Abyss (R) (Smash) Part 19
Title: Abyss
Author: blackpoetcat
Rating: R
Character: Derek Wills
Disclaimer: NBC owns all, just playing drama with
Summary: Everyone knows he doesn't give a shit about anything but the show. So when Derek's life capsizes, will anyone give a shit about him?
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10,
Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18
Abyss - 19
The next seconds were a blur of chaos and turmoil. Some spectators tried to stop the man, but he somehow managed to get out of the bench row. Nevertheless, one of the reporters and the officer at the door got hold of his arms eventually and after some fruitless struggling, he gave in and let himself be marched to the marked-off area, where the second guard took over and the reporter returned to his place.
Derek could only stare at Ellis Boyd, then at Tom and Sam, who looked likewise stunned, and finally at Ivy. She stood, both hands on her mouth and gaped with eyes as big as saucers while Eileen railed at her former assistant, drowning out the noise of the audience:
“You! I don’t believe it! Didn’t you cause enough trouble before I fired you?”
“Silence! Or I’ll have the courtroom cleared!” Judge Salamon shouted and slammed down the gavel several times until everyone, except Boyd and the officers holding him, was seated and relatively quiet again.
“Mr. Flynn, are you sure this is the man you saw that night?” the judge inquired and Alex nodded.
“He is. No doubt.”
At once the audience started to murmur again, but even before the judge could demand silence again, Bellamy addressed Boyd:
“Why were you vomiting in front of Ms. Peterson’s building? Had you been inside? Maybe even in her apartment? Otherwise I see no reason for your attempt to escape the courtroom.”
“I didn’t mean to harm her!” Ellis exclaimed in a desperate voice. “I just wanted her to listen, to persuade her to sue Wills for sexual harassment or even rape! Everything, anything, whatever it took to destroy him -- and the show! But she started to scream, she fought me and tried to call the police!”
This was too much now for Derek. After all the time he had been condemned to struggle with the possibility of being some kind of murderer, the weeks of incarceration, losing practically his whole existence and suffering other people’s disdain and spite, his enforced patience finally broke into fury.
“You bloody son of a bitch!” he yelled at Ellis and would have jumped at him, if not for two pairs of arms instantly restraining him from behind. Though he was struggling, he continued to rage.
“All this time you knew she was alive when I left! Why didn’t you tell the police?”
“Because you deserve to rot in jail!” Ellis spat back, his suddenly burning eyes shot daggers at Derek. “Ivy almost died because of you, you bastard, and right after you finally stooped to gloat at the damage you caused, you had nothing better to do than pick up the next best blonde for a fuck! You’re nothing but shit!”
Ignoring the judge’s rigorous demands to stop at once, Derek couldn’t help but yell even louder.
“You’re damn right, I am! But Tracy wasn’t! She had absolutely nothing to do with anything, not with Ivy, not with the show -- and definitely not with you! So why her, Ellis? Why her of all people?”
“Mr. Bellamy, bring your client to heel or he will be arrested for contempt... ” Salamon shouted, but was interrupted by Boyd’s desperate answer.
“When I tied and gagged her, it was only because I wanted her to calm down and listen to me!” Tears were running down his face now and his voice started to crack. “I... I went to the kitchen, to give her some space to think. When I came back to talk with her, she... she was... already... Oh God, I didn’t want that!” he cried.
After his confession, the entire audience was silent, except sounds of sobbing from Ellis and Ivy. Even Derek felt unable to yell or even speak. To the contrary, he suddenly felt tired and weak, his legs started to tremble and he was thankful for the supporting hands that helped him sit down. He wasn’t surprised to recognize a black and a white hand, each squeezing one of his shoulders for comfort.
“Officers, take him into custody,” Judge Salamon ordered and after Ellis had been hauled off she looked at Derek. “All charges dropped, jury is dismissed. Mr. Wills, you are at liberty to go. Court is closed.” She slammed her gavel down for the last time and left.
***
After a few moments which he needed badly to adjust not only to what he had just learned, but to comprehend the pure reality of being free at last, Derek slowly turned to his lawyer.
“Mr. Bellamy... I...”
From the corner of his eyes he observed most of the audience leaving, including a stone-faced Eileen who was almost dragging Karen and Sundaram with her, and Kevin and his wife, who beamed with visible joy and waved him good-bye. But Derek also heard the rising noise from the reporters already waiting outside the courtroom and sighed. Though he knew that he had no chance whatsoever to avoid them, he did not feel ready for interviews yet.
“Don’t worry, I will ask them for some patience,” his attorney said with an understanding smile and went to the entrance to talk with the media representatives in advance. He had just closed the door behind him when Derek saw Alexander Flynn rising and slowly heading towards the exit. Nearly jumping from his chair, Derek intercepted him, but didn’t know what to say when they looked at each other, except the quiet “Thank you” he somehow managed to get out.
“You’re welcome,” Flynn replied and smiled, though Derek couldn’t help but sense a kind of wistfulness from his rescuer. “I’m only sorry for not being here when it all started.”
“That’s definitely not your fault.”
One hand running through his hair, Derek bit his lower lip and looked down for a moment before he locked eyes with Flynn again. The confusing reactions of his body to the other man’s proximity felt simultaneously strange and familiar and the amused sparkles in those ocean blue eyes intensified the sensation, causing him to swallow hard before he finally was capable of talking.
“Alex... I... What happened that night... I don’t remember any of it, but...”
“No need for explanations, Derek,” Flynn interrupted him with the same soft tone in which he had testified, causing Derek to pleasantly shiver. “But the way I see it -- and your obvious response to me, even now when you’re sober, affirms it quite well -- you should come to terms with the inevitable fact that you’re at least bisexual. Though I honestly doubt that's all you are.”
Before the pure thought of this hint could scare him away, Derek felt one finger stroking his hand for just a glimpse of time and inhaled sharply when something hot rushed from the touched area right to his spine, prompting his member to twitch. His eyes widened, but instead of the horror the very idea would have had inflicted in the past, he just felt -- expectant.
“As I thought,” Alex stated, fetched a card from his pocket and put it into one of Derek’s jacket pockets. “Call on me when you’re ready. I’d be happy to meet you again.”
Not offering Derek the slightest chance to answer or react at all, Flynn took his leave to meet the waiting reporters who certainly would descend on him like vultures. Though he desperately wished to talk with him, to try to understand what was happening inside him, Derek neither called nor followed Alex, but instead was distracted at once when his eyes met Ivy’s.
Unlike the majority of the audience, she was still here, but despite her tear-stained face her expression seemed somewhat less pained than before Derek’s testimony and Ellis’ confession. Nevertheless, Derek didn’t dare to approach or address her, just held her gaze, bearing the fierce feeling of guilt and remorse without turning away.
God, how he wished he hadn’t treated her so badly! No matter how many women he had used, hurt or left heartbroken in the past, he had never felt responsible for their feelings, let alone their behaviour as result of those. But with Ivy, everything had changed. And for the first time, he felt capable of reading her emotions correctly, recognizing something in her eyes, her whole expression, that made him feel worse and truly moved at the same time.
An uncertain but sincere smile grew on his face and his heart leapt when Ivy eventually returned the smile, if obviously reluctantly, before she left the courtroom, shown through the side door by an elderly woman he supposed to be her therapist. To meet the press would be too much for her; Derek was well aware of that. As he was of something which would have never occurred to him before she overdosed and therefore started the wheel of destiny.
Now, after her very own experience of not being loved and compensating for the pain with drugs, she would express those emotions perfectly in every tune. It really was a shame that he would probably never get back to ‘Bombshell'; otherwise he wouldn’t hesitate to build Ivy back up as Marilyn as soon as she was fit and ready.
That was, if she would want it. If there was one essential thing Derek had learned in these past weeks, it was respecting the feelings of other people. And exactly that was the reason he took a deep breath and turned to face Tom.
Continued in Part 20
Author: blackpoetcat
Rating: R
Character: Derek Wills
Disclaimer: NBC owns all, just playing drama with
Summary: Everyone knows he doesn't give a shit about anything but the show. So when Derek's life capsizes, will anyone give a shit about him?
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10,
Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18
Abyss - 19
The next seconds were a blur of chaos and turmoil. Some spectators tried to stop the man, but he somehow managed to get out of the bench row. Nevertheless, one of the reporters and the officer at the door got hold of his arms eventually and after some fruitless struggling, he gave in and let himself be marched to the marked-off area, where the second guard took over and the reporter returned to his place.
Derek could only stare at Ellis Boyd, then at Tom and Sam, who looked likewise stunned, and finally at Ivy. She stood, both hands on her mouth and gaped with eyes as big as saucers while Eileen railed at her former assistant, drowning out the noise of the audience:
“You! I don’t believe it! Didn’t you cause enough trouble before I fired you?”
“Silence! Or I’ll have the courtroom cleared!” Judge Salamon shouted and slammed down the gavel several times until everyone, except Boyd and the officers holding him, was seated and relatively quiet again.
“Mr. Flynn, are you sure this is the man you saw that night?” the judge inquired and Alex nodded.
“He is. No doubt.”
At once the audience started to murmur again, but even before the judge could demand silence again, Bellamy addressed Boyd:
“Why were you vomiting in front of Ms. Peterson’s building? Had you been inside? Maybe even in her apartment? Otherwise I see no reason for your attempt to escape the courtroom.”
“I didn’t mean to harm her!” Ellis exclaimed in a desperate voice. “I just wanted her to listen, to persuade her to sue Wills for sexual harassment or even rape! Everything, anything, whatever it took to destroy him -- and the show! But she started to scream, she fought me and tried to call the police!”
This was too much now for Derek. After all the time he had been condemned to struggle with the possibility of being some kind of murderer, the weeks of incarceration, losing practically his whole existence and suffering other people’s disdain and spite, his enforced patience finally broke into fury.
“You bloody son of a bitch!” he yelled at Ellis and would have jumped at him, if not for two pairs of arms instantly restraining him from behind. Though he was struggling, he continued to rage.
“All this time you knew she was alive when I left! Why didn’t you tell the police?”
“Because you deserve to rot in jail!” Ellis spat back, his suddenly burning eyes shot daggers at Derek. “Ivy almost died because of you, you bastard, and right after you finally stooped to gloat at the damage you caused, you had nothing better to do than pick up the next best blonde for a fuck! You’re nothing but shit!”
Ignoring the judge’s rigorous demands to stop at once, Derek couldn’t help but yell even louder.
“You’re damn right, I am! But Tracy wasn’t! She had absolutely nothing to do with anything, not with Ivy, not with the show -- and definitely not with you! So why her, Ellis? Why her of all people?”
“Mr. Bellamy, bring your client to heel or he will be arrested for contempt... ” Salamon shouted, but was interrupted by Boyd’s desperate answer.
“When I tied and gagged her, it was only because I wanted her to calm down and listen to me!” Tears were running down his face now and his voice started to crack. “I... I went to the kitchen, to give her some space to think. When I came back to talk with her, she... she was... already... Oh God, I didn’t want that!” he cried.
After his confession, the entire audience was silent, except sounds of sobbing from Ellis and Ivy. Even Derek felt unable to yell or even speak. To the contrary, he suddenly felt tired and weak, his legs started to tremble and he was thankful for the supporting hands that helped him sit down. He wasn’t surprised to recognize a black and a white hand, each squeezing one of his shoulders for comfort.
“Officers, take him into custody,” Judge Salamon ordered and after Ellis had been hauled off she looked at Derek. “All charges dropped, jury is dismissed. Mr. Wills, you are at liberty to go. Court is closed.” She slammed her gavel down for the last time and left.
***
After a few moments which he needed badly to adjust not only to what he had just learned, but to comprehend the pure reality of being free at last, Derek slowly turned to his lawyer.
“Mr. Bellamy... I...”
From the corner of his eyes he observed most of the audience leaving, including a stone-faced Eileen who was almost dragging Karen and Sundaram with her, and Kevin and his wife, who beamed with visible joy and waved him good-bye. But Derek also heard the rising noise from the reporters already waiting outside the courtroom and sighed. Though he knew that he had no chance whatsoever to avoid them, he did not feel ready for interviews yet.
“Don’t worry, I will ask them for some patience,” his attorney said with an understanding smile and went to the entrance to talk with the media representatives in advance. He had just closed the door behind him when Derek saw Alexander Flynn rising and slowly heading towards the exit. Nearly jumping from his chair, Derek intercepted him, but didn’t know what to say when they looked at each other, except the quiet “Thank you” he somehow managed to get out.
“You’re welcome,” Flynn replied and smiled, though Derek couldn’t help but sense a kind of wistfulness from his rescuer. “I’m only sorry for not being here when it all started.”
“That’s definitely not your fault.”
One hand running through his hair, Derek bit his lower lip and looked down for a moment before he locked eyes with Flynn again. The confusing reactions of his body to the other man’s proximity felt simultaneously strange and familiar and the amused sparkles in those ocean blue eyes intensified the sensation, causing him to swallow hard before he finally was capable of talking.
“Alex... I... What happened that night... I don’t remember any of it, but...”
“No need for explanations, Derek,” Flynn interrupted him with the same soft tone in which he had testified, causing Derek to pleasantly shiver. “But the way I see it -- and your obvious response to me, even now when you’re sober, affirms it quite well -- you should come to terms with the inevitable fact that you’re at least bisexual. Though I honestly doubt that's all you are.”
Before the pure thought of this hint could scare him away, Derek felt one finger stroking his hand for just a glimpse of time and inhaled sharply when something hot rushed from the touched area right to his spine, prompting his member to twitch. His eyes widened, but instead of the horror the very idea would have had inflicted in the past, he just felt -- expectant.
“As I thought,” Alex stated, fetched a card from his pocket and put it into one of Derek’s jacket pockets. “Call on me when you’re ready. I’d be happy to meet you again.”
Not offering Derek the slightest chance to answer or react at all, Flynn took his leave to meet the waiting reporters who certainly would descend on him like vultures. Though he desperately wished to talk with him, to try to understand what was happening inside him, Derek neither called nor followed Alex, but instead was distracted at once when his eyes met Ivy’s.
Unlike the majority of the audience, she was still here, but despite her tear-stained face her expression seemed somewhat less pained than before Derek’s testimony and Ellis’ confession. Nevertheless, Derek didn’t dare to approach or address her, just held her gaze, bearing the fierce feeling of guilt and remorse without turning away.
God, how he wished he hadn’t treated her so badly! No matter how many women he had used, hurt or left heartbroken in the past, he had never felt responsible for their feelings, let alone their behaviour as result of those. But with Ivy, everything had changed. And for the first time, he felt capable of reading her emotions correctly, recognizing something in her eyes, her whole expression, that made him feel worse and truly moved at the same time.
An uncertain but sincere smile grew on his face and his heart leapt when Ivy eventually returned the smile, if obviously reluctantly, before she left the courtroom, shown through the side door by an elderly woman he supposed to be her therapist. To meet the press would be too much for her; Derek was well aware of that. As he was of something which would have never occurred to him before she overdosed and therefore started the wheel of destiny.
Now, after her very own experience of not being loved and compensating for the pain with drugs, she would express those emotions perfectly in every tune. It really was a shame that he would probably never get back to ‘Bombshell'; otherwise he wouldn’t hesitate to build Ivy back up as Marilyn as soon as she was fit and ready.
That was, if she would want it. If there was one essential thing Derek had learned in these past weeks, it was respecting the feelings of other people. And exactly that was the reason he took a deep breath and turned to face Tom.
Continued in Part 20