ADA Rafael Barba & Reina King
Heeere’s Chapter 2 of the Joint-Fic-Follower-Fiesta! :).
You can find Chapter 1 by the amazing @seekret-fanfic ova’ HERE.
After tallying the Reader’s votes, the overwhelming majority chose:
A) Expert Witness for our Reina… leeettt’sss gooooooo~
This day was really never going to end, was it?
“You’re kidding me,” Reina squint closer to look at the name she had scrawled so precisely in her personal calendar:
ADA Barba, 1 Hogan Place, 3PM.
The illustrious ADA she had even heard Fin speak so fondly of, aka: her morning roadblock. “I expected you to be…” be nice, Rey, be nice; “taller.”
Great, she was still so funny. “There’s that charm,” Rafael mumbled mostly to himself while taking a look at the brewing coffee. It’d be nice if that pot could hurry up a bit, his patience was waning. “My name is Rafael Barba, though I’m sure Detective Tutola has had plenty to say about me.”
He had, but Reina certainly didn’t want to give him the pleasure of knowing that. “Well, I’m Reina King,” this couldn’t get any more awkward, so why not give it a shot at redemption- “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Barba.”
Reina… King? Well, alright. A liar too, how lovely. Politely, he held out a hand, but successfully remained distracted by reading over her credentials. “A pleasure,” he repeated blindly; “I appreciate your being willing to share your expertise on the subject at hand…”
Something told her he didn’t quite appreciate her as much as he was hoping to imply. Thankfully for their case, her acceptance to assist was much more for Fin than it was for him. To be honest, she’d almost prefer to give Barba the psyche review just to knock him down off his high horse a bit- but there were more important matters at hand.
“You’re quite welcome,” her voice sounded just as in-genuine as his had, “I’m glad to be of help.”
Rafael took a seat at his desk, and motioned towards the chairs across from him. “I believe you were actually referred by Detective Tutola,” of course she was, he went to straightening his tie while awaiting her response.
Eagerly, she nodded to confirm his suspicion; “Yes, he gave me a very brief run down of the situation you’re struggling to handle-”
His nose crunched; “I’m not struggling.”
It took every ounce of professionalism she possessed to not roll her eyes. “Allow me to rephrase; a brief run down of the situation you’re working to get ahead of.”
Oh, she was rephrasing now? “Our case is actually quite concrete, and I’d appreciate your psychological review of our suspect’s supposed defense much more than a legal opinion…”
Well, that took her aback. For a moment, her gaze narrowed to a squint, and Rafael sincerely thought she could see right through him. What was she thinking, doing? Why did psychologists have that knack for making people feel so uncomfortable?
After a couple seconds of this awkward stare down, Reina’s features softened and she crossed her legs at the ankles. It was quite clear to her that his bravado was getting the best of him, or there was possibly an issue more annoying than her presence he was struggling through. Sometimes you had to give a little to receive anything at all; apparently it was time for her to give.
“From my understanding,” she wouldn’t bicker any longer- it was wasting minutes and only requiring more time out of her schedule. “Your main question is in regards to if Post Traumatic Stress Disorder could be successfully used as an insanity defense?”
“To a degree,” it felt cheap talking to her while she wasn’t looking at him; instead, her eyes were far too busy skimming through the paperwork she had helped herself to off his desk. “But to further our brief email correspondence, I’d also like to know whether or not our suspect is actually afflicted with PTSD debilitating enough to excuse his actions.” Hopefully, it wouldn’t be debilitating, and if Barba had his way- there wouldn’t be any Post Traumatic anything going on. “In your opinion, of course.”
“I’ve only been given very brief information about your suspect, Mr. Barba, but; I wouldn’t consider someone to be afflicted with PTSD to be insane,“ she mumbled this opinion. “Possibly not of their right mind, but insane tends to have quite a negative connotation…” Reina glanced up, to make sure he was listening, his skeptical glare was good enough. “I mean, shortly after Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was introduced into DSM-111 back in the 80s, it has been successfully used as a defense-”
“I’m quite aware of case law, Ms. King.”
The interruption was met with a blank stare and pursed lips. “But,” the final sound was emphasized, obvious enough to showcase her annoyance, “most of it’s success before the reform of insanity statutes were with war veterans, not previous victims of non-war related disputes.”
While trying hard to ignore the sneaking feeling of shame, he jot down her useful statement in a notepad. “In your professional opinion,” Rafael spoke meekly, behind fingertips curled over his mouth, “Do you believe the defense could effectively use PTSD in this instance to dismiss the suspect’s crimes?
“I wouldn’t be comfortable coming to such a personalized conclusion without a further chance to study the files for the individual in question-”
“Thought you were supposed to be an expert, Ms. King?” He flinched, that came out before he had really even known what he was saying. This was not his day; “My train of thought is, if you don’t find someone with this affliction to be insane then perhaps you could assist in predicting how the defense would fare in court when considering-”
“Thought you were quite aware of case law, Mr. Barba?”
At that, Rafael pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing there was a solid chance his headache would grow more dangerous to his sensibilities if he had to bother with her much longer. “Would you like a cup of coffee, Ms. King?” Even if she was annoying, albeit useful, he could at least offer her some.
“Mhmmm,” Reina perked a brow, deciding to pry- “You sure you need any more?”
“I absolutely do-”
“You look like you have a headache,” she pinched her nose just as he had earlier, to prove it hadn’t slipped by. Nothing slipped by her, though- she grew up overly observant, it was easier to predict behaviors if you pay attention to subtle cues. “Have you ever looked into caffeine addiction?”
“Wouldn’t that simply lead to a larger need for caffeine, if the lack has caused a headache?”
“I mean, that’s what someone addicted to caffeine would say-”
What the Hell did Fin see in this woman? Sure, she was lovely; but that attitude was one that would grind on anyone’s nerves after awhile. “I like caffeine, you like arguing, and-” after pouring two cups, he made his way back towards her, making a rather theatrical point of taking a hefty chug of his own share of coffee while sassily holding her stare.
He was ADA Rafael Barba, not some summer associate scrambling through a work day on a hangover, if he wanted a fourth(or fifth, sixth, who’s counting?) fresh cup of coffee while interviewing an expert witness, he would help his damn self- and he could really do without the dimestore shrink in the peanut gallery…
Shit. Bad move. Fresh coffee is hot.
His face went red at the feel of his throat burning once coming into contact with his scalding sip. Reina pulled her lips in between her teeth, trying her absolute best not to laugh at his obvious, painful failure. That’s what you get for being in a rush. “Thank you,” she whispered airily, and blew the steam off her drink while refusing to break eye contact with the reeling Rafael. “I might let mine cool down a bit before-”
“Yea,” he managed through a cough. “I get it…”
She decided not to comment on the self-inflicted burn; “Even if he does qualify under the diagnosis of PTSD, it’s rather rare as of late for it to be accepted as a head on defense unless he’s been through something strikingly abnormal and relevant. There’s a much better chance of this being considered a mitigating circumstance in lieu of a defense.” Reina sat down the paperwork and finally went back to her coffee, smartly giving it another breath of cool air before taking a very modest sip. “Which I’m sure you’re already well aware of, of course…”
She was turning out to be much more handy than Barba would prefer to admit. “Would you be willing to discuss the matter with our suspect?”
Reina’s confident demeanor wilted. That hadn’t been part of the plan. “I don’t typically see criminals, Mr. Barba.” Their emails had suggested she would be testifying on her knowledge of the disorder in general, not taking on another psychiatrist’s job- didn’t they have people for that?
He had to bite his tongue to resist taunting her; was she scared? “If you’d be willing, it would likely assist our case,” Rafael leaned forward, hoping perhaps his persuasion could work; “or, break it. Both of which I’d be interested to know before trial.”
Sure, that would make things easier for him, but why did she have to get so involved? “Would I be able to be accompanied by someone during this interview?” Or was putting her in a room with a suspected murderer possibly suffering from PTSD his way of getting her out of his well-coiffed hair? “I’m familiar enough with the disorder to know those suffering have a possibility of getting… hostile under interrogation.”
“Would you require accompaniment?” The question fell flat, and only earned him an annoyed stare- apparently she didn’t like repeating herself. “I could join in on the discussion if you’d be willing to testify on the prosecution’s behalf,” and so he could get a better idea of how to handle him once they get the bastard on the stand. “Or, if you’d feel more comfortable and it wouldn’t prove distracting- you could have your Detective Tutola join you.”
Her Tutola? Distracting? Whatever; if this Barba has proven anything to her as of yet- it was that he ran purely on assumptions, caffeine, and a vague air of arrogance… but this ‘initial meeting’ had convoluted into quite a conundrum…
Further- did she really want to put herself in a position of needing to work so closely with this suave ADA? Even more dangerous, he didn’t strike her as the kind to give up easily, did she really want to be on the receiving end of his coercion tactics?
“May I think about it?”
“Could we still discuss the topic more if you say ‘no’?”
Reader input time! Her hesitancy is rather obvious;
A) Reina agrees to meet with the suspect, accompanied by Barba.
B) Reina agrees to meet with the suspect, accompanied by Tutola.
C) Reina would prefer to not get involved with the suspect.
D) Let @seekret-fanfic decide.
~ Look to her for a time frame re: voting! :)
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