Faun Over You Ch. 07

Have been dealing with a lot of personal things, so this has been delayed too many times for my taste. That said, I only have a little left to tell for this story, so I'm trying to wrap everything up in a concise manner. I hope you all love reading it as much as I love to write it!

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"Well, I think that will get their attention, don't you?" asked Calvin.

He was seated across from Danny and Rose in the back of a limousine, having just ushered the both of them in after a sudden press ambush outside of the courthouse. It hadn't been a surprise, as they had planned it with Lauren in advance. She let slip a few key details to some contacts and the information had made the rounds quickly.

A former employee was suing Gen-U-Tech for $500 million, and was being represented by Calvin Burke, the notorious cutthroat lawyer who won all the major cases for the companies and clients who had money to spare. That was what she had let slip to a few people, and it wasn't long before word got out on when he was planning to file his complaint.

It took Calvin barely a day to get the papers together and ready. According to him, they had quite a few prepared templates for cases, so it was only a matter of changing the parts that needed to be adjusted for specifics. Despite Rose insisting on filing additional criminal charges against Henry Brahman for his attack on her, Calvin had suggested going directly after the company, as then they could tie in many other things, such as improper handling of materials, and they could hold him and the company equally responsible, which would do far more damage than taking him on in another case.

He was calculating and devious in his approach, and he had given them things to specifically mention when they were accosted by the media, things that would catch headlines for the following weeks. Since Rose was not open to arbitration of any sort, the company would be forced to take the case to trial, and the media frenzy that was already snowballing even now as they pulled away from the curb was going to change everything.

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"-the world received a shock when it was discovered that the esteemed lawyer Calvin Burke, known for his near flawless win streak in corporate lawsuits, is instead going to be taking the fight to the big business, instead of for them. The defendant? Gen-U-Tech, the infamous experimental pharmaceutical company that gained its own brand of fame many years ago with the announcement of a new type of drug, one that could combine the DNA of man, and animal. The plaintiff in this case? A former employee, who you have to see, to believe."

The CNN news anchor was giving a quick rundown of the events, as Gen-U-Tech had been out of the limelight for a good while, with the news that they had shuttered Project Graft barely ranking a spot on the 11 o'clock news reports. His introduction was barely a scratch at the surface, but it wasn't the case itself that had everyone's attention. It had been the moment Rose had removed her large hat and veil, revealing herself to the world, for the first time.

The video cuts to Danny, Rose, and Calvin descending the stairs in front of the courthouse, with a swarm of reporters firing off questions and all talking over each other, and they all stop when Calvin holds up a hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the world, my client, Miss Rose Vansant, is bringing a landmark case against her former employer, after a series of events left her permanently altered, and we will not be discussing the particulars at this time."

Calvin was smooth and speaking with a well-practiced tone borne of experience, and for the most part no one spoke while he addressed them, but then one reporter shouted and got his attention.

"Mr. Burke, what do you mean by "altered"?" inquired the young woman, holding out her microphone after asking her question.

Calvin smiled. He had told them that when it came to the media, they were an elaborate instrument to be played, and the better you played them to your side, the stronger the public opinion would sway in your favor.

"Despite what people think," he had told them as they had been discussing the plan only days prior, "the public holds significant sway over events such as this, especially when dealing with a company that markets a product. If the public refuses to touch a product, it will die out in popularity and eventually cease to be produced. Even if they only market to other businesses, if there isn't enough interest, it won't sell."

Calvin had been right. He had provided several examples of products or companies suffering massive revenue loss, or even filing for bankruptcy, after word of mouth made the product or company in question mud to the general public. On the video he opened his mouth to respond, but Rose reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, something they had discussed before as her cue to do her big reveal. He stopped and stood aside as Rose stepped forward and looked at the gathered crows, and they all listened with rapt attention.

"Forgive Mr. Burke for the term he has used. It is not the one I would have chosen myself. I, personally, don't have a word to describe my situation. I doubt I could even sum it up in a full sentence, let alone a single word."

Rose paused for a moment to take a deep breath, and slowly reached up, grabbing the brim of her large hat with her gloved hands and lifting it slowly, taking it up and over the front of her face, hiding herself from view for just long enough that several of the reporters had visibly leaned closer to get a better look. When her hat fell and revealed her face, there were multiple audible gasps, but the prevailing sound was that of silence.

Her ears were folded down and back, which Danny knew she did when she was nervous, but after a quick breath to steady her nerves, they perked back up. While you couldn't see it in the video, the looks on each of their faces was utter disbelief and shock. Words were a powerful thing, but silence spoke volumes more than any words ever could at that moment.

The silence lasted for all of 5 seconds, followed by someone shouting her name to ask a question, and then every reporter was tripping over the others to get a word in, but Rose ignored them. Danny stepped forward, holding out his arm to lead her down the steps, and the camera panned to follow the three of them as they descended.

The video abruptly cut back to the news anchor, who began to rattle off more info that they had dug up on the topics at hand, but they weren't paying any attention to it anymore. Rose had been silent for most of the car ride, her grip on Danny's hand not once lessening in its intensity. It wasn't until they had arrived back at the hotel that she had collapsed on the bed, taking in a deep breath and letting it out with a shudder.

She covered her face with her hands, and Danny sat next to her, his hand on her shoulder and his thumb rubbing her fur gently. She was mentally exhausted from the brief media ordeal, and he could only imagine what was in store for them going forward. After a moment Rose rolled over and took his hand into hers, and she kissed it lightly as she snuggled up to him. He leaned back and let her press into him as she got comfortable, and within a few minutes he heard her snoring quietly.

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"Well that was the fastest turnaround for a settlement I've ever dealt with," Calvin said as he walked them out of the courtroom.

Despite not intending to take the money, they still had to hold at least one arbitration, during which they had been offered even more than had been requested as damages, $750 million in fact, to which Calvin had immediately told the Defense that there was no amount of money they could offer for them to reach a settlement, and that they would see them in court. The other lawyer, who had been wearing a smug look up to that point, now looked like he had just been sentenced to death with how rapidly the color had drained from his face. Calvin had returned the look with his own sadistic grin of grim satisfaction.

They had tried to argue that the legal documents that Rose had signed when she had been employed had made the money a formality, and that if they went to court that Calvin would lose to the letter of the law. His grin didn't falter even once through all of their argument, and his only response was to turn and look at Rose for a few seconds, looking her up and down as though he were just seeing her for the first time, and then turning back to face the Defense.

"Somehow, I highly doubt that is going to hold up at trial. Call it a hunch."

Calvin was quite pleased with himself, and Rose also seemed more cheerful despite having to brave a sea of cameras and reporters, and also her fans, to get back to their vehicle at the curb. Yes, fans. Rose had a group of dedicated fans like a full on celebrity, and they had been present when they had arrived for the arbitration. Men and women alike were there, many with signs of support and others with signs opposing Gen-U-Tech itself. A few had even dressed up to look like a half-deer themselves.

She wasn't quite sure how to take it just yet, but it excited her and made her nervous in equal measure, so she was taking it in stride for the moment. As they were heading towards the front doors of the courthouse, Calvin stopped and sighed heavily. Rose and Danny also stopped, and were looking to see what he was looking at. The crowd outside had been divided up to form a sort of path down to the limo that was pulling up for them, and there were now police on the steps, acting as a human barricade.

"Well, I knew it was going to happen, but this is sooner than I had expected," said Rose quietly.

On the left side of the stairs were her fans and the various media members, but on the right was an equally large group, who had signs bearing things like her face with what was clearly meant to resemble a rifle scope's crosshairs, and others with random Bible verses on them, citing her to be some form of demon based on her physical appearance. Danny could only stare in disbelief at the sight he was seeing, and he clenched his fists as he looked out at the hateful things they had on their signs.

"We should leave through another door," said Calvin, who was in the middle of pulling out his phone from inside his coat pocket.

"No" Rose said firmly.

Calvin and Danny both turned to look at her, and she had her face set in a defiant stare.

"Ms. Vansant, they could easily turn hostile on you even with the police present. Let me just-"

"I said NO, damn it!"

Calvin flinched at her sudden change in tone, something that seemed to surprise him.

"I will not go out a different way just to be safe. I will stand my ground against anyone that tries to judge me without knowing a damn thing about me. We are going out through the front door."

She strode past Calvin, who took a brief moment to collect himself, and then trotted quickly alongside Danny to catch up to her and get the door. As they pushed it open, the noise outside increased in volume, and then just as quickly tapered off, only to pick up even louder as Rose walked out into the morning sun.

Rose continued forward as though the crowd on the right wasn't even there. She waved and smiled at a few people on the left, but her gaze never went any farther right than straight ahead at the door to the limo. Calvin got ahead of her and was opening the door as she got closer, and Danny was right behind her, clenching his mouth shut. How Rose was able to ignore the things that these vile people were practically screaming at her was astounding, because Danny wanted nothing more than to turn and swear at the lot of them.

Daughter of Satan. Unholy abomination of science. Lucifer's whore. The insults only continued to get worse, and Danny was nearly at the end of his wits when Rose stopped at the door to the car and finally turned to face the right side of the stairs. A woman holding a sign that had her face on it with the words Acts 13:10, stopped her chanting, her words having been lost amid the jumble of things being said, and yelled out at her, "Begone you child of Satan! Your cloven hooves betray your true nature, and honeyed words won't sway the people of God!"

Danny was in the middle of opening his mouth when Rose took several steps towards the woman, which caused her and several of the others around her to shirk back. She kept her hands clasped in front of her, looking at them with what Danny realized was pity. She was silent, and so were they. She let out a sigh and just shook her head.

"But I say unto you which hear, love your enemies, do good to them which hate you."

Several of the angry protesters' eyes widened in shock, and the woman that had spoken clutched at her chest. She looked like she had been slapped.

"Judge not, and ye shall not be judged. Condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned. Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven."

Rose turned as soon as she finished speaking and climbed into the car, not looking at anyone as she did. The angry mob of protestors were oddly silent as Danny followed after her, and Calvin after him. As the car pulled into traffic, Rose took a deep breath, and squeezed Danny's hand tightly.

"What passage was that?" Calvin asked her, a hint of curiosity in his voice.

"Two verses from Luke. I learned them years ago from therapy after my parents were killed by a drunk driver. Not sure why I remembered it just then, given that I haven't been to therapy for it in nearly 20 years, but maybe this will give them something to think about."

Calvin was looking at her with an impressed look on his face, and he turned to look out the window as they drove on. Danny put his other hand on Rose's right knee, and she lessened her grip on his left hand somewhat.

"Sorry. I had no idea what they might do after I said that, so I got nervous and went to the car."

"I think you might have scared them a little," Danny said with a slight chuckle.

Rose turned her head and raised an eyebrow at him questioningly.

"It's not every day you hear a demon quoting the bible, right?"

Rose suddenly looked offended, but then she got a sly grin on her face.

"Oh I'm a demon alright." Rose let go of his hand and ran her fingers along the side of his face. "The kind all men secretly dream about."

"And that would be?"

Rose leaned in close, holding his chin with her hand.

"Oh yes. All men dream of fucking a succubus, right? Maybe you'll get the chance tonight."

Calvin coughed loudly, his gaze still looking out the window, but his cheeks were now slightly red. Rose giggled and straightened herself in her seat, then leaned over and rested her head on Danny's shoulder. She was smiling now, and that was all he needed to feel at ease. At least for the moment.

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The speed at which things were progressing was unheard of, according to Calvin at least. Perhaps it was the fact that the FDA had announced its own investigation into the company, or that President Evelynn Green of all people had weighed in on this. To her credit, she had fought tooth and nail to win in the first place, and succeeded, so the fact that she had announced that no matter what the ruling ultimately was, it was the official stance of the United States that Rose Vansant is a citizen who is still privy to all her unalienable rights.

When that particular bit of info hit the rounds on the news channels, Rose had dissolved into a weeping mess in their hotel room. She was overtaken with emotion at hearing something so heartening, and with that, no matter what Gen-U-Tech managed to pull, they couldn't just make her disappear once it was over. It didn't win them the case, but it put a massive target on everyone involved. As a result, they were advised to not leave the hotel unless it was for court or court mandated things, and NEVER without an escort.

Then things took their first, but not unexpected, turn.

"They want to run tests at the hospital. It'll be supervised by the Surgeon General, for which you can thank President Green. She wants this to be as, uh, clean cut as can be."

Calvin looked a bit sheepish at his feeble attempt at humor, but Rose chuckled mildly regardless.

"I would rather keep the cutting to a minimum, thanks" she said with a slight smile.

"Are they wanting to compare their findings to her previous tests and exams, to see what all has changed?" Danny asked.

Calvin looked at him with a confused expression. He looked at Rose, then back at Danny.

"What tests? What exams? The ones your friend's friend had done on the hush hush side of things?"

Danny and Rose both blinked in unison.

"He means my medical file. The one from Gen-U-Tech that all staff are required to have updated annually?"

At this, Calvin frowned, looking over to his desk.

"Ms. Vansant, they have no such medical documentation on file for you. They show that your documents were in the system, but shortly before you went missing, they got corrupted. As for a physical file, apparently they have been misplaced. They say there was a disgruntled employee that was caught destroying files, and they aren't sure, but they think yours was one of the ones destroyed."

Now it was Danny and Rose doing the frowning. This was far too convenient of an error, and they must know that something like this will only make it clear that they are trying to hide something, but what? What was there to gain?

"So, what do we do?" Danny finally asked. "It sounds like they didn't know that we have a copy of her medical records, but revealing that could easily backfire on us."

"Exactly right," said Calvin. "For now, we play by ear. I don't like it either, knowing that they are deliberately lying like this, but we can't tip our hand just yet on this. Better to catch them in a lie publicly, where it will hurt them most."

Rose looked uneasy, so Danny reached over and wrapped his arm around her shoulder to give her a comforting squeeze. She let out a long sigh and leaned into him, rubbing her cheek on his shoulder.

"For now, sadly, we play by their rules" Calvin said with a hint of annoyance. "I'm afraid you're about to have a very long day in a backless gown my de-"

Calvin froze mid word, and then just sighed and shook his head. Danny couldn't help but smile.

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The day started at 7 a.m., at a surprisingly empty clinic. They were later told that all the patients scheduled for that day were being referred to other clinics or hospitals and had been given a form to fill out to cover the costs of each trip. Danny found that extremely generous, despite it coming from the company they were in a legal dispute with.

Rose was nude, save for her paper gown and a set of socks to muffle the sound of her hooves, and she looked apprehensive. Danny gave her hand a squeeze of encouragement, and turned his attention back to the people present. The Surgeon General, a white-haired man who looked old enough to be Danny's great-grandfather, was taking notes with a small recorder sitting on the desk beside him. The actual doctor that was conducting the exams was doing much the same, but more for official documentation.

For hours they did test after test. Blood samples, urine, stool, spit, an eye exam, height and weight, clippings of her hair from both her head and various places on her body, and even scrapings from her hooves. That was all fine, but it was when they started the personal questions that Danny was worried, particularly the ones about being sexually active post-change. She had given brief details and clearly was nervous through the whole discussion, so she didn't even try to hide her relief when they finally moved on to another topic.