Lawyer!Steve AU where he works at his father's firm and gets handed all the pro bono cases because he's the only one that actually cares about these people's fates and wants to help them if he can.
One day, his dad hands him a murder case; not his first one, but not the kind of case they usually accept pro bono. Too much work to be done for free, his father had said once. So, imagine Steve's shock when he opens the case file and sees that their client is being accused of murdering a young woman.
Edward Munson, age 29, mechanic, is being accused of murdering Chrissy Cunningham, age 27, in the woods next to Forest Hills Trailer Park, Hawkins. Chrissy was stabbed six times in the chest, bleeding to death in minutes. There were no witnesses to the crime, but the murder weapon was found close to Munson's trailer.
And that's it. No more evidences, nothing else to confirm anything; just a weapon found close to where their client lives and the police thought it would be reasonable to arrest the man and lock him up for, oh my God, the guy's been in jail for six fucking months already.
Steve spends two days going over every single piece of paper, every single document in the file. When he's sure he's got everything analyzed at least twice, he takes his things and drives to the detention center his client is being held.
It takes Steve five minutes to find out that Munson isn't very cooperative, and five more to find out that he's an asshole.
Steve tries to talk to him, tells Munson he thinks his case is not hopeless, that he thinks the accusation is weak and that maybe he can convince the judge to at least accept to change Munson to house arrest while he waits for his trial.
Munson doesn't say a word. He stares at Steve with blank eyes and doesn't open his mouth once.
After Steve finishes explaining everything, Munson asks, "Are you done?"
When Steve says yes, Munson just says, "Good," then gets up and asks the guard to take him back to his cell.
This shocks Steve so much he stays there for a minute too long, staring at Munson's empty seat as if doing it would bring the man back somehow.
Then, comes the anger, and Steve stomps out of the detention center slamming the door behind him.
Steve goes back to the firm and starts studying the case all over again, looking for things that he might have missed. He calls the police and tries to talk to the officer who arrested Munson, but he's informed the man doesn't work for the Hawkins Police anymore. When Steve asks for the man's address, the receptionist tells him the man left Hawkins with his family a couple of months ago.
This rings an alarm in Steve's mind, his instincts telling him there's something wrong with the case.
He drives to the detention center again the next day and Munson is just as uncooperative as before; He lets Steve talk and talk, then gets up and leaves.
It's infuriating, especially because Steve knows there's something very, very wrong there. The lack of a real case, the missing cop, Munson's arrest under weak, almost inexistent evidences that links him to the crime. It's all very shady and weird and full of holes and Munson's apathy makes no sense at all.
Steve's dealt with criminals before, it's his freaking job to do so, and Munson's behavior just doesn't fit the description. Criminals usually use every single chance they have to convince everyone of their innocence; they cry, they lie, they do anything they need to get out of jail, but Munson does nothing of the sort.
His apathetic behavior is what makes Steve believe the man might be holding something back. Because it's not even as if Munson was admitting he's guilty and resigning himself to his fate. Not even that. He acts as if he doesn't care about what happens to him, as if trying wouldn't change anything, so he just doesn't.
But, well, if Munson can be stubborn so can Steve. Steve starts going to the detention center almost daily.
The first week, Munson keeps the blank attitude, never saying anything and barely looking at Steve at all.
By the second week there's a change. It's small, but it's there. When Munson sees Steve there, he can't hide his annoyance anymore. He still refuses to acknowledge Steve's attempts, but it's clear the lawyer is getting under his skin.
This just makes Steve double his efforts.
By the fourth week Munson finally snaps. When the guards bring him to the room where Steve is waiting for him, he's barely sitting on the chair before he's snarling, "Why the fuck are you still here? What do you want??"
Steve doesn't flinch. "I want to help you," he says.
Munson scoffs. "A pretty boy like you, helping trailer trash like me? Yeah, that sounds reasonable."
And, see, Steve could just give up. He's not really getting paid to do any of this, his father gave him this case because he loves fucking with him and handing him cases he considers lost causes just to see Steve fail. But his damn insticts keep telling Steve there's more to it than what the files are telling him, that Munson knows things that can change everything.
Even more, he knows that by giving up he'd be doing exactly what his father expects him to do, and hell will freeze before Steve gives his dad this satisfaction.
"Wanna know why I'm doing this?" Steve asks then, and the slight anger in his voice catches Munson's attention.
He doesn't answer, but he does raise his eyebrows in interest.
"Because my father gave me your case expecting me to fail," Steve admits, leaning forward on the table separating the two of them. "He loves doing this, giving me cases he thinks I can't handle just to show me I'm the same useless kid who could never meet his expectations. But guess what, your case is not a lost cause. It's full of holes and the ends don't meet. I know I can get you out of here, but you need to talk to me and tell me what really happened the night Chrissy was found dead close to your trailer because, if you don't, the police's side of the story is gonna be the only side of the story. Are you really gonna let them dictate what's true or not?"
It works.
Steve can't quite believe it, but his little speech fucking works. There's a glint of amusement in Munson's eyes, as if only then he's seeing Steve and considering his words for real. His lips curl up the tiniest bit, as the man finally relaxes on his chair.
"An asshole father, huh? I can relate." Pale fingers toy with the chain linking his handcuffs to the table for a moment, before Munson looks Steve in the eye for the first time. "Do you really wanna know what happened that night?"
"Yes, I do."
"Fine. Then I guess I can cooperate with you, Mr. Harrington."
Steve makes a face, distate clear as day. "Mr. Harrington is my father. I'm Steve."
Munson grins at that. "Okay, Steve. I'll tell you my story, and then you see what you can do with it."
[Sequel here]
