The Trial of Willow Rosenberg
Parts 7 & 8 & Epilogue

By Sam James

[email protected]

The next day, Judge Bone had both the defendant Willow Rosenberg, acting as her own attorney, and District Attorney Carlos Columbia in his chambers.

"Now, Miss Rosenberg," the judge frowned at her from behind his high desk. "Normally, at this stage in the trial, the defense tries to rebut the case made by the prosecution and then the jury decides guilty or not guilty. Why do you feel I should just dismiss the case without these steps?"

Willow rose. She knew this was her best chance to end the trial right away without chancing what the jury may or may not believe. It was all up to her. "Your honor, normally there is evidence that a crime was committed. But, in this case, the policeman who was the prosecution's own witness said there was no evidence that Warren was even dead. Obviously, if there's no evidence that he's dead, there is no evidence that I killed him." She took another deep breath. "Normally, the prosecution describes a method by which the crime was committed. But the prosecution's only eyewitness to those events offered no explanation as to what exactly it was that I did and also claims I used magic to try to destroy the world."

She looked at the judge wondering how far she should go. What she should admit. "Now I admit I had a motive to want Warren dead. But so did many others. If the prosecution claims I used magic to kill Warren, how do they know that this magic wasn't performed by the parents of Kristina, who he also murdered, or the president of the bank whose truck he robbed? Or the owners of the museum whose diamond he stole? A gunman has to be physically present and a poisoner needs to get the poison in the victim. But does a magic user have to be at the same site as the victim? Or could the bank president chant in Los Angeles and Warren drops dead in Sunnydale leaving the police to grab the nearest person with a grievance against him?"

"In short," Willow continued, "I claim that the case should be dismissed for complete lack of evidence, for the unreliable nature of the prosecutor's witnesses, two of whom were actually dismissed by the court, and not least for the ridiculous and utterly unprovable notion of murder by black magic."

"Thank you Miss Rosenberg. This was very enlightening," Judge Bone said. "Please tell me, if I rule against this dismissal, what witnesses you will put on the defense?

Willow shot a quick look at the prosecutor. She did not want to give away her strategy. But if the judge ruled in her favor, she could walk away from the whole thing immediately. "The head of the UC Sunnydale coven will testify that witches don't really cast spells and that I only attended one meeting anyway. The magicians Marker and Talker will testify that there is no such thing as real magic as opposed to stage magic. And I have an investigator from a Crime Science Investigation team who will testify that bodies don't just go up in smoke. I also have a large number of character witnesses from Sunnydale High School and UC Sunnydale who will testify about, um me and about the reliability of the prosecutor's witness Xander Harris."

"Very good," said Judge Bone. He was impressed that the girl did think of a way to defend against a charge of witchcraft. If not for his experiences the past evening, Willow might have convinced him. "Now then, Mr. Columbia, do you agree to the dismissal of these charges?"

Carlos stood up. If this case was dismissed, he would be the laughing stock of the DA's office, the prosecutor who accused a girl of being a witch and the lawyer defeated by a college student. And he was perilously close to that point. His only hope was that Judge Bone would live up to his unconventional reputation. For Carlos was about to break the first law of lawyers. He was going to tell the truth.

"No, I do not. The case should not be dismissed for the simple reason that Willow Rosenberg is guilty of murder, guilty of killing Warren Means by witchcraft."

The Judge looked at him. "You didn't exactly do a good job proving it in the courtroom."

Carlos looked down at the floor. "No, I did not. I had trouble accepting the idea that witchcraft was real and I trusted the police who gave suborned testimony. I petition that we declare a mistrial due to the perjury of the police and start fresh with a new jury."

"I object," Willow rose to her feet. "The prosecution is essentially admitting it failed to prove its case and simply wants a second chance to do what shoulda done right the first time."

"I agree," Judge Bone said. "The prosecution is quite out of line. But Carlos is right about one thing. You did kill Warren Means by witchcraft. Right?"

All was silence. Carlos's head swiveled back and forth between Willow and the Judge, unable to decide who to watch. Willow thought quickly as her face turned red. "Um, ah. I can't possibly be required to answer that question! Isn't there a right against self-incrimination?"

Judge Bone ignored the girl's protest. "Warren Means was human being. Yes, from all accounts not a terribly nice fellow but still human, like you or me. You had no right to take his life, no right to seek the lives of his accomplices, no right to seek to hurt your friends who only sought to save you from committing these murders." He raised his voice to a dull roar. "And certainly no right to try to take the lives of everyone on this entire planet!"

Willow was shaking at his words.

"How does that make you better than those you fought against in the night! How does that make you better than Faith, who voluntarily entered prison and who stays there seeking her own repentance? Aren't you one of the monsters now, something for your friend Buffy to slay?"

"But.. But.. But.. Tara," Willow sniveled the tears leaving streaks down her face. Carlos was looking at the Judge in horrified astonishment and confusion.

"Yes, Tara," the judge put in, waving his hands in their dark robes. "What would Tara think of you committing murder in her name, of using the darkest magics she had always abhorred." He took at deep breath and released the last of the weapons he had cooked up with Buffy the previous night. "She left you because of what you did with black magic to her mind. How much more would she have despised you for..."

There was a crack of thunder. Willow floated up, her eyes had the bleak blackness of outer space, no light lived in them. "No more," her voice was deeper, drained of its usual humor and lively melody. It echoed in the small chamber. "Silence!" her hand pointed to the judge's neck. He struggled to draw a breath but could not; there was a sudden obstruction in his throat. Carlos simply stared, stunned. But the Judge's hand reached out and pressed a button usually used to summon the security guard who was normally stationed outside the chambers. Today, however, the guard was replaced by those better equipped for the situation.

Buffy strode into the room, her sword out of its scabbard. Xander entered, less confidently, his arms empty of weapons, carrying instead a photo album. Flanking the door were Anya and Giles, each with a different book open, ready to begin chanting.

"How nice," Willow's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Willow versus the Slayerettes Round Two. I see none of you learned from the first time."

"Round two, anyone?" Dark Willow said, waving her hand at Buffy.

Buffy took a long look at Willow, the black-eyed and dark haired form that had haunted her nightmares sporadically since Warren's murder. She looked at Willow, floating in the judge's chambers and willed herself to see beyond the blackness, beyond the dark.

"No," Buffy said, flinging her sword to the center of the room. "Willow, in the past year you brought me back from the dead and then saved my life, three different times." She stared intently at the floating figure. "You went through some hard times after Tara's death, but that's over now. And even at your blackest point, you still were unselfish, still caring about others. You're probably the only being any slayer ever faced who would almost cause an apocalypse not to gain power but to end all the pain in the world."

Tears were in Buffy's eyes. "And even then you stopped. Xander had no power but you wouldn't let yourself hurt him." She paused and when she looked back at Willow, this time she saw her friend. "What I'm trying to say is that I trust you. I trust you to do what's right." She took a step back, no longer standing between Willow and Judge Bone.

"Willow, you've always been my favorite student," said Giles, leaning on the desk. "If I haven't been able to help you this year, it's because your problems with black magic brought back painful memories for me, memories that I have not put past me quite as much as I thought I had. But Willow, I know evil, and you are not it. The magic you learned, the magic you used, was not for your own pleasure or power but to help Buffy, to help save the world. I know what magic can do to people, what it did to me. And your refusal to use magic after the incident with Rack shows that you are stronger than the magic; you can control it." Very carefully the watcher put down the book he had carried into the room. "You've always been a daughter to me and I trust you."

"You always felt you had to behave as everyone expected you to. Be an A student, follow the rules. Even I called you 'old reliable,'" Xander admitted. "It's not surprising that you snapped. I'm just amazed at how much you took before reaching your breaking point. I didn't last half as long in my relationship with Anya." He shook his head ruefully. "Since kindergarten, I've trusted you to tell me what was the right thing to do," Xander looked at Willow with both the love of an untried child and that of a matured adult mingled together. "We've been through some tough times and God, no one would have predicted how our lives ended up. But throughout everything, we've stayed best buds. And I trust you with my life. Again." He tossed the photo album to the growing pile. It fell open to a page of Xander making a hideous grin next to a serious Willow. On the other page was a picture of the whole Scooby gang.

Everyone looked at Anya. "What, you don't expect me to disarm myself?" she said in disbelief. "She's dangerous."

"You can always teleport out of here," Xander whispered to his former fiancé.

"Very well," Anya said. "Willow I never liked you. You've always scared me with that inquisitive mind refusing to see any barriers and smashing through any limits. I never understood how you thought or what you would do. Also, I didn't like your closeness to Xander. But I always respected you. You not only turned D'Hofferyn down when he offered to make you a vengeance demon but you never called him back, no matter how mired in despair you became." She shrugged. "Besides, I don't have the power to beat you by myself, so I guess I'll have to trust you." When Giles winced as she tossed the book aside, Anya whispered. "Don't worry. That's from your private stock of books you won't let me sell."

"That's it?" Willow said, still floating. "No resistance? I could crush you all like bugs."

"You could, yes," Buffy said. "But is that what you want to do?"

"It would be so easy," Willow continued looking at each of them in turn.

"And where would that leave you?" Xander asked, his hands empty but his eyes and heart full of Willow.

"I would... I.... I wouldn't have to worry about what you thought of me anymore," Willow crashed down to earth. "I wouldn't have to wonder if you forgave me. I wouldn't have to worry if you were still scared of me."

"But that just shows that you still care," Anya was confused. "Evil things don't care."

Xander and Buffy walked over and hugged her. "Of course we forgive you," Xander said. All three of them were crying as the dark magic faded from Willow's eyes and hair.

"You'll always be my best friend," Buffy said. "Whatever you do, whatever happens."

"Willow, we will always be here for you," Giles joined the hug. "But you will have to learn how to control yourself, to take charge of your power."

"Hey, Will, you've always had the red hair," Xander joked. "Now you just have the temper to match."

"He's right, you know," Giles said softly, so that only Willow could hear. "You've been dealing with a lifetime of repression, of guilt that your feelings didn't always match the outside show you put on. You were bound to go through your adolescent rebellion sometime. Yours still wasn't as bad as mine." He chuckled. "My adolescence had a higher body count."

Slowly, Carlos Columbia poked his head from out of the coatroom where he had hid. "See, I told you she was dangerous," he rumbled to the judge. The four stalwart friends pulled out of their hug to stare at the district attorney. Carlos was still frightened but, aware that the danger was over, the district attorney now stood his ground. "She is a black magic murderess who just showed she remains a menace to the public. She belongs in jail."

"Does she now?" Giles asked. "What I just saw was a young lady who in the grip of the temptation of near ultimate power, resisted and conquered herself."

"Besides," Anya teleported, appearing next to the startled district attorney. "How are you going to keep someone with Willow's power in jail if she doesn't want to be?"

"Judge Bone," Buffy turned to address the judge. "I think we've shown that Willow is less dangerous here with us to help her than she would be in jail without us."

The judge smiled. "I think that's a safe statement. You've certainly convinced me. But are you sure you are willing to accept the responsibility?"

Buffy, Xander, and Giles all nodded. "Absolutely," Buffy spoke for them all. "It's the least we can do considering everything she's done for us."

"I don't understand," Willow said looking first at the judge then at her friends. "What responsibility?"

"Last night, your friends and I agreed that if they showed the ability to keep you from harming others or yourself that I would release you into their care," the judge explained. "This means that you are not to leave Sunnydale for a period of five years except in the care of one of these four people or a designated representative that they agree has the power to contain you."

"But that's not enough!" Carlos protested.

"In addition, I'm demanding you perform 1,825 hours of community service over the same timespan which I am directing Buffy to oversee. Helping her patrol would certainly count or I trust you could find a way to use your math skills tutoring or some such."

"But..." Willow started to say.

"In return the state will drop all charges without prejudice, which would result in no conviction or criminal record for you." The judge smiled. "This means, of course, that this custody and community service will all be an informal agreement amongst ourselves. However, the state could restore the charges against you if I give permission which I would only do if you do not abide by these terms."

Willow looked at the Judge and then at Carlos Columbia. "But I'm winning the case," she protested. "I could just insist we finish the trial and walk away free and clear."

"You could," Buffy said. "But would that be the right thing to do?"

"The temptation to power takes many forms," Giles said. "Your brain, your knowledge, and even the law itself can be subject to abuse just as much as your magic."

"Besides Will," Xander appealed to her competitive streak. "Faith is taking her medicine. You want to show that she's better than you?"

Willow looked at her friends. She did have the right to defend herself in a court of law; no one would dispute that. However, everyone in the room knew she was guilty of murder, just as guilty as if she had used a gun or knife. Therefore to continue to use the law's blind spots on magic to her own advantage, to cheat her way to a legal victory, would be wrong; making her no better than a perjurer, turning her into a real criminal. True justice dictated that she be punished and in the name of truth and fair play she could not validly argue her way out of it.

She turned her gaze to the judge. "I don't have to." The tension in the room built. "But I will. It's a fair compromise and the right thing to do." At that pronouncement Xander and Buffy gave Willow another hug. Willow whispered to Buffy, "Besides, I made the choice three years ago. If I was going to leave Sunnydale, I would have gone to Harvard."

"No, I refuse," Carlos shook his hand to emphasize this point. "I refuse to do a plea bargain that lets a murder escape jail."

"I don't recollect asking for your opinion," Judge Bone declared. "You are not in this bargain. I accept the defense's motion to dismiss the trial for lack of evidence, but reserve the right to reinstate the case if new evidence shows that Miss Rosenberg and her friends are not living up to their side of the agreement; evidence which I trust will not appear."

As Carlos Columbia continued to fume, Willow leaned over with a smile, "Your honor, I have an idea that I trust will resolve the prosecution's objections." As she talked the judge began smile and even Carlos Columbia was forced to nod his approval.

"Very well," said Judge Bone, once Willow had outlined her idea. "Now, all of you, get out!"

The table with all the principal figures at Wolfram and Hart was full. In their suits and fancy dresses, they looked like the cream of society. Of course, as Lilah frequently thought, cream was not the only thing that rose to the top.

"Willow Rosenberg," she addressed the table, motioning them to turn to the first picture in the report that each one had in front of them. "College senior, skilled computer hacker, and lifelong Sunnydale resident." She paused. "And best friend to the Vampire Slayer, enormously powerful witch who almost ended the world five months ago, murderess, and, perhaps most important to this firm, restorer of the souled vampire's soul."

One of the partners, who was mostly involved in other cases, looked up at that. "I thought gypsies gave him his soul?"

Lilah nodded. "The original curse cast by gypsies was broken in 1998 when he and Buffy shared a moment of true happiness. Willow, who until then had shown not a shred of supernatural power, managed to restore it. Now our sorcerers postulate that this gives them a connection, that if Willow, the source of his soul, becomes evil, that evilness will spread to Angel's soul."

Gavin interrupted, "That's why Lilah attempted to fix Willow's trial. So that she'd hire us for the appeal and give us a hold over her and, through her, Angel. Such a pity Lilah failed this simple assignment."

'Point to Gavin,' Lilah thought, glaring at her 'partner'. Out loud she said only, "The story the Judge and D.A. are putting out to cover rumors of a witchcraft trial is that this was all a plot to uncover corrupt police officers in Sunnydale. Someone rather clever thought that up but the story shields us too. The only one who knows we were involved is the D.A. Columbia and he's certainly won't talk about arranging false testimony." She looked at the other lawyers at the table. "The point is this gives us an opportunity. Willow will be graduating college in just a few more months but unable to leave Sunnydale. Her lover is still dead, her family has never paid attention to her, and now her friends have become her jailors. She'll be isolated as never before at a very disorienting time in any person's life."

"So what are you proposing?" asked Bobby Arnold.

"For very little work we can make her ours," Lilah explained. "I've laid out the full plan here," she waved her binder. "For the purchase of a computer security company willing to locate near but not in Sunnydale, hiring an actress willing to portray characteristics similar to Willow's lesbian lover, and setting up a few incidents, we can separate Willow from her friends, tempt her to our side, and wind up with a world-threatening witch for our very own, a weakened vampire slayer, and ultimately Angel darkened. "

"Were there any changes in Angel's behavior when Willow went on her little spree before?" Arnold asked.

Lilah looked down at the table. "Unfortunately, Angel's son had already submerged him by that time so we cannot be sure. Moreover, there's no reason to think it would be an immediate thing but a slow corruption. Still, even in the worst case scenario, even if this connection does not pan out, Miss Rosenberg is an asset in herself. Take a look at the power levels on page 59."

"Compelling indeed," said Frances Loerd. "I say we go for it. Any objections?" Everyone else was careful to avoid commitment one side or the other.

"Lilah, Gavin, this falls under special projects," Loerd commanded. "That young witch is gonna be looking for employers pretty soon. I want to make sure we're the only ones making a reasonable offer for her.." he sneered. "Her services."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Obvious set up for a sequel story, "The Temptation of Willow Rosenberg" (although I might need to wait until plans for the show's next year are announced.)

As some people have guessed, the character of Judge Bone was borrowed from the TV show Picket Fences, a television show well worth watching if you catch it on cable. They did arcs long before Buffy and combined humor with drama compellingly and consistently (save for the last season where they lost their way.)

 If you like my stories and want to encourage me to write more or just comment, please send feedback to [email protected]

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