chicago ♔ i wish you could see | how apart we've all grown

[lawofsurvival]

WHO || The Failboat, Rafael Giovanni, Isabella Alessandro, Hiro, Jaka, Burt Becksworth, DA of Chicago [closed]
WHAT || The trial of Rafael Giovanni
WHERE || Chicago courthouse, Chicago, IL
WHEN || Friday, Nov 22nd  [backdated]
HOW || Actionspam

The big day has finally arrived.  As media coverage rises to a frenzied fever pitch, Jaka's final preparations are completed, and the team assembles to head down for the trial of Rafael Giovanni.   

Large crowds are gathered outside, some of whom tote signs condemning Rafael as a murderer, others pledging their support and love for the singer.  Police officers keep order, and hold the crowds back as the stars are led up the steps and inside the courthouse.  

They'll have some time to convene with Burt and Jaka in a private room before the trial itself begins.  Unfortunately, Jaka still hasn't shared the change in plans that he and Des discussed in private... 

Comments

[selfrevelation]

[ yeah he doesn't budge, or look v impressed ] I am not quite certain what we ever did to invoke such hostility: obviously, we will not force you to make any decision. However-- [ and he leans in all the closer to des, so that they're almost nose to nose, with implacable calm but some kind of disturbing i-know-what-you-did-last-summer-with-jaka look in the back of his eyes ] I do hope you know what you're doing. [ there's the tiniest emphasis on you there, to make it clear that he means you're single-handedly putting everyone in jeopardy by going behind your team's back, des. ]

[nothingsodivine]

I don't know about them. [He jerks his head towards Buffy and Spike.] But I know I've got enough bad blood with her that anyone playing anything close to the same ballgame she's playing, opposite sides or not, endears me not a bit.

[He doesn't flinch away from GRAY IN HIS FACE.] I know what I'm doing.

[slay]

[ buffy all but cuts des off with how quickly she jumps in to consider it. her fingers are playing with the collar of her shirt, and she looks distant - worry and doubt reflecting in her eyes and her choices of words. ]

What would we have to promise to do?

[ it betrays, not for the first time, her fearful uncertainty that this plan won't work. that they won't be able to get rafael off, and she can't stand to lose him - more than that, she can't stand the thought of losing des to iscariot if they screw this up. so their options are give cthulu a foot in the door, imprison rafael and enslave des to iscariot, or enslave themselves to the grays - who they don't even truly understand. but can they really be worse? ]

[selfrevelation]

[ gray turns his head to look at buffy for a long measured moment. ] The promise would be Rafael's. In return for guaranteeing the best possible outcome of this trial, he would swear to some day repay this favor, should we require his assistance. He would be asked to do nothing that ran counter to his morals, and the situation would be beneficial for many people - himself likely included.

You might say that it is through these bargains that we can lessen the amount of potential influence that the... others, those such as Des' personal shadow, can exert in the future. Should events transpire that would require our interference, we can avoid directly doing so by the use of agents such as Mr. Giovanni. The balance is maintained - we do something for him, he counters it by doing something for us, and in so doing, rectifies some evil in this world without tipping the scales towards our adversaries.

[bigbad]

You know, I think I missed the part where we established you lot are definitely the good guys. [Spike crosses his arms, scowling at Gray. All this bargaining sounds right shifty to him. It's not really his call, but he doesn't feel like relying on some strangers who claim they can help in exchange for some mysterious favor is necessarily any safer than just doing things for themselves.]

[slay]

I won't let you make him kill for you.

[ like you'd think the wise choice would be to take this offer to rafael, but no. buffy is not going to let it get that far because he might just take it and sign himself up for assassinpalooza and buffy isn't letting him do that. she is not going to let him contract himself into something that he's tried to get out of before, particularly when he's so incapable of seeing a way out that he'd tried to kill himself the last time they'd seen these shifty fucks. ]

I don't care how helpful you think you can be, he is not your weapon. He is not your tool. He is a person, not something for you to use.

[selfrevelation]

I should hope it wouldn't come to that. Usually our requests are hardly so... extreme.

[nothingsodivine]

I'll give 'em this much. They're better at the sales pitch than Linda ever was. [He shrugs. At least they're asking. He may not like any of this at all, but it's not his choice. If they don't make good, he still has a back-up plan with Jaka. They don't have much to lose, really.] It's Rafael's call. I won't be the one forcing his hand, though.

[selfrevelation]

It certainly is his decision. But I'm aware that he values and respects your opinions, and that he'll likely turn to you to help him in making his final call.

It is not important to us to acquire the future assistance of Mr. Giovanni, so much as it is for us to see him walk free today. But if we wish to ensure that without granting ... her more leeway, we cannot do it for free, so to speak. Keep that in mind. I would love nothing more than to see you succeed on your own - without our intervention. [ a glance to des ] We know Rafael to be innocent. Trying to secure his freedom by destroying the honesty of his actions...

[ he shakes his head ] It cannot come to good. [ with that,he turns on his heel to leave. ]

[slay]

Maybe it'd be better if we kept this to ourselves until the trial's further along. [ buffy waits until gray's gone to say it quietly. she looks to des for support. ] If things look bad, we can let him make the call.

[nothingsodivine]

It's bad enough. Wouldn't it be better to have him make the call now? [Gray's pointed look at him has made him wary- like he knows something he doesn't. His once unwavering confidence is starting to show some cracks. Maybe he didn't do the right thing at all.

Or maybe they're stuck between a rock and a hard place.] Before we have to asspull in the middle of a crisis?

[bigbad]

If it's some sort of magic fix-all it shouldn't matter when we bring it out, should it? Probably should just leave it up to Rafael.

[slay]

Do you remember the bridge, Des? Do you really think he's in a position to be making these decisions right now if he doesn't have to? I realize this ... insanity plea thing is supposed to be a crock, but we need to face the facts that the only reason we have hope of pulling it off is because Rafael is still a little unhinged from what happened. He's grieving, he's desperate, and I really don't think telling him that some - some - preternatural whatchamacallits want him to owe them one.

[bigbad]

[H o l d u p. Spike probably didn't need a nat 20 wis check to put together BRIDGE + UNHINGED + GRIEVING, but it sure helps. He catches Buffy's shoulder.]

He tried to off himself?

[nothingsodivine]

[WELL, HE TRIED. But mostly right now, he's glaring at Buffy.]

Nice one, Blondie.

[slay]

Oh, whatever! [ not rly time to get worked up about her sort of spilling the beans on that ok. ] The point is, he's in no position to be indebting himself to spooky lurker guys.

[bigbad]

[He's asking you about this later, Buffy, but it really isn't the time. So besides a grumbled] So much for not keeping anymore secrets. [He just crosses his arms and doesn't push the issue.]

We should get back to the others. No use standing out here arguing.

[romanticidal]

[ the man of the hour himself comes to the door to look out, leaning against the door frame ] Problem?

[nothingsodivine]

[Des shrugs.] Nope. [Bluff 26] Let's just get this over with.

[romanticidal]

Si. I think we have waited long enough. [ and as the guards come to indicate it's time for y'all to go, we break a new record for amaaaaazing timing. also time to make a new thread. wheeee let's go. ]

the trial~

[romanticidal]

[ rafael manages to keep an impressively blank face as he walks into the courtroom, but maybe it has something to do with being dead inside. there are lots of people craning their neck to get a good look at the pop star, and the guards also usher in all of his ensemble to have seats along the bench as he moves up to sit with jaka and burt at the defendant table.

the judge enters next, and when she takes her customary position, she calls to order the people of chicago vs. rafael giovanni, and gestures for the prosecution to make their opening remarks. ]

[llllllaurel]

[Arianna gets up when indicated, smoothing her business suit down in front of her, and moving to face the jury. As she speaks, she sounds calm and collected, even entirely reasonable (diplomacy 37).]

Rafael Giovanni was a star on the rise. An up and coming record deal with Burt Becksworth's agency. A live concert event set to be broadcast around the world. He had the world at his fingertips, and all of it was cut short by a madman who tried to hurt the woman he loved, and her tragic death as he tried to protect her.

[A pause.]

Or - at least that is now the defense will present it. There is no denying that Rafael Giovanni shot Eterna Jade as she was being held hostage by Roger James. But the state intends to prove that the death of Eterna Jade was no accident. The prosecution will prove that this was a deliberate plan, crafted by Giovanni himself as well as his manager, Burt Becksworth - a man notorious for doing whatever it takes to keep his artists in the public eye.

We have the evidence to show Giovanni meeting with the mysterious man who took Eterna Jade hostage. Over the next few days we will show you that this unfortunate death is not the tragedy it is painted to be. It was a cold blooded, calculated murder.

You'll see that the only verdict is guilty.

[And with that, she'll return to her seat, waiting for the defense to present their case.]

1/2

[romanticidal]

[ with a 31 bluff check, rafael manages to keep an incredibly impressive poker face, and so does burt as he glances back over his shoulders to count how many cameras are visible. yep. ]

[lawofsurvival]

[ a tiny smirk plays across the corner of the dark elf's lips as she sits, as if jaka knows something she doesn't - or is dismissing her credibility as amusing. either way, he smoothly draws to his own feet, and stalks around the table with a deliberate, even pace, turning to survey the jury, and then look back at rafael. ]

The prosecution paints a truly interesting portrait of intrigue, almost as romantic in its appeal as the idea of a pair of lovers torn apart by tragedy. However, what the defense seeks to present are facts, not melodrama, and the grim reality underlying this very unique case has little to do with either honor or greed.

[ he paces across the floor, indicating rafael ] I wish that I could paint our defendant as the dashing hero, rushing to the defense of an innocent woman. But the truth is much darker, much more complex, and much further-reaching than any could have guessed. We're dealing with a man whose already fragile psyche was pushed to the limits when he discovered the truth about the woman he had held as an angel in his eyes, a truth his conscious mind was not equipped to handle. A truth that drove him off the brink of sanity, causing him to be responsible for her death - in a moment of temporary insanity that indicates a diseased and fractured mind that can be healed, not the cunning, calculating greed of a would-be murderer seeking the fast track to fame.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, [ he turns to them with an oily smile, and spreads his hands ] Mr. Giovanni sits here before you today to prove himself a victim of temporary insanity, the only sensible verdict in a case which I imagine will shock many people sitting here today. [ his 42 diplomacy check certainly leaves a lingering sense of suspense and mystery in the air. rafael's brows are furrowed as he watches the lawyer, but he doesn't betray whatever he's thinking as the drow comes around to have a seat, indicating the other lawyer. ] Prosecution may call its first witness. [ and with that smug air, he has a seat next to burt, who casts him an inscrutable look ]

[llllllaurel]

[Insanity defense. Lovely. Arianna simply gets up and moves on because she isn't really surprised.]

The prosecution calls Officer Grant Morrison to the stand.