they walked, he could feel her fingers relaxing their grip on his hand and he could hear her humming underneath her breath, some tune to his untutored western ear sounded like it was from her homeland. They walked slowly, feeling like they were the only two individuals on the planet which might sound lonely, but it was oddly enough very soothing. After a while, Zelenka sensed that Miko might be starting to flag a little and he looked for an appropriate place for them to rest awhile. He spied a bench placed back a little ways from the edge of the concourse and he led her to it.

“Do you want to sit down and rest for a while, Miko?”

She nodded, her raven hair shining in the moonlight. After so long on New Lantea they had both acclimated to the unaccustomed sight of three moons, although a cloud was covering one of the moons at the moment. Still, there was plenty of moonlight for them to see Atlantis at night.

Chapter 12

With Miko and Radek due to testify in the morning and neither of them being able to sleep, her husband had suggested a stroll outside because Kazumi was spending the night with her best friend Belle Paddington. As they ambled around the concourse of the city Miko was a little surprised to find herself beginning to relax despite her nervousness about testifying tomorrow. When Radek suggested it, she had been somewhat dubious, but she didn’t want to seem negative, and she could tell how worried he was about her. So, she’d agreed and besides, a walk was much better than tossing and turning, worrying about how she might mess things up tomorrow.

However, the sound of the ocean was surprisingly soporific, and she felt the tension in her shoulders start to diminish. They really should do this more often. Of course, normally it wasn’t possible to leave their quarters at night since they had a small daughter who would not cope well if she were to wake and find herself alone in their quarters. Kazumi was a timid child, taking after Miko but tonight Alex had offered to take her so that Miko and her husband could have some time alone. She was glad they’d accepted.

“The city is so beautiful at night,” she observed wistfully. “We are very fortunate to live in such a lovely place.”

Radek decided to take the bull by the horns. “Miko, what do you think you are most afraid of?”

Miko with silent for a long moment as she thought about her answer. “I think I’m afraid that I’m not strong enough to stand up to Lucius Lavin, to tell him how he’s ruined our lives.”

She side-eyed him anxiously, “What if I can’t speak or even answer questions and I freeze? Will they just assume that I know what happened to me? Or will they think I’m okay with what he did? Just the thought of having to tell them everything he did to me makes me feel like I’m going to be sick.”

“Dr Nkusi will be right there next to you. She isn’t going to make you do anything that you don’t want to, Drahá. If you need to stop, she told you to give her a signal and it will stop. If you don’t think you can do it then no one is going to force you,” he reassured her calmly.

He knew that he was rather excitable by nature, often egged on by Rodney McKay who would try the patience of a saint and Radek was far from saintly but for his darling Miko, he was doing his utmost to remain calm and composed.

Miko looked at him and nodded, “I know, but it’s hard when I hate talking in public and tomorrow I have to speak about the most embarrassing time of my life to a room full of strangers. It is terrifying!”

He squeezed her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “ Yes, yes, yes. I do know how much you hate speaking in public, Miko so I probably understand a little, a very small little,” he said with a sad smile,” but I cannot imagine what you are feeling, Miláček. You don’t have to do this, Láska.”

Miko smiled at his sweet endearments. “I know that’s what everyone tells me, but I need to do it for me, I want to be strong like Teyla and take back the power that he took from me. I also don’t want to let his other victims down, either.”

In the indigo darkness, she talked to Radek about things she had never spoken of before. It was like a dam had burst as she unburdened herself finally. Always composed, desperate to avoid overly emotional scenes as was her upbringing, a part of her felt an unusual sense of freedom and another part of her felt disappointed in herself for not being able to control her emotions.

Just as Zelenka decided that they should probably start making their way back to the quarters again as the gentle night breeze kicked it up a notch, Miko turned to him and said, “Radek, you asked me before what I was the most afraid of and I lied. I said that I’m afraid I’m not strong enough to stand up to Lucius Lavin but although I am scared that I won’t be able to confront him as Teyla did, the thing that I’m terrified of the most is what if Kazumi isn’t your child? What if that monster is her father?”

Radek was silent as he tried to figure out what to say to her. Finally, he stopped trying to figure it out and went with his heart. “ Oh Miko, Miláček. Do you not think that that is my greatest fear too? Kazumi has my heart and although it is my greatest wish that he is not her biological father, perhaps instead of spending the last six years afraid of what might be, we should find out what the truth is. There is an equal chance that she is mine, you know.”

“But what if Lucius Lavin impregnated me?”

“Then that would be a bad thing, a terrible awful thing but it wouldn’t be the end of our family. I will always be Kazumi’s father because being a parent is about much more than contributing some sperm or eggs or chromosomes. It is about love and protection, not DNA.”

“Do you think that we should do the paternity test?”

Radek paused as he considered the question fully. “There are probably a lot of reasons why it is a good idea and equally as many reasons not to know. But Miko, if we are living in fear that the DNA test might reveal that I’m not her biological father, we need to keep reminding ourselves that there is a fifty percent chance that I am. Is it worth living with the fear that we have done these past six years and given him so much power over all of our lives.?”

“But what if he is? What if everything changes,” she wailed, very uncharacteristically of the demure scientist.

Radek took his courage in hand and put his hands on her shoulders, staring into her face. “Are you afraid that if Lucius is her bio sperm donor it will change how you feel about her, that you might stop loving her?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know, Radek. Maybe. Do you worry,” she asked tearfully, feeling ashamed that she was so emotional.

Radek frowned before asking. “Do I think you might stop loving her or do you mean, do I think I could ever stop loving her?”

“Both,” she said with a catch in her breath.

Radek shook his head emphatically. “No, my Drahá Miko, I don’t believe either of us could stop loving her. Never ever. Kazumi is our life…our heart and she will always be ours, no matter what. But you were the one who carried our daughter for nine months within your body so Láska, this choice, it must be made by you, only you can make that decision.”

He wiped away a few stray tears from her eyes before he pushed himself to his feet and gently pulled Miko to hers. “C’mon, Miko. Let’s go home and go to sleep.”

After they reached their quarters, he made Miko a cup of camomile tea with honey and hoped she would be able to sleep. He was quite surprised that they both fell asleep almost straight away and managed nearly four hours of uninterrupted slumber. When Zelenka woke up at 0700 the next morning Miko was watching him with a strange smile on her face. Normally when he caught her watching him, she would look away, finding it hard to maintain eye contact with males because of her extremely traditional upbringing. And yet today, Miko smiled at him, a secret pleased little smile, catching him by surprise.

“How did you sleep, Miláček?”

“I slept surprisingly well thank you, Radek,” Miko told him serenely. “And I woke up this morning, knowing what I wanted to do, Hanii.”

“Okay, what have you decided,” he asked, wondering if she was planning to testify.

“I’ve decided that I’m going to stop letting the past control our lives, Radek. It’s been six years, and I know we agreed at the time that we didn’t want to know who Kazumi’s biological father was.”

“Because we didn’t want to know if it was Lavin,” her husband stated.

Miko nodded, “Yes, but then I finally realised this morning that we’re already acting as if he is and giving him far too much power over our lives. Before Kazumi, I wanted at least two children, maybe three but after she was born, I was too afraid to have more.”

“What were you afraid of Drahá?”

“I finally understood I was afraid that we… that I might love another child that I had with you more than Kazumi. But after our talk last night, I realised that won’t happen, that you will love her no matter what. We need to know. I need to know… and I need him to pay for what he’s done to us. It won’t count unless I help put him away and not just leave it for someone else to take care of. I didn’t deserve this and neither did our family and he has to pay,” she said resolutely.

Radek stared at his wife in frank admiration. Never had he been prouder of her than he was right at this minute. Even the first time she stood up to Rodney in the lab and told her boss he was wrong and proceeded to school him in where he’d erred. To see McKay, turn tail and run after a hloupé excuse that he was testing Miko to see if she was paying attention, had been both hilarious and pathetic. What was wrong with the man that he couldn’t admit he made a mistake? But he was even prouder of her today.

“Good for you, Miláček!”

She smiled a little tremulously before asking him, “Do you think we can get the paternity test done before I give evidence, Radek?”

“Let’s call Alex and ask him if it’s possible.”

~o0o~

Aaron Hotchner was surprised by the cool calm exterior Dr Kusanagi presented on board the Odyssey that morning. He’d half expected her to be a no-show or at best, to be a bundle of nerves. Yet here she was, impeccably dressed, opting to wear civilian clothes and if that helped, he was all for it. Although she didn’t look him in the eyes, he understood that her extremely traditional Japanese parents had discouraged that behaviour in their daughter. Hotch was genuinely hoping that being able to testify in camera rather than out in the hearing itself would permit her to stare at the camera since she wasn’t actually staring at anyone and therefore it couldn’t be considered discourteous.

He decided to remind her. “Dr Kusanagi, I know you aren’t comfortable maintaining long eye contact with people and it is a part of Japanese culture.”

Miko nodded, “That is true, Aaron although it is much less true in the 21st century. However, my parents were older when they had me and were very old-fashioned. They have brought me up in the old ways.”

Aaron nodded end told her, “I understand that but I’m hoping that since you are testifying in camera, you will be able to look straight at the lens since it isn’t a person. In many cultures, not maintaining eye contact is often interpreted as being deceptive, so try to remember to look straight at the camera and you’ll do fine.”

Zelenka squeezed his wife’s hand gently. “Alex said to let you know that we stopped off at Dr Biro’s office for her to collect a paternity test for Kazumi. Barbara said she would put a rush on the results but even then, we might not get it until later today.”

Hotch stared at Zelenka with a slightly open mouth. To say he was astonished would probably be a gross understatement of the facts. He knew that Radek and Miko had both been adamant that they didn’t want to have a paternity test done for their daughter Kazumi. He wondered what had changed their attitude. Looking surreptitiously at Miko so he didn’t freak her out with a direct stare right before she gave evidence, the seasoned profiler could tell that there was something different about Dr Miko Kusanagi, today. She wasn’t just cool and calm, she had an air of resolve about her like when she was working in the lab. She appeared one hundred percent focused, and she didn’t seem anxious anymore. Oh, he had no doubt she probably did still have nerves but somehow she seemed to have it well under control.

When he’d left their quarters the night before. after informing them that Dr Girard had offered for Miko to give evidence before her so Dr Kusanagi could get her testimony over and done with, she had been a bundle of nerves, despite accepting the earlier slot. To be honest he was half expecting that she wouldn’t be able to go through with testifying today and had been mentally preparing so that eventuality.

He had security footage queued up and Monique ready to go straight after if they required it. However, it now seemed that Dr Girard wouldn’t be needed yet. Aaron wasn’t sure exactly what had happened after he left the Zelenkas’ quarters which could bring about such a change but whatever it was, he was extremely grateful for it. Dr O’Shea and Dr Nkusi soon joined them, along with Teyla, Ilsa Meier and Monique to wish her good luck.

Teyla shook her head, a fierce smile on her face. “No Miko, I take that back. You don’t need luck, you have the look of a warrior, my friend. He is no match for you so go and regain your spirit. He possessed it for far too long.”

At her words, Miko seemed to grow even more resolute than she was before, and she smiled. “Thank you, Teyla for your leadership yesterday and your confidence in me, today. It means so much more coming from you because you are a true warrior.”

Teyla looked at Monique with a slight rise of an eyebrow although you would have needed to be watching her very closely. Radek noted it, as did Aoife but didn’t react. Monique gave an equally imperceptible shake of her head, indicating she too was in the dark about what had prompted the change in Miko.

Taking Miko’s hand very gently in her own Monique said, “We are all warriors my friend. We have survived the worst he could do to us by making us feel we had no power and now we are finally taking it back. Now Lucius will learn what it feels like to lose his power. Remember we have people who love us, and he has no one because that is all he deserves.”

Miko grabbed hold of Monique’s hand, as did Teyla. “And we have each other to lean on when we can’t support ourselves,” Miko said tremulously.”

Monique nodded her acquiescence. “And we do this for Sofie who cannot do this for herself,” she averred determinedly.

“For Dr Danziger,” Teyla and Miko echoed as Teyla carried out her Athosian forehead touching ritual which everyone understood by now was something that she felt compelled to perform when she was expressing gratitude, reverence, or something equally solemn and highly significant for her.

Afterwards, everyone else hugged or in Aaron’s case, shook her hand before departing, saying that he needed to go. Miko thanked everyone for their love and support as Zelenka and Dr Nkusi walked with her to the room which had been set up for in camera testimony. Knowing that kissing her on the lips in public would make Miko feel embarrassed, Radek settled for a chaste peck on her cheek before he left her at the door, but he did insist on holding her hand as they walked together. Just before he left to go and wait for his turn to testify, Zelenka pressed something into her hand.

Miko accepted the small offering, turning her palm up and opening it to see a small snack-sized chocolate bar – a Kit Kat staring up at her. “Radek Daarin,” she whispered since she didn’t use endearments except in private. Umwali was standing a little way away from them to at least give them the illusion of some privacy.

Her huge brown eyes shone with love and gratitude. “You remembered,” she exclaimed before impulsively reaching for him to kiss him before resolutely turning and opening the door. Radek, who knew her so well, turned and walked away knowing that Miko would be loath to shut the door in his face because it was not seemly.

As Miko settled herself down at the table, and the techs double-checked the height of her chair and the angle of the camera, Miko couldn’t help grinning at the small chocolate in her hand. When they were first getting to know each other, she had told Radek about how back in the 1970’s a new lucky ritual had come about when Kit-Kats first arrived in Japan. The Japanese quickly came to regard it as a lucky chocolate as the name sounded very similar to kitto katsu which in Japanese meant surely wins. It soon became a popular gift to give to students when they were sitting exams and many, like Miko still associated it with luck and good fortune. Even before she had to defend her dissertations in several disciples Miko’s parents made sure to give her a Kit Kat to take into examinations with her.

She was so touched that Radek had remembered, and she wondered how he’d managed to get hold of it. Miko hadn’t seen one for a long time and it buoyed her spirits even more. She laid it carefully on the table in front of her so she could easily see it, without making it melt. Remembering that she too had brought something with her, a good luck talisman, she pulled a small red polished cotton drawstring bag that had a sheen to it, out of her small handbag. Untying the strings, she drew out the figure of Maneki Neko, also known as the beckoning cat. Miko’s beckoning cat was quite traditional looking – it was a Japanese bobtail cat with a calico coat, although now you could get them in all different colours and breeds. As was typical, both the front paws were raised, which in Japan was used not to wave but to beckon with the palm facing downwards. The Maneki Neko was believed to bring good luck and Miko had been given hers by her grandmother when she was only a little bit older than Kazumi. Placing her precious beckoning cat right beside her Kit Kat, she felt greatly comforted.

Hearing Dr Nkusi exclaim, Kusanagi looked up inquiringly. “Is there anything thing the matter?”

“No, but I think this box is for you, she said holding out a letter addressed in familiar if childish handwriting. Miko accepted the rather large box, opening up the missive from her daughter.

Okaasan,

Belle’s Otousan said that you are helping him stop a bad man today. Belle and I wish you good luck. I think of when you tell me the legend of the Senbazuru. Last night, we made 1000 paper cranes for you. Agent Alex and Agent Bates helped us, although her baby kicked a lot. Later my teacher Ms Fraiser and Colonel Lorne came and helped us too. You can string them up to bring you good luck, like the story, Mama. I love you and I am very proud.

Kazumi Zelenka xoxo

P.S. Agent Alex helped me write this – I telled him what to write.

Miko opened up the box to discover 1,000 brightly coloured perfectly constructed origami paper cranes which had even been made into Senbazuru. Twenty-five strings of cranes – forty cranes in each string had come to symbolise hope and healing. Her people believed that completing one thousand paper cranes, just like the legend she’d told to Kazumi, would grant the owner a wish. When her daughter was older, she would share with her daughter the story of Sadako Sasaki who developed leukemia from her exposure to radiation after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and her wish was to survive the disease so she could run for her team, but Kazumi was too young to understand the true story just yet. Miko was so proud of her daughter, she couldn’t speak as she handed Kazumi’s note to Dr Nkusi to read, who smiled widely.

“Quickly,” she urged Miko, “we must hang them before you begin and you must make a wish,” she insisted, going to the door, and opening it. Umwali beckoned the two SFs who were guarding them and also the camera technician who hovered outside to give Miko privacy. Umwali swiftly directed everyone so that they could accomplish the task quickly between the five of them, who all took five strings each. Once the thousand paper cranes were strung around the room Miko closed her eyes and made a wish. She wished that Lucius Lavin would receive justice for everyone he’d harmed. Taking her seat in the nick of time with Dr Nkusi sitting beside her, she felt cocooned in the warm love of her family and knew she had the strength to do this.

~o0o~

Hotch entered the hearing somewhat bemused by Miko’s transformation, unsure what had prompted it. He hoped that it wasn’t merely a front although he didn’t think it was – perhaps Dr Nkusi had been working with her but whatever it was, he was praying to a deity he was no longer sure he even believed in after his ex-wife’s death, that Dr Kusanagi would be able to hold her nerve and give evidence.

He thought back to the bombshell that the Zelenkas had shared with him when he first ran into them. Alex had told him that right from the very beginning of the investigation, they had been staunch in their refusal to take a DNA test to establish the paternity of Kazumi. He understood why they were afraid to take the test, and he could even sympathise with them, but he was quite confused about what had changed their minds. Was it connected to Dr Kusanagi’s change of attitude over testifying today?

As the hearing got underway for the day, it was time for him to call his first witness which he did, informing the tribunal that the next witness had requested to give her evidence in camera. As they switched on the audio-visual equipment and Miko appeared on the other end of the camera, he was pleased to see that she was maintaining a direct stare towards the camera just as he’d asked her to. Miko was sworn in and Aaron gently begin to question her. Slowly they made their way through the evidence that they’d prepared during several pretrial preps he’d had with her. Her calm even demeanour and her big brown expressive eyes staring directly into the camera were incredibly powerful and evocative.

Even when Dr Kusanagi became visibly upset and her eyes filled with unshed tears, she never faltered. Aaron knew that this must be very difficult for her to talk about, but her courage was inspiring, and he felt moved. He could see that the Venerabiles Sodales and Decerno Teal’c were all deeply affected by her too. Even Tulee Hano seemed mesmerized by her account – perhaps because her manner was very respectful and modest, which seemed to be qualities he much admired. It was also curious that those very traditional qualities that Miko had been brought up to present were having an odd effect on Lucius Lavin.

He was unable to stare at the screen as if he was afraid to look into her soul-dark eyes and bear witness to her suffering. It wasn’t Miko who couldn’t maintain eye contact with her rapist, it was she who seemed to have shamed him, which was astonishing because narcissists and sexual predators usually had no shame. He’d never encountered such a reaction as a federal prosecutor nor as a profiler with the BAU and he was astounded.

Eventually, having coaxed her testimony out of her as gently and respectfully as he possibly could, he started drawing it to a conclusion, thanking her for being so brave and testifying as to what had happened to her. At that point, Miko’s customary demureness reasserted itself as she looked down from the camera in repose and he could practically hear the limited number of people in the chamber give a collective sigh at the spectacle. The fact that it was completely unchoreographed just gave it more impact. He sat back down, knowing that Miko had done an outstanding job and hoping that she would get through Tulee Hano’s questioning.

Lavin’s paracletus had been pretty tough on Teyla yesterday, although she had stood up to his attitude astoundingly well. However, she was a much tougher proposition than Miko, and he had his fingers crossed that Hano’s cross-exam wouldn’t be too traumatising for her. So, he was completely unprepared for her to have bewitched Hano and scared off Lavin, but that was the only explanation for what happened when Tulee rose to begin questioning her.

Hotch decided after taking one look at her staring right back at Tulee through the camera, it was too much for him to deal with. The truth was that they’d decided against using a camera showing the Accusatus and Paracletus, so Miko wasn’t actually responding to Hano, she was speaking directly to the camera lens. Neither man realised that she couldn’t see them though, and no one would disabuse them either.

Hano’s tone was very respectful, he asked her if she was quite certain of her testimony, and she gave him an extremely subtle dip of her head and averted her eyes down into her lap before meekly averring that she was very sure.

He then asked, “Dr Kusanagi are you absolutely positive that it was the Accusatus Lucius Lavin who drugged you against your will and forced you to lie with him?”

She responded demurely, “Yes Paracletus, I am positive that he forced me to ‘lie with him’ as you call it numerous times, so I had a lot of opportunity to observe him. It was the Accusatus Lucius Lavin. I can never forget it, it was so humiliating for me.”

After a rather heated exchange between Tulee and his cousin’s no-good husband, Hotch had a distinct impression that Lavin wanted to ask her more questions to try to embarrass her further. Hano on the other hand, having been beguiled by Miko, was undoubtedly pointing out that she had bewitched all of the males in the room and that attacking her was not the smartest move they could make. Finally, it appeared that Lavin’s paracletus had won the day, because Lucius subsided angrily and Tulee announced, “I have no further questions for Dr Kusanagi.”

The tribunal thanked her for her contribution, cautioning her to hold herself available should she wish to contribute later on in the trial if required. This referenced the possibility that should Lavin be declared guilty of the charges, Hotch planned to bring back any victim who chose to give an Agonium Statement, addressing the tribunal members about how the crimes impacted the victims and their thoughts on appropriate sentencing options. However, that would have to wait until later if, and when he was deemed guilty of the charges.

As the camera was switched off, attention was then directed back to the tribunal members who directed the Persequor to call the next witness. He stood up and informed the hearing that the prosecution called Dr Radek Zelenka to the stand. As he was making his way into the chamber, Hotch thought about the excellent outcome of Miko’s testimony. They really owed Monique a huge thank you for offering to go last, since it seemed to have done the trick in encouraging Kusanagi into giving a brilliant witness testimony. And somehow Miko managed to turn the lessons that she’d learnt as a dutiful daughter on their head and outwit that hypocrite Hano, who might not approve of what Lucius did but thought that exile was a suitable punishment for him, although not for his victims. No, he genuinely believed that those six young Winyan females all deserved to be put to death while Lucius Lavin had gotten off practically scot-free

The more he thought about that extraordinary cross-exam, the more convinced Hotch was that Miko Kusanagi played Tulee Hano, giving the performance of her life, appealing to the chauvinistic hypocrite because indisputably, she had a brilliant mind. Although, Hotch vowed never to confront her about it or mention his suspicions to anyone. He was just happy it had worked and if it also influenced the Tribunal members, aside from Tulee, well he didn’t see the harm in it. Miko had been scrupulously honest.

Instead, the persequor turned his immediate attention to Dr Zelenka, having him corroborate his spouse’s testimony of what had happened when Lucius Lavin managed to get onto the base by drugging Carson Beckett. He planned on showing the security footage of the chief medical officer arguing voraciously with the commander, Elizabeth Weir about how valuable an ally Lavin was, even while admitting that he hadn’t bothered examining the so-called cures which the grifter was touting – merely having accepted Lavin’s word. For a scientist trained to react to claims of medical cures with scepticism until they could be tested empirically, to just accept claims of medical cures based on the word of a stranger was truly alarming. It should have been a massive red flag, indeed the only one required by Dr Weir to see that Lucius had been shown the door. Yet the Commander of Atlantis seemed to find it funny how besotted her CMO was with Lavin and her tragic failure to follow her own protocols was why Lucius had been able to drug the entire base.

The rest of Hotch’s witnesses continued to give evidence coolly and competently. Even the normally excitable Dr Zelenka had managed to remain focused and didn’t lapse into Czech, not even when cross-examined by Tulee. By the time the tribunal recessed for the lunch break, Aaron was feeling quite upbeat about the afternoon session. Monique Girard was due to give her testimony and he knew that she’d been awaiting justice for six long years. Considering how long she’d been ready, giving up her place so Miko could go next had been a very unselfish act.

He just hoped that when it was her turn to give evidence Monique would find the closure she was seeking.

End Notes:

Miláček ~ darling/ little lover (Czech)

Láska ~ love (Czech)

Drahá ~ dear (Czech)

Hloupé ~ idiotic (Czech)

Hanii ~ a loan word from English, hanii stands for ‘honey’ (Japanese)

Daarin ~ a loan word from English meaning ‘my darling’ (Japanese)

Chapter 13

Colonel John Sheppard had promised himself he was going to be there for Monique Girard when it was her turn to give evidence against Lucius Lavin. Plenty of people had been there for him during the numerous trials he’d been forced to endure, and he was pretty sure that without their support he wouldn’t be in as good shape as he was now. John also recognised that Monique was it very private person, probably even before the assault occurred. With the benefit of hindsight, it was apparent that she closed herself off even more afterwards, so there were a lot fewer people who were even aware of what was going on to be able to support her. So, he insisted he was going to be part of her support crew, even though at first she had protested, claiming not to need anyone.

At that point, he’d known only sketchy details about what had occurred to her. Yes, he did know the bare details of the sexual assaults which had taken place but certainly nothing graphic. However, when she finally accepted that he wasn’t going anywhere, she said him down and told him that she didn’t want him to hear the details for the first time while she was testifying. Monique gave him a rather dispassionate account of what had happened to her and as disturbing as it was to him, and more than a little too close to home, it was the rest of her ordeal which threw him for a loop. To have fought so bravely for justice after what she had been through, only to have Elizabeth and Ambassador Shen thwarting her every step of the way was unconscionable.

He was certainly extremely disappointed in Elizabeth, he honestly believed she was better than that. Shepherd had always held her in high regard, feeling like she had put the welfare of the expedition before her desires, but he’d quite obviously been wrong about that. Shockingly, there was strong evidence she’d had a hand in the death of Dr Danziger, who was also a good friend and colleague of Monique’s – not to mention Ilsa’s lover. Seriously, how could he have missed that about Elizabeth? Which was why he was determined to be there, supporting Monique when she gave evidence. John knew that while she was determined to have her day in court, it would still be very difficult for her.

He’d also been very disturbed when she confessed to him about her attempted suicide and plan to try to kill Lucius which had been foiled, partly by Atlantis’ artificial intelligence and by Agent Paddington’s quick thinking and reactions. It distressed him to know how depressed she must have felt… how utterly alone because it reflected poorly on Atlantis’ command structure. It also caused him to question every minute detail and decision which he’d made that day on Winya after encountering what had seemed to be a bumbling con man. If only he hadn’t allowed himself to be pulled away by Rodney, who was desperate to get back to looking for stargates they could harvest, even while Lucius was equally as desperate for them to stay.

Sure, in hindsight it was easy to see that Lucius had immediately understood the ramifications of the puddle jumper – with it, he could probably sneak onto the planet where he harvested his special herb, despite the very minor inconvenient fact that the Wraith now occupied it. But with McKay so gung-ho about building the Midway station so that they could travel back and forth to Earth without depending upon the spaceships, John let himself be carried away by his friend’s fervour. The truth was, he’d thrown poor Carson under the bus, promising to send him to check out Lucius’ remedies, although John had certainly never ordered him to go alone and had ordered that a team accompany him there.

Truthfully, sending anyone out on their own, even a highly skilled experienced soldier was strictly against protocol. He couldn’t understand what Elizabeth was thinking when she sent Carson off to a strange planet without any backup at all. He was so far off being a well-trained soldier; it would be like sending a soldier to carry out brain surgery. So much had hinged on that one fatal decision and too many people were still paying the price for them dropping the ball.

Which was why John was determined to make amends for his lapse in judgement six years ago. A lapse for which he’d paid a horrendous personal cost as well. Even if they’d dealt with Lucius Lavin appropriately at the time when he’d taken over the city things would probably have turned out very different. At least it would have for him and maybe it might have done for Dr Danziger too.

This morning, knowing that Monique would be giving evidence today, John was determined to distract her, to keep her mind off what was to come. It seemed to him that waiting was the hard part, during the hearings he had taken part in so far, so he was going to do his best to take her mind off what lay ahead. He dragged her out of bed early this morning to participate in the Tai Chi class which they’d both been attending for some time now before persuading her to eat breakfast with himself, Felix and Dr Meier at one of the tables on the balcony just outside the mess hall. Although Monique mostly picked at her food, the important thing was that she wasn’t alone and brooding.

After the three adults walked Felix to school as the somewhat odd little family they’d become over the last weeks, Ilsa and Monique hurried off to go and wish Miko good luck with her testimony. John suggested that afterwards, he and Monique should go for a walk around the concourse of Atlantis and enjoy the sunshine. When Monique agreed that a walk might not be a bad idea, they both returned to their quarters to collect sunscreen, hats, and sunglasses, as her very fair skin was prone to sunburn. The last thing she wanted was to have to testify before the tribunal suffering from a bad case of sunburn.

The two friends strolled around the path which ringed the city, with the azure blue ocean to their left and their right, the sparkling jewels that were Atlantis’ towers, gleaming in the midmorning sunlight. John wondered aloud how Miko was going with her testimony. He imagined that the reticent scientist would find it extremely difficult, and Monique agreed but told him that she seemed quite composed and was hopeful that Miko would be okay. But while Monique seemed to be feeling some optimism, John was far less sanguine, weighed down by his feelings of guilt over Lucius managing to takeover Atlantis when even Acastus Kolya with sixty-odd highly trained Genii soldiers had failed against himself and a handful of Lanteans.

How could they have all failed to see the signs when three women fell pregnant at the same time and lept to a completely erroneous conclusion? That the stress of being drugged into mindless obedience to that oily pile of excrement was horrific had come close to having permanent control of Atlantis and her residents had caused a few of their own to seek a little stress relief in the arms of someone else and neglected to use prophylactics. Everyone had a good laugh over it, treating it as a huge joke which must have made an intolerable situation even more unbearable due to the ribald taunting of their colleagues.

John recognised that he was struggling to deal with his own guilt, after all, it wasn’t as if he didn’t know that Lavin had raped the women on Winya. Willa had confessed as much when he went to retrieve more of Lucius’ special herb and Rodney was drugged in the time it took Sheppard to return to Atlantis. And if that wasn’t conclusive enough, then Lavin had flat-out confessed to him when John was being held in the detainment cell. The Winyan had decided that there was no point in lying since John already had figured it out and quite possibly, there had been an element of Lucius wanting to brag to someone about how much power he now held. That or he wanted to torture Sheppard with the fate which awaited him when his head cold resolved itself. Hell, maybe it was a combination of all three!

So bottom line, John had known that Lucius was a sexual predator and a sicko creepy letch. And yet, when three people turned up pregnant, John had somehow gone to extreme lengths – dare he say mental gymnastics to avoid facing the truth. Hell, he’d even likened it to the boom in babies born during the blackouts in Britain during the second world war rather than look for the much more obvious explanation. Talk about ignoring Occam’s razor, why don’t you Sheppard!

Yet, although John wondered if he hadn’t been wilfully blind, what had made Carson Beckett and Elizabeth Weir behave so reprehensibly? Ambassador Shen – well his opinion of her was already too low for her betrayal of Lavin’s victims for it to sting, but Carson and Elizabeth did hurt! They had been through crises with him, and all of them had helped save lives on countless occasions, so to know that they both knew what happened and kept it from him and other senior staff – he could never forgive them for that. But worse than concealing it had been the terrible cost inflicted on those individuals he’d assaulted while he’d been here. Ronon had said right from the start that they should not let Lavin return to Winya, but Elizabeth had been so damned adamant to offload him back onto his people – and yes she’d approved of them vaccinating all of the Winyans before they returned him, but that had been the very least she could do.

As mid-morning inched its way tortuously toward midday, Monique went back to her quarters to get dressed for her testimony. After waiting six long years for a chance to claim justice, Monique said there was no way she was going to be late. John understood that she needed time to get ready – she wanted…needed to feel in control and part of that made sure she was perfectly put together. Even Dr Meier who had helped her find the courage to try to rebuild her relationship with Felix, which was most definitely still a work in progress, had given the very private individual who was Monique Girard the space to prepare. She’d chosen to hang out with John in the family rec room, playing video games to give Monique maximum space to prepare. Embarrassingly, Ilsa comprehensively whooped his ass on a virtual reality game that the kids had built with their tutor Janae Progenius. It was obvious that John needed to brush up on his skills before he went back into the field again.

Later when the trio had beamed up to the Odyssey and made their way to the area reserved for the tribunal which was on Deck 2 of the warship, Monique indicated to Ilsa and John that she wished to go in and set up the in camera room to make it feel less impersonal and more like it was her space. Right at that moment Alex Paddington stopped by bearing gifts. He handed over an 8 by 10 manila envelope with a restrained smile.

I got copies as you requested, Dr Girard,” he said calmly.

“Thank you, Alex. Do you think I could go in and set the room up now?”

He considered her question and nodded assent. “I don’t see how that would be a problem but just let me check with the SFs first.”

He strode away to speak to a young woman briefly before returning. “Yes it’s fine to go in, there’s no one in there at the moment.” He was silent, before asking carefully, “Would you prefer to go in and set up alone or would you like some company in there?”

Monique smiled briefly at him, Ilsa and John before shaking her head. “Thanks, but I think I would rather do it alone,” she said knowing that her support crew would not be offended.

“Do whatever you need to do to get ready, Dr Girard. We’ll wait here,” Paddington told her calmly.

The trio was speaking quietly amongst themselves, Alex passing on the news from Aaron Hotchner that Miko had crushed her testimony this morning, despite her fears and Radek had given a good steady account. No swearing in Czech or multiple affirmatives in sight; Hotch was feeling quite upbeat. Ilsa and John exchanged pleased looks, Miko and Radek had a lot of friends, and they all knew how difficult it would be for the painfully shy scientist to have to testify about what had happened.

Now there was only Monique’s testimony and 2nd Lieutenant Emilio Navarro to go, along with a few sundry witnesses to testify about their sexual assaults. Alex, Laura Cadman, Daniel Jackson and Janae Progenius, as well as Dr Meier, would testify about Dr Sofie Danziger, all of which would take place in the strictest security because they were determined to keep Ilsa safe. Later there would be time to hold a trial in absentia into Dr Weir’s role in Sofie’s death but right now the focus was on the part Lucius had played by forcing Danziger into having non-consensual sex with him. However, Ilsa Meier had already indicated that she would welcome the opportunity to give an Agonium Statement at the sentencing portion of his hearing since no one honestly believed that he might walk away from the charges.

Less than ten minutes later Monique emerged from the in camera room looking composed and well pleased with herself. She smiled at Alex and said, “Do we have any idea how long it might be?”

He shook his head regretfully. “Sorry, no not really. When I left the hearing Hotch was questioning the witness before you. He still had a way to go and then Tulee Hano will have the opportunity to cross-examine that witness, so it could be a while yet.”

Monique pulled a face and nodded resignedly. She motioned them towards in camera room, “Can we wait inside,” she asked a little tentatively.

Alex nodded, understanding that she felt vulnerable waiting out here in the hallway.

“Yeah we can do that,” he replied. “Come on, let’s go in and get comfortable while we wait.”

The four of them filed into the room and stood taking in the photographs of all of the victims plus their children from Atlantis and Winya. On either side of the camera, taking pride of place were two extra-large enlarged photos of Dr Sophie Danziger and Mayuna Pavu. Directly above the camera lens on the wall she had stuck a sign which stated WE NO LONGER HAVE A VOICE!

Seeing that, Ilsa teared up immediately and pulled Monique into a gentle embrace, mindful that the impeccably groomed scientist would not want to get mussed up. “Thank you Monique for not forgetting Sofie or Mayuna.”

Getting a touch teary herself, she patted her friend’s back. “You’re welcome, Ilsa. For six years I’ve been waiting for justice but I’m mindful that I’m still alive and others aren’t so fortunate. That’s why I want to use this opportunity to speak up for them too. Sophie and Mayuna deserve justice too.”

Wanting to lower the emotional temperature somewhat Alex strode over to the little mini bar fridge which he’d personally arranged for, ensuring it was filled with water and juice and he extracted bottles of water which he handed out. “Okay then, people, let’s get comfortable while we wait,” he told them, as he pulled a pack of cards out of his uniform trousers.

John was pleased by Alex’s sneaky diversion. He wanted to support Monique as much as possible, but he felt like much of the time he was too trapped in his own guilt and anger to help her. He said, “Not sure if we have time for poker, Alex.”

He grinned at the others, “Neither am I, but we do have time to play Go Fish.”

John rolled his eyes although secretly he thought it was an excellent idea. “What are you – five or something,”

Paddington stuck out his tongue playfully and said, “No, I’m six!”

Ilsa shook her head at their childish antics but said, “Well let’s go, then.”

Monique said, “That’s probably all I’m up for at the moment, I don’t think I would be able to concentrate enough for poker.”

When Alex was notified via comms about half an hour later that she was about to be called as a witness, they packed away the cards and the water bottles. He got out a fresh one and a glass, knowing that Monique would prefer to sip from a glass while she was giving evidence and then he and Ilsa prepared to depart. They would wait for them outside.

Giving her a gentle hug and wishing her well, they were almost to the door when Monique thanked them a little huskily and they exited. She had already asked if they were going to be in the chamber while she was testifying, and Tony replied that he thought she would prefer to testify knowing that as few people were present as possible, even if she couldn’t see them. He’d said they would see her after it was over and wished her well as he closed the door of the in camera room softly.

When she thought over what he’d said, she realised that he understood her so well. Teyla had wanted her people in the hearing while she gave evidence and perhaps Monique might have done too if she’d had to face him down, but since she wasn’t in the same room as the monster, she didn’t need the moral support. No, Monique preferred that as few people as possible hear all of the humiliating minutiae of what Lavin had done to her, even if Alex already knew.

She smiled at John who took his place sitting beside her – she was permitted to have one person remain with her at all times as her support person and after she had shared with Colonel Shepperd exactly what she had gone through, he’d decided to reciprocate. Monique had told him that it wasn’t necessary – that she hadn’t told him about her ordeal so he would respond in kind, but he told her he trusted her and wanted to talk about it to someone who wasn’t involved in the case. She could see that he was genuine and so she had listened as he shared the awful torture and sexual abuse which he’d endured, all while under the influence of that disgusting drug of Lavin’s. John told her about the starvation and the beatings and Monique marvelled that he’d managed to survive as long as he did.

When he’d told her he was willing to be there with her during her testimony, she had accepted his offer gratefully, knowing that he knew exactly what she was feeling. They’d also spoken about his guilt over him not realising what had happened on Atlantis and Monique understood that he was searching for ways to make amends. It didn’t matter that in her mind, he was their saviour – it only mattered what John was feeling. If sitting here supporting her helped him come to terms with his guilt or even help to assuage it then she would accept his support gratefully.

While she knew that Ilsa or Alex would have done it in a heartbeat if she’d asked them to, somehow it seemed right when John offered. Giving him a rather strained smile, she said, “Okay, then, I guess we’re doing this.”

John smiled back at her and indicated to the technician they were ready, who then switched on the camera and did a sound check before she gave them a discreet thumbs up and left the room to wait outside with Alex and Ilsa.

~o0o~

Aaron was with feeling considerably upbeat after the morning. Back when he was a federal prosecutor, his least favourite task was walking sex crime victims through their testimonies in court. Having to bear their souls in front of strangers was difficult enough for anyone, but to know that they would be facing cross-examination once he had done his job was something he found very difficult to do. Especially when the witness was particularly unstable or extremely sensitive, which was why he hadn’t been looking forward to Dr Kusanagi’s testimony this morning, however, he’d been pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

Monique Girard was up next, and although she presented herself as a far more composed and confident individual, in truth, Hotch was still extremely mindful of the fact that several months ago she’d attempted to kill herself. Everything coming to a head so suddenly after more than five years of nobody doing anything about Lucius Lavin had been too much all at once. Especially when she learned that her colleague and friend Dr Sofie Danziger and the young Winyan, Mayuna Pavo had both died due to their misfortune of having been raped by Lucius. Hotch knew how desperate Monique was to have her day in court, he just hoped that it lived up to expectations. He would hate for her to suffer a psychological setback at this point in her recovery, and that was a lot of pressure for any prosecutor.

Thus, it was with a fair degree of trepidation, he called her as his next witness, waiting for the technician to switch on the equipment so she could start giving evidence in camera, as Miko Kusanagi had done earlier today. Several minutes later when she appeared on the large plasma screen in the hearing room and was sworn in, he assessed her carefully, noting how well-presented she was. Dr Monique Girard was an extraordinarily beautiful woman, and her hair and make-up were flawless, but she was also a highly intelligent individual. She was a brilliant scientist and she had expressed her frustration that people paid more attention to her looks than her intelligence. But she was smart enough to know an attractive victim was always going to going to garner more sympathy than an unattractive one and had dressed appropriately.

In those first couple of questions that he asked her, which were mostly regarding biographical information, Hotch tried to get a good read on her emotional state, although that was not easy to do, even under the best of circumstances. However, Monique’s not being in the room made it even more difficult. In some ways, Monique reminded Aaron a little bit like himself; introverted, intensely private and incredibly self-contained. Her mask was not easy to penetrate and that was even more true when she was giving evidence from another room where he couldn’t pick up her subtle tells as he could in the witness box.

Nevertheless, she had chosen to give her evidence in camera and that was an important choice, particularly for sexual assault victims who often didn’t want to confront their attacker in court. It was crucially important to make it easy for them to give evidence, even if it was harder to read the witness because protecting the witness was even more important than the case. It was fortunate that his former job as a profiler meant that he needed to analyse a lot of people speaking on tape and he just needed to trust his instincts, despite the difficulty he had in reading how she was thinking and feeling.

After getting the introductory questions out of the way which he hoped would also settle any nerves that she might have, he started to lead her through the statement that she’d given to Agent Paddington. He asked her what her first impression of Lucius Lavin had been.

Monique said, “It wasn’t flattering. I thought he was a braggart and rather too much in love with himself.”

“With justification,” Hotch ask her gravely.

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Did you feel that he had good reason to be in love with himself?”

Maintaining a serious demeanour, Monique shook her head, “Honestly, not really. And he had a rather creepy vibe to him.”

“For those people who are not from Earth, perhaps you could explain what that phrase means, Dr Girard,” Hotch requested the witness.

“I felt uncomfortable, unsafe being around him. He wasn’t somebody I would want to be alone with.”

“So, he wasn’t somebody that you would just go off and have sex with, is that what you’re saying?”

“No, he isn’t. But I want to stress that I don’t go off with any strangers and have sex with them, even if they aren’t creepy. Before I become intimate with somebody, I want to get to know them fairly well and a glib and cheesy invitation to sleep with him is not my idea of getting to know someone.”

“I’m sure you’re not the only person who wants to get to know someone before they become sexually intimate with them. Just so we’re clear, would it take you 15 minutes to get to know someone well enough to have sex with them normally,” Aaron asked innocently.

“No, a lot longer than that. Usually, it would take quite a number of dates to get to know someone. I’m not what you would call very experienced when it comes to dating. I’ve had three long-term relationships and one that was very short-lived – maybe a few weeks before we realised we didn’t have enough in common. I don’t enjoy casual dating or going out to clubs to meet people. I’m more of a homebody, I guess.”

Aaron had prepared her for this question, even though he hated asking it. “But you are a very beautiful woman. Do you expect people to believe that you aren’t constantly attracting attention from people wanting to go out with you…want to have sex with you?”

“I never said I didn’t get hit upon quite a lot or that people didn’t want me to have sex with them. But just because they do it, doesn’t mean I want them to proposition me or that I want to have sex with them. I can’t help how I look, but that doesn’t give anyone the right to harass me because of it, “ Monique averred firmly. “As I said, I prefer to be with someone in a long-term relationship and I always have done,” she said evenly as Aaron mentally cheered her on.

“Were you in a long-term relationship when Lucius Lavin approached you and asked you to have sex with him,” Aaron asked her, already knowing what her answer was going to be since Agent Paddington had already covered this information with her.

Monique nodded before she remembered she needed to give a verbal response. “Yes, I was.”

“What is your attitude to monogamous relationships?”

“I find them admirable, and I want to be in one. I’ve never wanted an open relationship where my partner and I can pursue sexual relationships with other people if that’s what you’re asking. I would consider that to be cheating on my partner and I despise the thought of cheating or being cheated on.”

“Okay, so let’s go back to your first encounter with Mr Lavin. “What did he say to you?”

Monique started straight at the camera and told the hearing, “ He said I was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and he wanted me to be his eighth wife.”

“And how did you respond to him,” Hotch quizzed her curiously.

“I told him that I already had a partner and that I wasn’t going to marry him.”

Aaron raised an eyebrow, “And how did he react to your refusal?”

Dr Girard considered his question for several moments before replying. “He got an angry look on his face which scared me, to be honest.”

“Did he say anything else?”

“Yes, he said that WHEN I lay with him, I would change my mind and become his wife because he knew how to please a woman well.”

Aaron glanced over at Lavin who had a lascivious grin on his face, the depraved jerk. Monique was on the money – he was creepy as.

“And then what did you say to that?”

“I told him that I don’t cheat on my partner and even if I wasn’t already with someone, I don’t have sex with strangers,” she said with suitable gravity.

Hotch pursed his lips and frowned. “Were you on your own when Lucius Lavin approached you and wanted to have sex with you?”

“No, I was talking to Lieutenant Navarro about him helping me with my research,” Monique said slowly. “Lucius Lavin came up while we were talking about setting up an experiment and propositioned me in front of the lieutenant.”

Of course, Hotch already knew this and knew why this information was pivotal, but they were telling a story to the tribunal about what had happened that day.

“Really? How did Lt Navarro respond to Lucius,” he asked curiously.

Monique looked discomfited. “He laughed at him…a lot.”

Hotch looked puzzled. “Why was he laughing?”

Monique looked even more embarrassed. “He told Mr Lavin that someone who was as old and ugly as him didn’t stand a chance of having sex with someone who looked like me,” she said blushing. “The Lieutenant told him to look around the room. That there were many much younger, fitter, and far better-looking people there who stood a much better chance of me being intimate with them than Mr Lavin ever would. Basically, he called him a stupid old fool.”

Hotch kept a straight face with difficulty. Lieutenant Navarro had told him he was a stupid piece of shit, but Monique wasn’t one to cuss.

“How did that make you feel, Dr Girard,” Aaron asked her curiously.

“Mortified. Angry,”

“Why angry?”

“Because the lieutenant assumed that the reason why I turned Mr Lavin down was that I adjudged him to be not as attractive as me. It was insulting.”

“Many people would find it flattering.”

“Then I guess I’m not most people, then. As I said, I don’t appreciate being judged by my looks and I’m not in the habit of being intimate with people I don’t know, regardless of how attractive they are. Plus, as I said, I had a partner, which was one of the main reasons why I turned him down.”

As Aaron continued to lead Monique through her evidence, he was pleased to have prepared the way for 2nd Lieutenant Navarro to corroborate that Monique turned Lavin down and that Navarro humiliated him in front of Dr Girard. It then explained why Lavin preyed upon Emilio Navarro and forced the young officer to give him oral sex. It was all about power, control and retribution for shaming him in front of Dr Girard, who Lavin no doubt misjudged, believing she was laughing at him like the lieutenant.

Hotch knew from his own experience, people tended to misjudge him as being stern and humourless while the truth was he simply wasn’t an extroverted person. As Alex pointed out, Monique was beautiful and naturally reserved but if you didn’t know her she could come across as arrogant and haughty, something which they wanted to avoid at all costs. Miko had been able to present as very vulnerable and demure which roused people’s protective nature, but Monique could never pull that off. What they had been striving to show was that she wasn’t into playing manipulative sexual or mind games with people just because of her stunning looks. They’d portrayed a serious and very moral person who didn’t think she was God’s gift to the world or that she was too good for the likes of someone like Lavin. Of course – the truth was that Monique was way too good for him, but it had nothing to do with physical appearance, it was purely because he was a horrible human being, and she was not!

Everything was going well, and the tribunal members seemed to have responded to her favourably if Hotch was any judge, and as a seasoned profiler, he was. So, unless Lavin had something big up his sleeve, then Hotch thought that they would achieve their objective without him feeling like justice had revictimized Teyla, Miko, Monique and Sofie. He hoped that Lieutenant Navarro could be added to that list too, but it was a bit of an unknown quantity having tribunal members from different planets and not knowing their attitude to sexual issues. Aaron already knew that there were some races in Pegasus were disapproving of same-sex relationships, for instance, the Winyans, and while what Lavin had done in assaulting Navarro was a crime, he knew that some people would blame the victim in a same-sex case. He just didn’t know if Jonas Quinn, Ishta, Kalan or Teal’c would hold that view.

Even back on Earth, Hotch had frequently encountered attitudes towards male victims from some who argued that sexual assault and rape wasn’t that big of a deal, for guys. There was a pervading mindset that victims who ‘attracted’ a predator were automatically gay, even if they weren’t. The illogical thinking process seemed to be that gay men liked having gay sex, so if males were assaulted, then they must be gay, and it wasn’t as traumatic as it was for a female. Mind you, these same types would also claim that sex workers weren’t traumatised by rape or sexual assault either – which was totally missing the point that it was never about the sex act but about imposing control over others and making them feel helpless and without power.

There simply wasn’t a taxonomy of victims who were more traumatised and others who were only minimally troubled by a sexual attack – all rapes and sexual assaults were vile and predatory, not to mention, criminal! So, Aaron was feeling nervous vis-à-vis the Jaffa, Langaran and the Orban and how they would view male sexual assault. It was also why Hotch was now wondering if he should stage a demonstration for the tribunal members so they could see the effects of the mind control drug first-hand. However, he would need to check first to see if they had already had the vaccine because if they had, it wasn’t going to work. In which case, he would have to fall back on Ronon Dex who had offered to testify in support of the victims. After Monique finished her testimony, Aaron would ask for a short recess to determine if it were feasible to stage a demonstration. If it was, he would need a continuance to pull it off. If on the other hand, it was a possibility, but he couldn’t arrange it in time for this hearing, then he’d have it prepped and ready to go when they asked the Tribunal to dismiss the charges against Lavin’s so-called five surviving wives.

Shame that he hadn’t thought of it sooner. Although to be fair, it wasn’t something that he’d ever have considered doing in a court back home, however, this hearing had different rules. Having representatives from other worlds probably made it necessary, so offering them a chance to experience what victims had experienced, given their very different cultures meant it was a valid teaching tool, not just a performative stunt.

As Monique bravely recounted the multiple rapes she’d endured, Aaron’s heart genuinely ached for her as she divulged what he’d done to her. Soon it became obvious that Lucius had been even more brutal with her, physically and in terms of how he’d set out to humiliate her and he hadn’t been all that gentle with Miko, Teyla or Sofie either. Still, Monique was doing well and maintaining her composure, she didn’t become openly emotional with one exception. All through the account of how he raped her in front of her then-partner, Flight Lieutenant James Steadman she cried. When Aaron asked her why this particular rape was more painful than the others she’d replied that it was the one that had sounded the death knell of her relationship with James. He wasn’t able to get over witnessing the attack and failing to stop it, so they’d eventually split up.

Throughout her recounting of Lavin’s final vicious act that cost Monique and James their relationship although her voice didn’t waver, she had cried slow and silent tears which she would daub away with a snowy-white handkerchief, monogrammed with a pale blue MG. It cut Hotch to the quick to bear witness to her vulnerability despite her outwardly calm demeanour. Aaron understood perhaps better than most people would how hard it was for her to expose herself like that. Nonetheless, as a persequor, he could see that her outward composure, her civility and even just her refined speech along with those heartbreaking tears were extremely impactful.

Hotch was also fairly certain that while she hated feeling exposed and not in control, she also understood how such a genuine display of her feelings gave her voice amplitude. By all accounts, she was a gifted scientist, moreover, she’d been waiting for six long years to be able to tell her story. If he was in her shoes, he would be equally prepared to expose himself emotionally if it meant that Lucius Lavin finally answered for the terrible crimes he’d committed, not just against her, but every other person he’d forced to do his bidding, completely against their will.

He shivered at the evilness that was Lavin carefully concealed, hiding behind his clumsy attempts at bonhomie, which he didn’t fully succeed at. In his closing plea, Aaron fully intended to replay the conversation Lucius Lavin had with Colonel Sheppard when he was incarcerated in the Atlantis Brig when John was immune to Lavin’s ‘special herb’. His sociopathic personality minus his hail-fellow-well-met persona was extraordinarily chilling as it showed his true colours. Aaron intended for it to be their last impression of him in the case against Lavin. Lucius freely admitting to forcing his ‘wives’ into sexual activities was without any doubt, extremely impactful and not in a good way!

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