And now, the time has come to save Max! No copyright infringement is intended. Only fluff is intended.
Warnings: for psychological child abuse, and parents being utterly and completely hateful towards their own sons.
No copyright infringement is intended.
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If Robert and Maryse Lightwood's mediocre and - to be truthful, not very clever - lawyer had been a bit brighter, he would have been afraid the moment he stepped into the courtroom to find Ragnor Fell already positioned, eyes gleaming and a polite smile on his face; an expression which still managed to be almost… feral.
As it was, the trial became almost a laughable farce. The Lightwood's lawyer started with bringing up something from the business-world; just how persuasive a man like Magnus Bane could be, and - perhaps unprofessionally - he brought up the persistent rumour from amongst business-associates; that Bane was just as impressive a force outside of the boardroom and controlled his young husband utterly. How healthy, he posed, would it be for a young boy to be brought up in such circumstances?
Not only was this man not very good at his job, he also did it in a very predictable way. Ragnor Fell had seen the move coming from a mile away and had already let Alexander Bane see a psychologist, to see what the judgement on this would be.
As this expert was brought to give witness in the court, her verdict was very plain and decided. Alexander Bane did show signs of having been oppressed, but they were old ones, healing scars, and she judged that his husband was a very good help to his healing. "I have seen the signs plenty, from children growing up with psychologically abusive parents," she concluded, bringing the count to consider an entirely different question than was intended by Lightwood's lawyer.
From there, Ragnor Fell could easily move events in his own clients' favour, and bringing Cat to the stand, witnessing over the images of Isabelle's injury - from her mother's hand - the court was swaying quite heavily towards one direction, even before the judge gently questioned Max.
"Maxwell Lightwood, that is your name?" She asked him carefully, watching the young boy who did not quite meet her eyes; instead looking down towards the ground. He nodded, however, in response to the question.
"Your brother wants you to come live with him. Would you yourself prefer that, or to stay with your parents?" She asked him softly, threading very gently. He shrugged. She had to prod several more times, before there was a reply which shook them all.
"I don't want to ruin anything for Alec," the eleven-year-old finally confessed. "M-mother said that it was my fault that father was… un-un-faithful, that I ruin everything, that I'm toxic…" At this point, almost everyone in the room had gasped, "I wouldn't want to destroy my brother's life, too… I love Alec… it'd be lovely, though," he added, in a very low voice, sounding almost wistful. "I'd love to live with him and Magnus…"
At this point, the boy was almost in tears, but he wasn't alone. No one stopped his brother as he almost ran to his little brother to hug him, whispering fervently, and loud enough to be discerned.
"That's a lie. You don't ruin anything, it was not your fault; and Magnus and I would both love to have you. Don't believe her for a moment. She hit Isabelle. Does that sound right to you?" As his little brother looked up, Alec repeated himself, voice strong and sure now.
"Maryse lied. Max, it was certainly not your fault. She is cruel and he's an unfaithful bastard. I love you, and Magnus is a nice guy. You won't ruin us. It was never you." At this point, both the judge and Ragnor Fell warned him for his language, but the judge was very mild about it, and the lawyer was merely being professional. It rather sounded, in fact, as if they both agreed, if anything.
It took a while for the court to come back to peace, and when they did, the judge had only one question. What, with the Bane family being a tad… disjointed, living in so many places, were the plans for bringing up a child?
"We will play it by ear for now," Magnus Bane spoke confidently. "When Max has recovered, he will go to school - we will decide then if our country house in Northern Indiana will be best for him, or if we shall reside in New York, still. I work there, but I can easily move back and forth, if Alexander prefers to stay away from the city to raise his brother."
"Both you and your husband have jobs, I believe?" The judge prodded further, intent on exterminating this last question before she granted custody of a child to his siblings and brother-in-law. At a nod, she continued. "If you are both busy, do you have a plan for his care?"
"He does have a sister, with yet another schedule; one of us will always have time. Besides, if we should all be busy, my father is quite eager to help as well," Magnus smirked, "he states it will be the nearest he will ever get to grandchildren, and he wants to be involved. He does tour occasionally, still, but not as much as he used to; and he did raise a boy on tour before, too."
Needless to say, Alexander Bane and Isabelle Lightwood were granted full custodianship of their little brother. Perhaps more surprisingly, in the upset and confusion of such a sudden change of circumstances, Max Lightwood took to Asmodeus Bane - who was brilliant with kids, it seemed - and two weeks after the court case, the youngest and oldest members of the family had left together for Italy.
They formed quite a bond, and while Alexander always liked to gather all of his family as much as possible, everyone spent their time where it suited them best, and with this, they were all pleased.