With Dauntless Abandon

Chapter 11

"No," she says sharply. "No. Tris will want me to be there. Uri..." her voice breaks. "There isn't anything I can do for him now, except make sure he didn't die for nothing."

"You're incredible," Will whispers with a sad smile. "I love you so much."

~~~

The courthouse is full of people when he walks in, led by a bailiff. He stares down at his handcuffs, swallowing hard. This is the last time he will have to wear handcuffs... ever.

Last night, he, Rock, and Gabe celebrated his release with cigarettes that Gabe bummed off someone-who probably stole his pack from someone else. They were the only real friends he had had in years, and he was going to miss them. He resolved to visit both of them when he left.

Christina is tired and pale. She looks like she hasn't slept, and her lips are pressed into a tight line, the normally immaculate lipstick on them smudged from her biting and licking her lips. "Are you okay?" He asks her under his breath as the bailiff moves to the front of the courtroom.

She nods once, but the gesture is so stiff with tension that he knows she is lying. In fact, she's only holding herself together by one thread. What could have happened?

"All rise for the honorable judge Johanna Reyes."

He stands automatically, staring at his hands again. He's shaking, but he doesn't know why. Maybe it was because the last time he was in a place like this, it was when they condemned him to a prison cell for the rest of his life.

"Hey, relax," Christina says with a small smile. "It's going to be okay."

He nods and sits when the judge does. He looks around. Will and Fernando are sitting behind him. They are smiling, but they also look like they slept very little. Now he's suspicious. What are they keeping from him?

Then he notices. The person he was looking around for is not here. Tris should have been seated next to them, maybe with her friend Uriah, the one that Smarty Pants Prior always talks about. But she is not here. Where is she?

"Where's Tris?" He hisses at Christina as the DA speaks on about a grave injustice and various evidences and whatever else.

Christina shakes her head, a tiny, tense motion. "I will tell you when this is over."

"Maybe you should tell me now," he says, and his tone is a warning one.

She looks at him, and he remembers how his first impression of her was that she's scary as fuck without intentionally being intimidating. He swallows. "Is she okay?" he asks in a whisper, but Christina is saved from having to answer when the judge directs his questions to her.

He doesn't know how long the hearing is, but finally, he's asked to stand. He does, and the judge looks at him with kind eyes, but pitying ones. "This is inexcusable," she says, her voice somehow soft but firm at the same time. "Years of your life, Mr. Eaton, has been destroyed and wasted by the failure of our system to provide you with the proper justice. I am so sorry that you have had to suffer like this.

"I hereby declare Tobias Eaton innocent of the crime he was convicted of. His conviction is to be null and void, his criminal record is to be exponged, and he is to be released from prison immediately. Should he choose to pursue a settlement from the state for the damages that he has suffered, he will be provided the resources necessary to do so. You are free to go, Mr. Eaton."

He swallows, his whole body shaking. He didn't know how much he wanted this until it was happening. He is free. Oh, fuck... he slumps into his seat as soon as the hearing is adjourned, unable to stand. "What happens now?" he asks, his voice cracking.