Life With Ice (An Ice Bear x Reader Story)

Chapter 18: Alaska Again

   You sat in the front row of the courtroom trying to refrain from fidgeting in your uncomfortable chair. In the cream white turtleneck dress, navy blue trench blazer, and pair of black stilettos you were wearing, you looked like the perfect embodiment of confidence, but in reality you were worried. What if the judge or jury decided to give Barry yet another light sentencing and he ends up back in the outside world to terrorize you and your friends again? What will the judge decide to do to Ice?

   Swallowing back the lump in your throat, you suddenly feel a smooth warm hand hold yours tightly, causing your mind to jump back to your surroundings. You looked over to see Petra smiling reassuringly at you. "Don't worry, Y/N- everything will work itself out. Just breath" your friend said soothingly. You let out a long exhale and smiled at her in an attempt to push down your worries.

   Shortly after that awful night at The Neon Koi, you had helped the authorities track down and find Petra in one of Barry's father's old vacation estates deep in the forests of Washington state. Most of the information was found in Barry's phone which had been partially crushed during his altercation with Ice. All of Barry's henchmen were immediately arrested and Barry was charged with breaking house arrest orders, 2 counts of abduction, 2 counts of drugging,  2 counts of false imprisonment, making death threats, and breaking and entering private property. You and Petra had been asked to attend all of the court dates in the trial and relive the terrible experience over and over again as witnesses.

   Throughout the entire trial, the only person you were worried about was Ice Bear. Being that he was an anthropomorphic bear, you weren't sure if he would be tried as a person or as an animal. If he was tried as an animal, would he be euthanized for brutally attacking a human? If he was tried as a human, would he be arrested for assault or attempted murder? Would he be let go for helping to save two kidnapping victims? You prayed it would be the latter.

   "I'm just so worried about what will happen to Ice and if justice will finally be served to Barry this time around" you whisper to your friend. Panda and Grizz sat behind the two of you in surprisingly formal clothes that you didn't even know they had, both bear brothers sported worried expressions on their faces. You had told them about getting kidnapped with Petra and what Ice did to Barry after he'd finally found you, but you didn't tell Frizz and Panda any more than that; you'd figured that it was Ice's choice to tell his brothers about his secret life if he chose to, not yours.

   "I have a plan to break little bro out if he has to go to prison." Grizz whispered hoarsely in your ear. You smiled and nodded at the eldest brother's willingness to go all out for his baby brother and you reached back and squeezed his paw. Meanwhile, Panda was all over Petra, fixing her hair, holding her other hand every chance he got and asking if she wanted or needed anything. Petra getting kidnapped and almost taken from him forever scared the poor panda bear so much and now he was super protective of his girlfriend.

   Finally, you see the jury trail out of the room to make their decision and your eyes trail after them. You, Petra, and the bears watch as the leader of the jury whispers something to the bailiff and hands him a manila folder, which the bailiff promptly hands to the judge. Your entire body stiffened as you watched the judge declare Barry guilty on all charges and sentence him to 25 years in prison without the possibility of parole. Your obsessive kidnapper fell to his knees, screaming, crying, and cursing Ice Bear. Everything seemed to be in slow motion as court was dismissed and everyone began to murmur and trail out of the room; the nightmare with Barry was finally over and now all you could focus on was Ice.

   Shaking, you slowly got up and ignored the cameras and clamoring reporters as you made your way over to the judge. "E-ex-excuse me, your honor..." you began, the tired looking judge looked up from the files for his next case and took his reading glasses off. He had a weary expression on his face, and tapped his foot as if he were in a rush, but his face had a patient expression. "Yes, young lady?" he asked "What can I help you with?"