A/N - Hello hello ... you've all been patient and waiting too long. Thanks again to PracticallyAnAvenger for amazing reviews! Here y'all go - have another.

Chapter 126: Remanded Into Custody

When the jet landed in Genosha, Wanda came to the tarmac to meet the Summers family. Usually, she would have come with only her family, but this time, because of the nature of the visit, she had several of her guards along and all looked grim.

"Annie," Scott said under his breath just before he hit the lever to open the door, "follow Billy. I'm sure Wanda will let you know once things are settled where we'll be."

Annie bit her lip but nodded and then stole a quick kiss. "Brave of you puttin' me in charge of watchin' Kate and America in these circumstances," she teased lightly, though her heart obviously wasn't in it.

"If you ask them, they'll say they're looking out for you," he teased her right back. He tipped his head toward where Wanda was waiting. "Wait to get out until after we're gone. There are reporters, and you don't want to get caught up in a media frenzy if you can help it."

Annie nodded and gave his hand one last squeeze. "Be careful."

"Always am," he promised and got to his feet, nodding to his kids, who didn't need to speak to know it was time to head out.

"Give Annie your phone," Rachel said as she did exactly that with America, then stole a quick kiss and darted around Scott. "And don't be in a rush to get arrested, Dad."

"Mostly in a rush to get this over with," Scott said.

"Might take a while," James said.

"You know what I mean."

"Sure do," he agreed, and made a move to try and step around Scott, too, though Scott grabbed his shoulder to prevent him from doing that.

"You're the one charged with murder. You're not going in front," Scott said simply as he followed Rachel out.

James frowned, but didn't argue it -to Scott. Instead, he turned to Nate. "They already shot me once…"

"So how bout don't invite it and give Dad a heart attack," Nate said with a smirk.

"Not what I was going for," James argued, then grumbled when Nate made a point of cutting in front of him too. "Rude."

"Beauty before age," Nate said without missing a beat.

"Delusional, then," James said over his shoulder.

"No, I'm definitely sure you're older," Nate said.

"You know, if it was between brains and brawn, you'd just be screwed," James had to tease. "Skinny."

"Not my fault your mutation makes you look like that."

James shook his head, then smirked as he looked back toward Billy for a moment. "Don't worry. It's not even the first time I've been arrested. This will be fine."

By the time James stepped out, Rachel and Scott had already been handcuffed and were in the process of being frisked. Nate had a guard on either side of him, just starting up the process, and as James climbed down the stairs, he made sure to hold both hands up at waist level so they could see there was no attempt to try for a weapon … not that it was necessary.

Truth be told, he'd been expecting a lot heavier-handed treatment from the guards. But the guards simply searched the arriving Summers family, handcuffed them, and put them in a transport - though Wanda took a second to pop her head in and tell them there'd been credible threats against them, so they weren't going to the prison her father had set up.

With that little warning, they headed off, taking a circuitous route and switching vehicles - which showed how serious the threats had been - before they ended up at a small house not far from the palace itself. Which made sense. That meant the guards from the palace would be close at hand if necessary.

"Well this looks great," Nate said dryly.

"It could be a great deal worse," the guard holding Scott said. "And you're lucky that this is as good as it is."

"He's not wrong. Ask Remy," Scott said quietly, one eyebrow raised significantly at Nate to tell him to behave - for the moment.

I'm not really complaining, Nate projected to Scott. It's just … a lot.

I know, Scott replied. And you can complain all you want when it's just us. But house arrest is a privilege, and let's not do anything to rock that boat.

Before the group of prisoners was uncuffed, the guards took a moment to put an anklet on each of them while they were telling them what the rules were - including the little bit about how they were able to step outside if they needed to, but considering the threats that had been leveled at them - it was not recommended. At all.

But the guards were slow to uncuff them, too. Even after they did everything that was required, they seemed reluctant to finish up. Nate and Rachel shared a look between themselves and Scott, hoping he'd know what was going on, but before Scott could project to them to be patient, James flinched hard and pressed one ear to his shoulder in a heavy cringe. And Nate and Rachel weren't more than a few seconds behind him in trying to protect themselves from the reverb that was echoing the house.

The guards looked just as confused as Scott while his three kids slid to the ground one by one - obviously in pain.

Scott was faster to react, though he couldn't do much. "You said there were credible threats."

"There are," one of the guards replied, trying to see where the attack was coming from.

Scott was already scanning too. "Your four o'clock," he said when he spotted someone trying to hide behind the corner of a nearby building. "Where are the keys? Those kids can't fight back right now." When the guard didn't make a move to help, Scott let out a frustrated sound. "Do your damn job or let someone else do it!"

"What makes you think this isn't my job?"

Scott narrowed his eyes and then lashed out - which was unfortunate for the man, considering Scott could only use his legs and the easiest way to down him was to kick him right between the legs hard as he could. And when he went down, Scott crouched to look for the keys.

He had to turn around to reach the keys once he found them, which unfortunately put his back to the door. And in the second it took for him to grab the keys, another player arrived on the scene - announcing themselves by wrapping something around Scott's neck until he stumbled backward, unable to get himself righted or to do anything to relieve the pressure. He did see out of the corner of his eye that whatever had wrapped around him was connected to something beyond his vision, and he was able to twist just enough to see that the mutant attacking him had stretched his arm out like a noose before he fell to his knees, unable to get a breath.

While Scott was distracted with his assailant, another person slipped through the door and headed right for the three Summers kids - with Rachel being her first target. The boys were trying to look around enough to see what was happening, though it was hard to take a breath for how badly they were hurting … until they saw that Rachel was in trouble. She was being hit with the same feedback they were, but this new player looked almost like he was going to kiss her. The boys shared a wordless glance and both of them took a swipe - not unlike Scott had done - to start kicking Rachel's attacker.

None of them were making any significant leeway, though, so it was good timing that Alex and Lorna, knowing the kinds of threats being levied against their family members, had already made their own plans to visit Scott and the kids as soon as they were settled.

In just a glance, the two of them saw the situation - Scott losing consciousness, Rachel's eyes rolling in her head, the boys panicked but too slow - and went into motion without even talking about it. There was enough metal around them that Lorna didn't even have to try to shape weapons - she just used a metal wall to grab the man with his hands around Rachel's arm and waist as he drank her power for himself. She completely encased him in metal, the way her father would have done, and then waved a hand to break the handcuffs on everyone.

Alex, meanwhile, blasted the stretchy mutant - and since he didn't have to worry about Scott, he just let the guy have it, knocking him out instantly so that he could focus instead on unwinding the stretchy arms from around his big brother's neck.

But even at that, whatever was hurting James, Rachel, and Nate hadn't let up. James put his hands to his ears, and both Rachel and Nate were holding their fists to their temples. "Lorna…" Alex said, a bit distracted checking to make sure his brother was breathing.

Lorna frowned, trying to find the source of the problem. By the time she saw it, James was bleeding from his ears, and both of the telepaths were unconscious. But once she spotted the mutant around the corner, she dropped half a wall on them, and the attack stopped.

Which left Alex and Lorna standing in a group of unconscious prisoners, attackers, and guards who obviously hadn't done a thing to stop it. In a second, Lorna had her phone out. "Wanda, get here now."

Wanda didn't wait to hear anything more - and she didn't ask before she magicked herself to Lorna - along with Vision to help her. When she saw the state of things around her, she swore outright. "This is ridiculous," she said - her accent getting thicker with how angry she was.

"No kidding," Alex said dryly. "What was that other attacker doing to the kids?" he asked Lorna.

Lorna frowned as she crouched down by Rachel. "One of my father's acolytes has a semi-sonic power. It's incredibly high-pitched and can also reverberate on the psychic field."

"That doesn't sound good," Alex said, frowning.

"If he'd kept going, he could have given all three of them aneurisms," Lorna said.

"Damn."

"We need to move them somewhere safer - with more trustworthy guards," Lorna said -more to Wanda than to Alex.

"I'll do it myself," Wanda said, her eyes flashing with both anger and power - and the next thing any of them knew, the whole group of them - minus the attackers- were in a different house, this one immediately familiar. It was the same house Erik had given Scott during his initial stay on Genosha after what happened with Greydon Creed.

"What happened to the-"

"They're in cells," Wanda said sharply.

"Right. Obviously." Alex sat back and dragged a hand down his face. "So. Don't the Avengers have an instant healer or something…? This is… not great…"

"They do," Wanda said. "And I'll call to warn them that we want him here."

"Good." Alex sat back on the floor as he came down from the adrenaline. "Well, this is fun. I think this island is trying to kill my brother."

"This is not the start I'd like to see for this trial," Wanda said as she pulled out her phone to call Tony, then turned into the phone dismissing any of her normal conventions. "You have a healer, don't you? Is he there now?"

"Um, hi, yes we do. He's with Hank - why?"

"There's been an attack. I'm working up the spell to bring him here now - warn him before I finish."

"Okay, got it. Hanging up now," Tony said, sounding instantly stressed.

Wanda took a moment to center herself, almost picturing in her mind's eye as Tony ran to the lab. She knew how long that would take him, anyhow. Then, she blew out a breath and worked her spell, drawing Tyler Creed there in a moment.

As soon as he arrived, Tyler glanced around, sucked in air through his teeth, and got to work, shaking his head as he did so. "What happened?" he asked, even as he was already working on healing Scott - who was the only one with visible injuries given the bruising around his neck.

"They were attacked," Wanda said simply. "All of them."

Tyler shook his head but kept right on working, wincing when he scanned Rachel and Nate. "Give me a minute here. This…" He shifted the way he was sitting. "It's on its way to a brain bleed, so it's not technically an injury, but I think I can…" He trailed off and concentrated, finally leaning back to get his breath once he'd sat with both of them.

"Well?" Wanda prompted. "Please tell me they'll be fine. I do not want to have to deal with a telepath of Nate's caliber out of control of his mind - and we definitely do not need the Phoenix cracking open."

"No, nothing like that," Tyler promised. "They'll be fine. Just stay away from head injuries for a few weeks if at all possible."

"I know it's likely a waste of time, but … can you check James too?" Wanda asked.

Tyler nodded. "I can't heal him, but I can tell you what needs healing," he said and put a hand on James's shoulder. He pulled a face. "Okay, so, the shattered ear drums will heal on their own… looks like it's slower than usual, but that's not a surprise, since there's still some missing grey matter there."

"Sorry, what now?" Alex stared at Tyler.

Tyler glanced up and winced. "Right. Well. It's almost all grown back, really. Shouldn't take much longer, but when there's a brain injury, that's going to divert some healing energy anyway. Probably why he's still unconscious."

"That …" Alex trailed off as he looked between his family members. "I should have known, but Scott didn't say, and oh, man. Please don't tell him he doesn't have it all regrown. The competitive thing will just go off the rails with … I can just hear it. 'Smarter than you with half my brain missing'," Alex said.

Tyler chuckled under his breath. "You're not wrong."

"I mean - Scott should know, obviously," Alex amended.

"Yeah, I'll leave that to you," Tyler said, leaning back. "So do you … need me still or…"

"I think it might be wise for you to stay for the duration - if you're not too busy," Wanda said, then managed to give him a warm smile. "Welcome to Genosha, by the way. Thank you for your help. I'm sure one of my boys could show you around."

"Okay then." Tyler looked bemused, but all things considered, he wasn't about to argue it. "I'll just…" He gestured vaguely at the door, and when no one stopped him, he got to his feet.

"Don't go too far," Wanda said. "I'm sure Billy can find you anyhow, but it seems that the streets aren't entirely safe right now."

Tyler paused. "I'll just wait for a guide, then," he said. "Looks like this is complicated, and I don't want to make it any worse."

Wanda frowned at that and turned toward Alex and Lorna, looking for an explanation. She hadn't met Tyler until just then … and what little she'd heard from Billy and Tommy had sounded more like the punchline to a joke than anything else.

"He doesn't go in public much as it is," Alex explained. "Family resemblance - and weapons groups want to use him."

"Oh," Wanda turned back to Tyler and took a moment to pull him aside - away from the task at hand. "I didn't mean … the danger is to these four. There isn't anything to concern yourself with here …" she paused when she realized she didn't know him outside of passing stories. "You must be Tyler."

"And you must be the queen of Genosha."

"Wanda," she said with a smile.

"Wanda," he repeated. "I'll try to remember that. Sorry, this is…"

"I also answer to Billy and Tommy's mom," she teased.

He couldn't help but smirk at that. "Okay, that one I can remember."

"We'll set you up with a place to stay - close by, but not too close," Wanda said. "I heard about how you came to join the good guys."

"Oh, man, Tommy won't let that story die," Tyler said, wincing but laughing all the same.

"No, he really won't," she agreed. "If I were you, I'd be ready for a fresh retelling while you're here." Wanda turned toward Alex and Lorna. "If you could stay here for a little while … I'm going to get Billy here and we'll cast some protection on this place."

Understandably, Billy was upset when he met up with his mother to find the entire Summers family in varying stages of injury. He had no trouble whipping up a spell with his mother to protect the family - and even went so far as to add a little umph that would make it clear who held ill intent toward them. Not all of the Acolyte followers were known, and though Billy understood how some of them were swayed to think that way, he didn't appreciate the actions that they were choosing. So he wanted to make sure those that would harm the family on trial would get a little taste of their own medicine.

But once that was established, Wanda allowed him the time to make sure James was settled in and resting before she told him that she wanted him to help Tyler out with a little tour of the area and to make sure he was settled in, too.

And seeing as Alex and Lorna were planning to stay close to keep an eye on the Summers family while they slept and recovered, Billy saw nothing wrong with casting an alarm spell so he could go see his boyfriend as soon as he regained consciousness. He needed to make sure that the new location was safe, after all, so he couldn't just … go strolling into or out of that safe house.

And yet, Tyler still wasn't entirely sure of himself as they started off from the palace - where Billy had wished him to so they had a neutral starting point. His confidence slowly returned to him as they walked through the streets of Genosha, both awed and entertained by the massive respectful following that Billy had. Sure, there were people that came up to him, but they weren't mobbing him like he'd seen the press do with James or Tony - or any of the X-Men or Avengers, really.

For as interested in Billy that all these people were, and factoring in how respectful they were being, it was still shocking. Aside from apologies for pestering him, very quickly, the most common question in the air was some iteration of "How long have you been dating?" or shouted concerns about Billy fooling around with Sabretooth's son - though there were a few that were congratulating him on his newest beau as well, even if not all of them looked overly enthusiastic about his apparent rebound.

"That's not … no," Billy answered, blushing high on his cheeks and more flustered than he'd expected to be. This was such a misunderstanding. But the lawyers had made a point to warn him against publicly defending James before the trial started and his testimony was out there. He just hadn't expected to be stuck with this as the most bizarre thing to happen to him so far … that year.

The murmur from the press began to escalate slightly, though still nowhere near as pushy as the American press was, though it was difficult to navigate through the crowd while making sure Tyler knew to stick close and stay quiet.

But nothing he could do short of a wish - and that was out of the question when he actually wanted to get away from Tyler, too - could get them to the palace before Tommy could catch the news. And Tommy had run all the way from New York to razz him about it even though he was due to fly in with Mia's family the following day.

Billy shut his eyes tightly and pulled his hand down his face when he heard the tell-tale woosh that told him his twin was there for him … just when he didn't want him there.

"You have a type," Tommy started out sounding gleeful. "Up until now, I wasn't sure. Like, I had a few thoughts, but those turned out to be wrong, you know? Like I was totally considering the wrong details."

"Tommy-"

"Wait, wait, hear me out!" Tommy said, holding up both hands as he did laps around his brother, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he got more animated. "I mean … I thought for the longest time you had a thing for blondes, but then, you totally blew your streak, right? The redhead was close enough to blonde-"

"Tommy, stop."

"-but that was totally nuked with that guy from Greece-"

Billy dropped into the nearest chair, but Tommy was on a roll, so that wasn't about to stop soon.

"-and the return of the blonde thing only to get destroyed by the truth."

"The truth." Billy's tone was flat.

"Yep! Man. Grandfather would be rolling over in his grave if he knew you had a thing for ferals. Oh, man. I mean … James I can almost get? He meets all the other criteria you had before-"

"Oh my god."

"-but now, now I know that your type isn't just big and strong and stacked … it's big, dangerous, murderous, animalistic guys. I should have known. Opposites."

"I'm more dangerous than he is," Billy defended weakly, though he wasn't sure where to start arguing with the other points that were so totally not built into what he was looking for in a guy.

"Sure you are," Tommy said before he reached out to pat Billy's head. "Horrifically dangerous brainy twink-brother of mine."

"You know you more or less just said you look like a twink too- and I'm not a twink!"

"Is it like …. A vampire fetish? You like the teeth? Want to be bitten and-"

"And that's enough," Billy said before he wished himself away from his brother with his face burning red. Not that it was going to help. Not when Tommy knew exactly where Billy had wished himself to … and had to continue his teasing by almost apparating over Billy's shoulder once he was in his favorite hiding place.

"It's okay, I won't tell the press. Or James. Or … I suppose Tyler …"

"Seriously?"

Tommy grinned widely. "But it's so funny!" he insisted. "And I gotta get my jokes in now, because when you testify, all the stories will evaporate and the press will be back to being in love with you both like always…"

"Like they're not in love with you and Mia too."

"Yeah, well." Tommy cleared his throat, which had Billy frowning and turning his way. He had been expecting Tommy to preen about how amazing he and his girlfriend were, not look… sheepish.

"Tommy, are things with you and Mia okay?"

Immediately, Tommy waved off his concern. "We're fine. I'm fine. Everything is fine. Just tired of people asking when I'm marrying her. I just started college and she's still in high school. Seems like I should be having fun, not settling down, right? Why even push that?"

Billy tried to catch Tommy's gaze, but his brother wouldn't look at him. "Well, you two have been together as long as James and I have…"

"And you two work jumping into commitment. I don't." Tommy shrugged and blew out his breath. "Anyway, you totally abandoned Tyler to the masses. The poor lost kitten. Maybe I should chat him up and steal him away from you."

"Yeah, you do that," Billy said, though his heart wasn't in the tease, and he was frowning staring after where his brother had run off for a long time.

The night before the trial was set to begin, the Summers family as a whole sat down one more time to go over how they were going to approach their defense. With Genosha's court using telepaths to get at the truth, they knew the whole story was going to be out there, so the trick was using the story itself and making sure that all of the context was included to show why they'd felt it was necessary to act.

And they weren't far into their strategizing review when the trio of lawyers showed up to go over the case with them, too.

They'd gotten into dinner while they were talking, which was when Scott pulled Jamie Maddrox aside for just a moment. "Just wanted to say thanks - again. It's been a wild few months, and I know you were doing fine before we pulled you into this."

"You know the only part about this that makes me worry is that it's you," Jamie said. "I've got your back - you know I do, but man. I was hoping it wasn't going to come to a trial."

Scott smiled grimly. "Honestly, I think Wanda threw her weight around to try to keep this from touching us, but…" He gestured vaguely.

"It's too big to sweep under the rug, and the players are too famous," Jamie said.

"Pretty much," Scott agreed.

"How are the kids handling it?"

"Nate's taking it the hardest because Kate's pregnant," Scott admitted. "But overall, they're more mad than anything."

"Yeah, well … didn't fall far from the tree, huh?" Jamie teased.

Scott smirked. "Yeah, no kidding. At least my fiance is taking care of his."

"I honestly think that Nate and Rachel will be perfectly fine. The courts brought them into it to make it more … big, but they really didn't take part in anything, as I understand it."

"Yeah, Jen told me the same thing yesterday," Scott admitted as he glanced over to where Jen was currently chatting with Nate and Rachel. "And honestly, I think James will be okay too. Billy's testimony from the investigation was pretty clear; they'd have a hard time acting like James wasn't in mortal danger with the dampener on and a knife in his heart."

"Another one that didn't fall far from the tree."

"Don't I know it." Scott let out a breath. "The thing that worries me the most is that I just got back in the public eye, and now this trial is happening. The last thing I want is for the X-Men to get dragged through the mud because of me."

"Let's see how your team decides to frame it before you carry it all on your shoulders, huh? You gotta stop doing that."

"Sure, I'll work on that," Scott said with a dry smirk.

The level of nerves for the defendants was definitely high, as well it should have been, but one member of the gallery was watching closer at how tense Scott was as he watched his three children hold still for the bailiffs to put collars on them. It was easily the most barbaric part of the entire proceeding so far. But then, it was just getting started and Mr. Sinister had yet to see how court trials worked in Genosha.

The press around the trial itself had been nothing but background noise when it was first announced that Magneto had finally pushed the wrong person too far, but once it was made public that there would be a trial … and for one of Sinister's most treasured subjects, too -

Well, he simply couldn't stay away. Of course, he couldn't exactly show up in the open either. Aside from panicking Scott, Sinister knew that he, too, was wanted in Genosha for crimes against mutant kind. As if he'd listen to their kangaroo court on charges against himself. Or anyone of note for that matter. He needed to be in that courtroom to see how far Scott had fallen this time. If it was bad enough, he might even welcome some help. But first, he wanted to see how the years had treated him outside of the loss of his powers and his codename. Sinister himself had never had much patience to watch children grow naturally, but … he wasn't surprised to hear that Scott would have liked it.

Because Genosha was made for mutants, they didn't conduct their trials the way humans would, either. They were keenly aware of the way powers - especially of the telepathic variety - could influence the way a trial went. And so, not only did the defendants have collars but both the defense and the prosecution had a telepath on their payroll to make sure that the witnesses were telling the truth. Furthermore, both telepaths would review the minds of the judge and jury after the case was over to make sure no one had been manipulated to decide one way or the other.

And considering the high-profile mess that was the legal knot from Emma Frost's botched case in the US, that was almost certainly the best way to move forward.

The witness stand itself was also wired as a dampener - Sinister could see that much even before the trial began. And while the courtroom was open to the press, for security reasons for this trial, the public was limited in observation. Several X-Men were allowed in as well as many of Magneto's acolytes, and a crowd of the public sat in the rest of the available seats, screened, of course.

Because of the nature of the trial, to prevent a protracted media circus, the court had decided to try all four defendants but to have the sentencing separately at the end of the trial. The facts would all be the same for each case, except for Scott's, as he'd been with Magneto long before the kids showed up.

The judge began the trial by acknowledging the scrutiny they were all under and emphasizing the importance of getting it right. But Sinister noted that he did thank the defendants for appearing without compulsion.

From the start, it was clear the prosecution was out for blood - not that it was a surprise with a number of acolytes on the prosecutorial team. Their opening statement was vicious, accusing Scott of not only murderous intent but a long-standing grudge, pointing at his past with the X-Men fighting against Magneto's vision for mutant kind. They accused the kids of being part of the plot, of knowing what he was going to do and not doing a thing to stop it. They accused James of being nothing but an animalistic killer on a leash held by Scott. They didn't hold back.

The defense had Jamie Maddrox give their opening statement - which was helpful in a mutant haven like Genosha. And where the prosecution had been practically (and very near literally) spitting venom in their accusations, Jamie appealed to the jury to understand how hard Scott had worked to find any other avenue to get Erik to turn from his path. He pointed to the illegal surveillance Erik was doing and to the threats against the lives of the X-Men, including James multiple times as well as threats toward Kate for the simple crime of being human.

Of the two opening statements, Jamie's was easily the most impressive - because he didn't come across as having his own axe to grind and didn't resort to yelling. It was the downside of the prosecution choosing a team so heavily pro-Magneto and pro-Acolyte: while they would be the best choice to push for the heaviest consequences, they risked alienating a jury made up of Genoshans who had also lived under Erik's rule and might not have seen him in such a saintly light.

To start things off, Lorna was sworn in as she explained that she had been the first to realize what had happened and that she had checked the tapes to get the whole story. And she played the entire interaction - not just the fight itself but the conversation Erik and Scott had had leading up to it. The jury got to see the two of them arguing and could see the surveillance setup Erik had - which was a shock to many there, though not a surprise, as Erik had been tightening his grip on the populace for some time before his fall. And, with a warning that the content was gruesome, Lorna showed how the fight had gone down and how the kids had rushed to save their father.

For as riveting of a video as it was, Sinister was anxious to get a feel for where the public opinion was resting in regards to his subjects. He was not terribly surprised to see that they were, by in large, not surprised by the chain of events. When he turned his focus to those standing trial and the jury whose opinion held the most weight, he had to control his irritation.

It was plainly obvious to anyone with half a brain that intent or not, Magneto had not met his end due to careful plotting or planning. In fact, he'd nearly managed to kill Scott when Scott had hesitated by Sinister's measure.

What was more interesting was the tenor that the defendants had though - far more complex in their opinions of things (for the most part). Rachel and Nate were almost like bookends in their motivation and processing of all that had happened. Scott was a veritable ball of nerves - as expected. He wasn't sure how he'd walk out of the trial, and he was more terrified on behalf of his children than he was for his own sake. James … was just as difficult to read as the first time he'd met the boy in Oxford. Frustrating, confident, and as beautiful a savage as he'd seen years and years ago. But this little savage was in far more trouble at his age than Logan had been.

After the video Lorna had brought played, the judge called for a short recess; it was abundantly clear that everyone needed a break after the gruesome, bloody scene had unfolded before them. And while some people got up to stretch their legs, others stuck around to chat.

Sinister could see Scott reach over to squeeze Jamie's shoulder. "Damn good speech," he said quiet enough that most people wouldn't catch it.

"We're just getting started," Jamie promised.

"Yeah, can't wait to get yelled at for four days," Nate said dryly.

"Figured you'd be used to it," James said under his breath.

"You're hilarious."

"Not much we can guess at this early," Matt said. "Just laid out the facts. Hard to read anyone on the jury just yet. That video shook everyone."

"I don't know the fine details on the laws here, so I don't know how right you are," James said, though Nate definitely didn't look like that was helping his nerves.

The group of them fell silent, watching as people started to file back in after the short break. And then, the defense called Billy to the stand.

As expected, the prosecution was much gentler with Billy than they would have been with other witnesses. He was well-liked throughout Genosha - and even the acolytes wanted to stay on good footing with him, as he had been Magneto's hand-picked successor. And so, they started with basic questions, asking him to recount the events of the day.

Most of the details weren't known to the public, and even Sinister had to admit to being impressed by the ingenuity of the spell Billy described: one that would bring them straight to Scott if he found himself in mortal danger. The prosecution didn't like that part: it made it sound like the crown prince himself was in on a conspiracy. But Billy himself admitted that he didn't know the specifics of Scott's plan, just that James was worried.

But the prosecution, for as carefully as they were handling Billy, couldn't quite contain him once Billy reached the point in his tale when he had seen Magneto and Scott.

Without meaning to, Billy got more animated, leaning forward, his eyes wide as he gripped the stand in front of him. "All James wanted to do was separate them," he said. "He got between them, and he put his hands up. You saw it. And you know there was a dampener. And…" He swallowed. "You saw him try to put my grandfather's arms down. He was just there to stop it, not…" He gestured toward where the video had been playing. "How am I supposed to forget watching my own grandfather stab my boyfriend in the heart, huh?"

Sinister smirked as the crowd around him murmured despite the judge's calls for quiet. Billy had to know the standing he had on Genosha. He had to know how compelling a case he was making for the defense simply by siding with James so fervently.

The prosecution tried to pull it back, of course. They could tell Billy wouldn't say anything bad about James, so instead, they focused their questions on Scott, on what Billy knew ahead of time.

Billy, of course, couldn't give Scott much cover… and yet he still managed to paint him sympathetically when the defense cross-examined him. Jamie asked about the spell Billy had cast - the one everyone saw on video - when he had wished them all back home.

"And where did you end up?" Jamie asked.

"At the Summers home," Billy said. "Actually, I hadn't ever been there before. Not in person. They had a public-facing home, but you know how it can be for mutants, right? So they were being careful, and I ended up transporting us right into their living room."

"How did you manage to wish yourself there if you'd never been before?"

"I mean, you heard the spell," Billy pointed out. "I just wanted to go home, and honestly? 'Home' wasn't anywhere my grandfather had touched in that moment. It was wherever James was."

"So even though you'd just seen all you did, the place you felt safest was with the Summers family."

"Yeah." Billy swallowed. "I just wanted us to be okay. All of us."

Sinister tapped his fingers on his arms as he watched, listening to the surface-level thoughts around him, especially as Jamie circled back around in his questioning to why Billy might not have felt safe around his grandfather - at least not with his boyfriend around.

Another video queued up - this time a compilation of several incidents, taken from different investigations into deaths that had occurred around the crown princes… specifically anyone who had dated Billy or Tommy. Any relationship that didn't work out seemed to end in bloodshed. Even a few that had wanted to pursue relationships but never got that far.

"Did you know that this was happening to the young men you'd been dating, or those that were pursuing your brother?" Jamie asked.

Billy tipped his head as he carefully considered his answer. "Not at the time," he said. "I knew that he was scaring people off, but I didn't know he was killing anyone."

"And when did you find out about that part?"

"When he started threatening James, I got… curious," Billy admitted. "And I did some digging."

"What piqued your curiosity?"

"I mean, when he started coming to James's lab to throw around threats, I guess I had to wonder what he'd done to people who weren't brave enough to stand up to him, you know?" Billy pointed out.

"So you were trying to find out why you hadn't gotten a call back?" Jamie tried to tease as lightly as he could. "Or you were more concerned because .." He stopped himself rather than be accused of leading his witness, and he wanted Billy to outline how this situation was different than those before it.

Billy blushed lightly. "No, honestly, I didn't really think much about not hearing from anyone I'd dated. I know that sounds bad, but, like, I'm the crown prince, and I know that's intimidating when it comes to dating. I really figured they just didn't want the hassle of royal drama or the press following them around or something if they didn't have to put up with it now that we weren't dating, you know?" He winced his shoulder up to his ear. "It wasn't until Grandfather started openly threatening James that I wondered if he'd followed through on those threats with anyone else, and… well… I found out that he had."

"To your knowledge, had any of the others stood up to your grandfather?"

Billy shook his head. "No, I don't think anyone did." He paused. "Before James, everyone I dated lived on Genosha. I think that probably made standing up to him a lot scarier and harder, you know?"

"That I do," Jamie replied. "Thank you. That's all the questions I have for this witness."

As soon as things started to wind down, Sinister sat back with a sigh, once again listening in to the private thoughts around him that mattered. Most of the courtroom was buzzing with idle gossip that left little to actually consider in regards to the princes, and many of the genoshan citizens in attendance were trying to recall if any of them had personally known any of Magneto's victims - or their family's responses on finding out what had happened to their teens that had simply disappeared.

It was clearly a rather bold move from Magneto and a tad too predictable and rough. Which made the fact that his grandsons being so clever was almost amusing. The man was smart, but … far too heavy handed. He wasn't sure where their flair had come from entirely. Especially when Wanda herself was every drop as dramatic as her father.

William had walked away from the stand looking for a place to hide away from the trial of public opinion - particularly when all they seemed to be discussing was his love life. Sinister was far more intrigued by how in the world Billy's spell had directed them to where the Summers had called home. There was something more in play with that spell than met the eye, or that met basic logic - but the pathway there wasn't nearly as clear as Sinister would usually see. He scoffed at the back of his throat. Magic. That had to be the problem. At it's essence it fought basic, dependable laws. Meddlesome, frustrating factor that it was … he was starting to think of how useful forcing your outcomes might be. And … finding hiding Summers family members … as amusing as the thought was, repeating that spell if the group did a runner could be quite useful. Once, anyhow.

William's path was looking more and more clear. Regardless of his involvement, Sinister couldn't see the courts dirtying the boy's hands. Even if he himself had felled the old man. He would be useful. As long as Sinister used the right pressure when he found a path in, of course.

And with that, the judge dismissed the court for the day, with the defendants filing out first so that they could get out and avoid anyone who might try to take things into their own hands.

Sinister sat back, nodding to himself as he considered the events of the day. He had to admit that, though he hadn't been shocked by much in the video - he had known Scott's children were protective and knew instantly what a feral break was when it was shown on screen - he could hear telepathically that the jury and the gathered crowd were still in shock.

That was to be expected. As unstable as he had been, Magneto had provided a sanctuary. The soup of mixed emotions choking the air wasn't surprising.

The only true surprise of the day was how fervently William Maximoff was on James Howlett's side. Of all the pairings in the world…

He chuckled and got up to leave with the rest of the crowd once the defendants were gone. He had been gone for so long; he couldn't wait to see what other interpersonal relationships he could find, what other strings he could pull.

He had much work to do.