Chapter Twelve: The law is law
"This is case number 15C08-1903-C.L.A-00190, in the matter of Magnus Bane. Present in the courtroom are the defendant and plaintiff with their attorneys, two witnesses, the deputy prosecutor and the jury," the Judge read off the paper in her hand, her voice bouncing off the dense walls of the courtroom. She looked at the three rows of seats occupied by the jury and directed her next words to them. "Jury, please consider what you are about to hear carefully. A false outcome would either result in an innocent man being sentenced to jail for most or all his life, or it could also result in a murderer being let free upon innocent civilians," she continued sternly.
At this, Alec puffed as if that was the most outrageous thing to note. To him, Magnus was no murderer and definitely no serial killer. He squeezed Magnus' hand, which was linked with his, to let him know everything would be okay. Magnus gave him a weak attempt of a smile in return, but it was a smile nonetheless. The two boys were sat impossibly close to one another: thighs touching, shoulders overlapping and hands linked like iron chains.
There was a trace of tension between them though, after the whole Camille ordeal. Of course, Alec had many questions for Magnus about Camille and the things she'd said but he knew this wasn't the time or place, so he kept his insecurities to himself, for now. Alec had never really given much thought to Magnus' life before they'd met. They had talked about it a few times, but only about his family life and how his father was before that day. They had never discussed Magnus' friends or how they were around him because it was a subject that Magnus liked to brush off and pretend never happened.
After Camille had left, Magnus and Alec had quickly gone to tell Robert that yet again, Valentine was playing dirty and to both boys' surprise, Robert didn't seem fazed by the news. It was almost as if he was prepared for it and expected nothing less. He'd simply shrugged and told them to "calm down and everything will go as planned."
Now though, there was absolutely nothing calm about the whole situation. Everyone was present and the hearing was in process. The first rows on the right of the aisle were taken by Magnus, Alec, Robert, Hannah and Madame Dorothea while Magnus' grandparents, Valentine and Camille sat at the first row on the left of the aisle with the jury occupying the next few rows behind them. Everyone else (Izzy, Jace, Simon and the rest of the people supporting Magnus) were sat in the audience; even Maryse was present with Max by her side. There were a few people from Magnus' old school and Magnus was certain they were not there for moral support, not for Magnus at least.
Magnus started making soothing circular motions with his thumb on the back of Alec's hand to calm them both. Alec looked at Magnus, letting him know that it was appreciated. They both turned to look at the Judge just as she directed her next words at Robert.
"Mr Lightwood, your client is being charged with First-degree Murder in the jurisdiction. How do you plead?" she said, authority radiating from her words. She had a mountain of papers staring at her from her Judges' table and she looked through them as if they held the secrets of the world.
"We plead not guilty your honour. We plead with the basic principles of defence of another and self-defence law set out in Palmer v R, 1971, AC 814; approved in R v McInnes, 55 Cr App R 551." Robert said confidently and without hesitation. Immediately after, the jury started to note things down into the paperwork in front of them.
The Judge of course, expected Robert's response and swiftly directed her attention to Valentine, telling him to step forward to present his case. Valentine stood up, his head high and a menacing smirk present on his lips. His black eyes were cold, devoid of human emotion and he stepped in front of the courtroom, his face towards the jury and audience while his back faced the judge. He was not here to joke.
"My clients, Mr and Mrs Bane charge their grandson of the murder of Marcus Bane, who is their son." Valentine started off, his was posture straight and livid like the dead while staring at Magnus accusingly. "Now, I would like to have Magnus Bane himself on the stands to be questioned," he continued.
Magnus looked at Robert in panic. He hadn't expected Valentine to call him to the stands this early in the hearing. He gave Alec's hand a final squeeze, taking as much strength from Alec's presence as he can , and got up to make his way to the stands to be questioned, making sure his confident stride was strong. He didn't want to seem scared and weak; that would only fuel Valentine's confidence.
An oath was made by Magnus when he got to the stand, swearing to tell the truth and only the truth; something which was required from anyone being questioned. He took in a deep breath and braced himself for the questions he was about to ask, which would undoubtedly bring up bad memories.
"Now Mr Bane, please tell us in your own words what happened on the day of your father's death," Valentine said with a smirk and Magnus knew he was fishing for specific details of that day. Magnus signed and told the court as much as he could remember from that day, occasionally looking at Alec for comfort and Robert for confirmation. After he was done, Valentine started questioning him on certain things that happened: everything from waking up that morning, looking forward to the upcoming party to finding his father trying to kill his mother.
"You mentioned that you had consumed alcohol at this party before getting home, am I correct Mr Bane?" Valentine asked.
"Yes." Magnus replied his voice feeble, making Valentine smile wickedly.
"Well then how can you plead self-defence and defence of another when you could have possibly been too intoxicated to make rational decisions? Your honour-" Valentine said, now facing the judge. "-Mr Bane can only plead the act of self defence if one: there was any need for any force and two: the force used being reasonable in the given circumstance." He listed off his fingers. "The force Mr Bane used resulted in death while drunk therefore how can he claim that the brutality of the force he used was necessary?" he said confidently, resulting in silence because Magnus didn't know how to reply to that even though he was one hundred percent certain he had made the only choice that night. The jury went back over their paperwork, scribbling something furiously making Magnus even more anxious.
Robert stood up from his seat calmly and looked at the Judge politely. "Objection my lord, but Magnus came home that night with his motorcycle. A motorcycle that he drove himself without any accidents so, if he was sober enough to safely drive home then clearly his reaction to the circumstances presented to him when he went home cannot be questioned," Robert stated sternly and took his seat once again.
The jury looked at the Judge as she considered what Robert had said before saying: "objection sustained," causing he most of jury to nod in approval, noting it down. Valentine hissed under his breath while Robert gave Magnus a reassuring simile.
Magnus was getting more confident and his nerves were reducing, then Valentine spoke. "Yes but the legal drinking age without parental consent is eighteen my lord, Mr Bane here is seventeen therefore he shouldn't even be drinking out of parental supervision."
"Objection. There are signed documents here proving that Magnus Bane had consent from his mother to drink. The law clearly states that young people aged sixteen to seventeen are permitted to drink with the consent of parents," Robert redirected, standing up with a piece of paper in his hands. He walked to the judge and handed her the paper in which she nodded with approval.
"Are those that all your bases for the charge, Mr Valentine?" The Judge asked, an expression akin to immense hatred marring her face as he directed her question to Valentine.
"No, your honour. There is reason to believe that Mr Bane had an objective when he attacked his father."
"Yeah, the objective to stop him from hurting my mother!" Magnus exclaimed, frustration slipping through his tone. He was tired of Valentine's stupid games and he wanted this to end as quickly as possible.
"Oh no no Mr Bane. I mean to say that you had an ulterior motive," Valentine said sternly, causing a slight confusion to Magnus.
"What are you trying to say? That I had this all planned out like some psychotic killer?" Magnus asked in shock, his hands shaking by his side.
"Not what I'm trying to say Magnus, it's what I am saying."
Robert stood up in that instant, surprised that Valentine would even pull that card. "Objection my lord but how could Magnus have possibly predicted that his father would be attacking his mother that very day?" he said quickly.
"Objection overruled. Let him finish speaking Mr Lightwood," the Judge said calmly in a reasoning tone. "Continue, Mr Valentine."
"Thank you, your honour." Valentine said with mirth. His face was still emotionless but his eyes looked as if he was a child whose had been offered all the candy in the world. He turned around to face Magnus, hatred was clear in his eyes now but Magnus had never spoken enough words to the man to evoke such emotion.
"Now Mr Bane, on the night of your father's death, you picked up the metal trophy with the sole purpose to kill him, no?" Mr Valentine asked with a deadly smirk on his face as if daring Magnus to deny it, even though he knew there were no truth to his own words.
Magnus looked at Mr Lightwood as received a nod, telling him to answer. "I picked it up with the intention of stopping him from hurting my mother." Magnus replied disdainfully.
"And as a result you murdered him!" Mr Valentine half shouted. "That's what you wanted, was it not?!" He accused.
"What?! The man was crazy, but I could never do anything like that! You think I actually wanted my own father dead, and by my own hands?" Magnus questioned; his eyes were burning from his attempt to keep in the tears that were threatening to come out. He run his now shaking hands through his uncharacteristically messy hair and sighed. "He had a knife in his hands! If I hadn't stopped him, he would have killed her," Magnus said heartbreakingly.
"That's what you want us to believe," Valentine said.
"Now I'm being accused of lying?" Magnus questioned, disbelief marring his face.
"Your honour, Mr Bane-" Alec zoned out as Valentine continued to accuse Magnus of things that he knew the other teen would never even think about.
Alec sat there all the way through the exchange, feeling helpless, useless and just distressed. He wanted to be there for Magnus, to get him out of this mess. He couldn't; all he could do was just be there to support him after. He had no power in court; he was just a teenager in the eyes of the court, despite the countless books he'd read about dealing with cases like this, thinking then that it would help. Sadly, he just looked at Magnus and prayed to every deity that this would end in Magnus' favour. He was brought out of his immobile state at Mr Valentine's words.
"Your honour, I have a witness that will testify that Mr Bane here is a violent boy with little to no regard for others but himself. He didn't kill his father to protect anyone but to satisfy his violent needs." Valentine said accusingly.
"And how would the witness know of Mr Bane's violent nature?" The Judge asked sceptically.
"She was in a relationship with Mr Bane for three years, your honour." Mr Valentine answered. "They were recently broken up after Miss Belcourt got the courage to confront him. This was the night of Mr Bane's death. At the party, Miss Belcourt confronted Mr Bane and when he went home, he saw an opportunity to relieve his anger."
"What?" Magnus exclaimed. "That is a lie and we both know it!"
"Alright, please bring Miss Belcourt to the second stand to be questioned." The Judge said, giving Magnus a sympathetic look.
Alec watched as Camille, the blond bitch, got out of her seat, walking slowly as she made her way to the witnesses' seat on the opposite side to Magnus. She looked sad and broken, like a little girl who'd just seen a ghost. Camille took an oath to tell the truth, just as Magnus had but Alec knew it was useless. The bitch was going to lie anyway.
"Thank you, Miss Belcourt, for agreeing to come here today." Valentine said, his voice soft; almost caring. His eyes were still devoid of emotion.
"It's okay. I'm just here to do everyone a favour." Camille said. "That monster needs to be behind bars, for everyone's sake," she continued, looking pointedly at Magnus, who was sitting on the other side of the Judge in utter disbelief. He had been on the other end of Camille's lies for years and this was one of them. But still, he could almost believe the pain in her face; she looked fragile, so scared. Not much like the manipulative girl that he remembered speaking to only moments ago.
Alec sat there as he watched Camille produce lies after lies from her repellent lips. If Alec didn't know Magnus, he could almost imagine himself believing the monstrous lies rolling off Camille's godforsaken tongue.
"Miss Belcourt, after three years of being in a relationship with Mr Bane, would you say that he is capable of brutally murdering his own father?" Valentine asked.
"Please call me Camille," she said innocently, sucking in a breath before saying: "yes," in a feeble voice. "He was always violent and that night, I should hav- I should have known he was going to do something terrible. I was just…so scared." She broke into tears, her hands were wiping megalithic droplets from her face and when she took her hands away, her makeup was perfectly fine, as if she'd practiced where to wipe the tears while avoiding messing up her face. Alec had no trouble believing she'd done exactly that.
"And what exactly were you scared about Camille?" Valentine asked, carefully stepping closer to Camille as if approaching a wild animal in its own habitat.
"He was drunk when I told him I couldn't take the way he was treating me anymore. He was always worse when he was drunk: he would hit me, shout at me and even pushed me down to the floor to kick me. I was just scared that if I stayed longer than I needed to tell him, he would do something to me," she said, her tears were back full force and her shoulders were shaking uncontrollably.
The courtroom was silent now; nothing could be heard than Camille's occasional sobs and the ruffling paper of the jury. Alec was stunned at how much Camille could lie and felt sorry for the idiotic morons in the courtroom that believed it. Alec chanced a look at Magnus and the other teen was simply in shock. Magnus' face had lost colour and his mouth was slightly ajar. He kept looking at the jury, who were busy writing down Camille's words… Camille's lies.
"Why did you stay with him if he did all these injustices to you, Camille?" Valentine asked curiously.
"Well love of course. I loved him with everything I had and I wanted to do anything for him to love me back. He said he loved me, once… just after he slapped me for hugging a friend of mine," Camille answered, looking down at her hands sadly.
"There you go your honour. If Magnus could do all these things to a girl he supposedly loved, what's stopping him from hurting his own father?" Valentine asked, anger lacing through his voice.
"Alright Mr Valentine, it is up to Mr Lightwood to state his defence. We will take a ten minute recess. Court rise," The Judge said as she pound her gavel to dismiss everyone.
Gloomily, Magnus got up from his seat, he was feeling dizzy and tired, and frustration was clear in his posture. He walked towards Alec and took his seat next to his boyfriend, but not as close as he was before. He didn't know if Alec believed in him enough to know that what Valentine and Camille were accusing him of was a lie. He loved Alec so much and didn't want to lose his blue eyed beauty but who wanted a supposedly violent boy for a boyfriend, really?
Uncertainly, he placed his hands in the space in between Alec and him, subconsciously asking if Alec still wanted him... if Alec still accepted him.
Alec sighed in frustration at how far away Magnus was from him and moved closer to the older teen, linking their hands together and plastering himself to Magnus. Alec looked up at Magnus and was greeted by a broad simile and couldn't resist kissing the corner of Magnus' mouth, despite the many people surrounding and moving around them. His lips lingered on the corner of Magnus' mouth a moment more than intended and Magnus captured his lips in a simple chaste kiss that gave them both the reassurance they needed.
Magnus placed his forehead on Alec's, absorbing the strength that he knew he, himself, no longer possessed.
Alec got up after a moment and pulled Magnus up with him. He led the older teen to the doors, ignoring the looks that were directed at them, or rather the looks directed at Magnus. Once they were out of the courtroom, they were surrounded by Jace, Izzy and all their friends. There was a moment of silence and Magnus was starting to get agitated. Just because Alec still believed in him didn't mean everyone else did.
Surprisingly, Maia, Jordan's girlfriend was the one that broke the unwelcome silence. "Somebody tell me that that bitch is a really good actor and that Magnus isn't a woman beater!" She exclaimed.
"Of course she is bloody lying. Didn't you hear what Magnus said before the hearing?" Izzy answered, but there was a trace of uncertainty in her voice. She knew that Magnus had said something about Valentine paying someone that Magnus knew to make up a story that would go against Magnus. She didn't think the lie would be to that extent and couldn't bear to think that there was any truth to it. Alec was too invested in this boy and it scared her slightly. Alec didn't open up to anyone much, besides family. At the thought of Alec, she looked down and saw Alec's hands interlocked with Magnus', demolishing her uncertainty. If Alec believed Magnus, there was no reason to question the boy.
"It's not all a lie," Magnus said, bringing everyone's direction to him. "I did-she was my girlfriend but I never did any of those things to her, I swear," he said pleading while looking at Alec. Truthfully, Magnus didn't care what anybody else thought, apart from Alec.
"I know you wouldn't do anything like that. I believe you, and my dad will show everyone that you are innocent," Alec said soothingly to Magnus, moving his thumb in a circular motion on top of Magnus' hand. A warm smile made an abrupt appearance of Magnus' face at Alec's words and brought their linked hands to his lips to kiss Alec's hand.
"Thank you," Magnus breathed on Alec's hand.
"Okay," Alec replied, not knowing what else to say.
"And that's our cue to leave," Izzy said, pulling Simon away with her.
"I'm sorry you have to go through all this," Alec said as he and Magnus made their way to a secluded corner of the break room.
"You have nothing to be sorry for," Magnus said. They were now at their destination: a little corner, far from the crowd, where no one could see them, unless the person was specifically looking for them.
Alec had his back again the wall with Magnus' head resting on the crook of his neck, breathing him in. Magnus snaked his hands down Alec's body, coming to rest at his waist.
"You don't deserve any of this. You shouldn't have had to live with a man like your father, you shouldn't have had to see your mother almost getting slaughtered and you shouldn't have had to move from your home to-" Alec was cut off by a sharp pressure at his neck that sent shivers down his spine. He reached down to pull Magnus' head away from his neck a little to lessen the amount of pressure on his neck. It wasn't painful but it wasn't exactly pleasant. Magnus got the clue and sucked at the skin there instead of biting, soothing the skin.
"Don't say stuff like that," Magnus said once he let go of Alec's neck to look at him.
"Shouldn't say what?" Alec asked with slight confusion.
"That I shouldn't have to go through any of this," Magnus replied in a matter of fact tone. "I love you Alexander, and not having to go through all this means that I wouldn't have met you, and I don't think I could live with that. I don't only love you for you are, but what I am when I'm around you. Not having met you means that I would have hated myself forever and that wouldn't even be a life because you wouldn't be in it."
"Is all this trouble really worth getting to meet me?" Alec asked sceptically.
"Yes, I wouldn't change my life for the world." Magnus said, and they were kissing. It wasn't evident who moved first and neither boy cared. They just got lost in the feeling of being in the arms of one another. Alec locked his hands around Magnus' neck while Magnus' hands rested on Alec's waist, travelling down behind Alec's thighs as they kissed.
Alec gasped when Magnus lifted him up, his feet no longer touching the floor, but instead securely locked on Magnus waist. Magnus pressed Alec further into the wall to support Alec's weight and they continued ravishing each other's mouths.
They thrived for the feel of one another and the need for oxygen wasn't strong enough to break their kiss. Both boys had their eyes closed, magnifying the feel of each other's touch: lips against lips, tongue brushing against tongue and hands exploring each other's bodies as they continued the deep and passionate kiss. They were giving the other all they've got, trying to show how much they cared for each other.
A loud clearing of the throat broke them apart. Reluctantly, Magnus let off Alec's legs, and stepped away from him, allowing Alec to stand again. A deep red colour appeared on Alec's cheeks when he met the source of the noise that broke him and Magnus apart, his father.
Magnus looked indifferent about the situation while Alec couldn't meet his father's eyes, looking down at his shoes and brushing off non-existent lint from his clothes.
Robert looked at the two boys uncomfortably. He wasn't exactly sure who to look at but he needed to talk to Magnus about the case so he tried his best to look unaffected. "Magnus, it looks like the case will probably last longer than I expected. With the false charges that are being putting on you, I'm going to have to request that his witness undergoes a lie detector test." Robert said, motioning the boys to follow as he walked towards a set of grouped couches in the middle of the waiting room.
"You can do stuff like that?" Magnus asked, taking Alec's hands in his and following Robert.
"Yes, but the Judge could decline the request if I don't have a good enough reason. I will have to ask you to tell the court what Camille is really like, then maybe the request will be granted because there will be two people saying polar opposite statements." Robert said as he sat down with Magnus and Alec sitting opposite him. "Madame Dorothea has already agreed to let the court know that you aren't some crazy woman beater."
"So what are we going to do? They can't take a lie detector now. It takes a long time, doesn't it?" Alec asked.
"Unfortunately yes, but if the Judge agrees, Magnus will have a much better leverage." Robert said. "It's the best option we have. Or else, this case could go on for a very long time." Robert stated as he got up to gather his paper, preparing for his defence statement. "We have two minutes before we have to go back." Robert said and looked at Magnus sympathetically, as if he knew something that he didn't, and left the room.
Alec was sure that something wasn't good.
"What if the Judge doesn't let Camille take a lie detection test?" Alec asked, heartbroken.
"I don't know but it can't be good," Magnus said calmly.
"I want to help, Magnus, but I don't know what to do." Alec said, running his slender fingers through his raven hair.
"Just do the only thing we can do," Magnus said sliding closer to Alec and bringing him onto a warm hug.
"And what is that?" Alec asked, letting Magnus pull him close.
"Hope Alexander. We can only hope for the best, okay?" Magnus whispered.
"Okay."
Yes, hope Alec! Review please and tell me what you think.
~Sherry