lee - october 6th 2015

[ofthingstocome]

Out of all the gods-damned things she expected getting out of that hospital room, this wasn't even on the list. The scrape of metal on metal happened every single time she moved and it was getting on her nerves. The handcuff was too tight for her to dislocate her thumb to get out of it, and the welds on the bedframe were solid enough that there was no way it was coming off that way.

It's a small miracle that she hasn't been drugged again. The pain's still eating away at her, and what's worse than that's the exhaustion. When she'd punched the orderly, she'd managed to frak up her hand and open her stitches, but a oh-so-helpful nurse had patched her up once she was cuffed and left behind. She's got new bandages on her wounds, one where she'd pulled out her IV, and one on her hand, and not of it makes a single bit of sense.

She's pretty sure that there's a guard on the door, and what Kara doesn't know is that there's a quasi-procedure in place for this. When people come from other places, and are hurt, and moreover if they're behaving erratically. Hold them in custody, they get a public defender, a psych consult, and then the determination is made if they should press charges.

Rattling the cuff again, Kara stares up at the ceiling, her jaw clenched in anger and fear. This place is impossible. It's impossible, and she's been trying to figure out if she's seeing things like Roslin, if she'd up and died-- and that's what finally gets her to speak, her voice low in the hospital room where they'd taken away anything that could be within reach and used as a weapon. "Lords, I don't know if this is supposed to be some kind of test, but I'm running on empty on how to take this. If there was some kind of, I don't know, directions or something... Just figured I'd ask."

A split second after the last word dies in her throat, there's a knock on the door. Blinking in surprise, Kara mutters, "Thanks," before she pushes herself up a little with a wince, and speaks up. "Come in."

Comments

[adifferentpath]

It's a normal day of reviewing cases, visiting clients, defending charged criminals in court. Of course, they're not actually Lee's cases, but they're Toby Spitzer's and Lee's just shadowing him for the day. There's been a lot of that since he started working part time at the public defender's office. A lot of being shown the ropes, a lot of paperwork, and every once in a while, he'd actually get to put in his two cubits when it came to the cases they had on their plate.

It's a long way from what Lee got to do for the short time that he was helping with the emerging legal system in the Fleet, but he figures that eventually, he'll get his own caseload. In about two years, that is. But for now, he's barely a paralegal, filling in the days he doesn't have lectures by going from courtroom to courtroom, or between rooms at the city's jail.

Today's a little different, though. Spitzer's gotten a case for someone in custody at the hospital, who claims they've just gotten to the city, who assaulted an orderly.

It's one that Lee insists on tagging along for, even though he's supposed to be reading through about a dozen case files. But he knows that it's more likely than not that this person who claims to have just arrived in the city actually has. And they're probably really frakking confused. While Spitzer isn't as anti-immigrant as a lot of Darrow locals Lee has met, he knows that this whole thing will probably go better with him there.

So he's on Spitzer's tail as they walk through the hospital, as they're lead back to the room where they're keeping this new, rowdy arrival who needs representation.

Lee can't quite see when the curtain's pulled back, when Spitzer steps forward to introduce himself to the person handcuffed to the bed, but figures it's best if he keeps his distance for now. He's just supposed to be shadowing, after all. He's the one holding the case file.

"I'm Toby Spitzer, and I'm your court appointed defender, Ms..." he starts, then reaches back for the folder that Lee's holding in his hands. He hands it over, watching as it's opened and as Spitzer looks for the name on the arrest report. "Thrace? Am I pronouncing that right?"

There's a moment, where it feels almost as if the air's been sucked out of the room. Because it's been a long time now, nearly two years, since he's seen Kara Thrace. There was always a part of him convinced that she'd be back eventually, because somehow, Kara always finds a way back. She made it back from Caprica, she fought like hell to get off of New Caprica, she somehow came back from that nebula, even after Lee watched her viper explode with his own eyes.

But despite all that, despite always knowing, somehow, that he'd see her again, Lee isn't prepared for it when he sidesteps the other man in the room and sees her face.

"Gods... Kara?"