A/N - Hello, hello. I promise I meant to get this up yesterday night, but I legit passed out after a two-day long festival and I am just now starting to feel the REST of the repercussions of said festival. Life is rough, kids. Anyhoo. Much love to our new followers, and handfuls of flowers thrown toward Practically An Avenger for her moste excellente review. You make our day when we get to hear your reactions to our much-babied stories. SO ... off we go again. There's still much to be done here.

Chapter 127 - Ladies And Gentlemen of The Court

For the second day of the trial, Kate had woken up plenty early to meet up with Jan, smiling quietly to herself because there was little more she loved to do than to conspire with her Aunt Jan.

It was early enough that it was still dark out, but with the jet lag, that wasn't too hard to handle, anyway. And she was excited to see what Jan had come up with.

They'd talked about it even back when the charges had been announced, before they were extradited, before half of the crap had gone down. Jan was very good at design, and she knew how to use outfits to send a message. And then when Kate had found out she was pregnant, their plans turned devious.

Technically, Kate was in her second trimester, but she really wasn't showing yet. She had a small bump by that point, but it just looked like she'd gained weight. But if they wanted the jury to feel bad for Nate, if they wanted to manipulate some emotions, then playing up the pregnant fiance angle would be a good one.

And that was another thing. She had the ring Nate had given her, and she planned to wear it to the courthouse. She was already twisting it around on her finger, smiling to herself as she met up with Jan - who immediately noticed the new accessory and beamed.

Kate grinned and held up her left hand. "What do you think?"

"I love it," Jan gushed before she pulled out a designer bag and pulled out a gorgeous purple shirt. It had strappy sleeves and a low neck that was just low enough to show off Kate's bigger chest without being inappropriate for the court. And just underneath the neck was a knot where the fabric started to loosen up, flaring out to look wider than her stomach actually was - accentuating her figure in exactly the right way while still looking like a Van Dyne classic.

"Jan, you're a genius," Kate gushed, grabbing the shirt to hold it up against herself. "It's gorgeous and I love it."

"Knock 'em dead," Jan said, grinning.

"That's the plan," Kate said, skipping off with the bag clutched in her hands.

The Summerses were already getting ready and doing their pre-game planning when Kate changed and then found Billy and asked him to wish her inside so that she didn't give away their position. But they probably weren't expecting Kate to come flouncing in so gleefully.

"You're just a ray of sunshine," Nate said, unable to stop himself from smiling, though his smile faltered when he saw the flash of metal on her left hand.

"Jan got me the perfect outfit for today."

"Yeah, I see that," Nate said, sounding a little distracted even as he took her free hand and kissed her cheek. "Did she … pick out all of it?"

"She just designed the shirt, but look!" She stepped back slightly, gesturing at her stomach and the way the outfit made her look even more pregnant than she was. "I will be the cutest pregnant girl in court."

Nate half nodded, a little dazed at the subtle adjustment. "That was always a given," he said, then looked like he wanted to say something more and stopped.

Kate kissed his cheek. "You okay?" she asked. "Not expecting the pregnant look this soon?"

"Sure, sure," Nate said, then pulled her gently aside. "That part's great - and a nice little peek down the road, right? You are gorgeous. No two ways about it … I just …" he cleared his throat. "I'm … are your accessories as tactical as the rest of it?"

"Oh." Kate looked down at her hand and blushed.

"It's okay if that's the case, I guess, I just … figured that wasn't something you'd do."

"Yeah, well." Kate cleared her throat. She'd known this was probably coming, because she was actually being strategic. As bad as it sounded, she knew being a fiance and not just a girlfriend would give her a lot more credibility and sympathy when she took the stand - and it would weigh on the jury's minds.

"You don't have to do that, you know," Nate said. "I don't want you to lie in court. Even over this, you know?"

"Oh, it's not a lie," she promised quickly. "No, no… I mean, I told you when - see, the thing is, I've always figured we'd get married and have a family and stuff down the road, so this was always gonna happen? It's just - yeah, okay, so the timing is a little strategic, but I was gonna say yes anyway, I guess is what I'm trying to say? If that makes sense?" She winced. "Wanna get married?" she asked in almost a whisper, sure she'd messed things up.

"Not if you're not actually ready for that," Nate answered just as quietly. "I meant it before, Kate - I don't want to pressure you at all."

"Yeah, but I want to get married," Kate promised. "Preferably before our son is born, if that's okay… if the trial goes well, I mean…"

"I mean, I've been waiting for you to catch up," Nate teased before he carefully stole a chaste kiss.

When the kiss broke, Kate was watching him - and then stole a much less polite kiss, throwing her arms around his neck as she projected, Sorry to go all Black Widow on our engagement.

It's okay, Nate promised. Halfway figured you were making sure you didn't find someone better.

Yeah, wasn't shopping around.

Never know.

Kate rolled her eyes, though they were still wrapped up in a kiss for a good, long while before Scott cleared his throat - cluing them in to the fact that they needed to wrap things up so they could go to the courthouse. She grinned at Nate and then turned toward Scott. "Sorry, just had to celebrate being officially engaged," she told Scott - which simply prompted Annie to gasp and rush over to her, delighted and demanding details even as they were packing up to go.

Scott smirked as he watched Annie and Kate and then put his arm around Nate, one eyebrow raised as he had to ask, "Is this for putting on a public show, or…?"

"She said it's not," Nate said softly. "And I don't think she'd lie about that to me. I hope."

"No, she wouldn't," Scott said. Even if he had some doubts, he kept those tightly in his mental defenses, because the last thing he needed was for Nate to inherit his own hangups for the start of his marriage. "And for as excited as she was when she came in… that's hard for her to fake."

"Yeah, I'm not digging too deep on it, Dad," Nate said. "Not right now, anyway."

"Good call." Scott pulled him into a hug. "Congratulations, by the way. The way things are going, I think Annie's already made designs for a cake for you two. Just so you know."

Nate tucked into the hug neatly. "Yeah, okay," he said - still low and quiet.

Scott pulled him tighter. "I wouldn't be doing my job right if I didn't point out that you're welcome to back out if you need it," he whispered.

"I just don't want her to make any bigger mistakes, you know? This whole mess has me a little off."

"Let's get one thing straight," Scott said, then switched to projection. You're not a mistake. And neither is your new family. You're going to do great, Nate.

And Nate, for his part, didn't argue with him at all, silently nodding his agreement as he tried to get himself redirected for the task at hand. All of this had him more worried for Kate and their baby, after all. And far too much was riding on the decisions that the jury was about to make for them.

The second day of the trial was set to be one of the busiest, with six different witnesses scheduled to be on the stand. They began with Nate and Rachel recalling what they had seen, but so much of it was covered by Lorna's surveillance that the questioning veered elsewhere.

Matt pressed both of them about their reactions and about what happened after Billy wished them all home. The prosecution objected, of course, but Matt argued that the lack of a coverup certainly went against any charges of conspiracy.

"They didn't need a cover up once they got out of the country," one of the lawyers argued. "In fact, it seems as if they fled immediately to avoid facing the consequences of their actions."

"Or maybe I didn't want my dad to die," Nate shot back. "Maybe I wanted to get him some damn medical attention, you ever think of that? You see how much blood there was?"

"Did you check Magneto too? Or try to call for help for him?"

Nate looked at the lawyer like he was insane. "In what universe do you think I was thinking about anything in that second but 'Please, God, don't die?' Do you hear yourself? 'Why didn't you check on the guy who was trying to murder your father in front of you' what the hell. I thought I was losing my dad and my brother - I was panicking."

At that, Sinister had to cover his mouth to hide the smile at all that Nate was projecting, the jist of all of it being 'this is the dumbest person on the planet' in varying degrees based on how the questions were phrased. The boy had a glorious temper - much less restrained than his father, yet not quite as sharp as his mother. It was a good balance, and to be perfectly honest, Sinister was almost proud at how angry Nate was in that moment. Especially when it was, against most logic, swaying the jury.

Rachel, on the other hand, was a much more controlled witness, even if Sinister could hear that, like her father, she was crackling with anger under the surface - though, like her mother, that anger was seeped in fire.

Her testimony was straightforward as well. She was seen on video trying to keep her father from bleeding out, and she could actually be heard talking about both Erik and Scott as having done damage to each other. But what the prosecution focused on was the visible flames licking at her eyes and hair as she'd been panicking.

All of a sudden, the prosecution laid into her about the Phoenix, about the power she had and about how dangerous she was - until Matt got to his feet to shout his objection.

"This is completely irrelevant," Matt said. "The prosecution is attacking the witness for having power. That's surprising on Genosha of all places."

Even as the judge was calling for order, Sinister found himself again smirking as he watched how that little outburst played out. The tone of pure outrage was a nice touch, he thought. Especially for how disarmed Rachel Summers seemed to be by hearing that in defense of the Phoenix.

Eventually, the court settled out, and the prosecution had no more questions, so the court broke for a quick recess. Rachel finally let her anger show once she was seated with her family again, though they rallied around her and closed ranks - while Scott pulled Nate aside to tell him to rein it in.

Which was completely undermined when Kate leaned over the front bench to wave Nate over and kiss him. "I loved it," she said. "You're cute when you get all righteously indignant."

"Yeah, yeah," Nate teased but kissed her back.

Whatever was being said among the defendants fell to the wayside as Sinister watched the two of them for a long moment trying to parse what Nate saw in the girl. Genetically, she didn't seem to be incredibly interesting, and yet … it was almost like watching Scott and Jean years ago - utterly infatuated with each other. He glanced at Kate's swollen midsection. Obviously the same. But that also meant there was a very small Summers who was going to be making his or her debut. And that was more than a little distracting - a solid reminder of how much he'd been missing while Scott had been in hiding with the children if those children were already working on offspring of their own.

And then, he caught the tenor of Nate's thoughts about her - specifically about the engagement ring she was wearing and the strategy she was employing to get sympathy. Sinister didn't even have to try hard to hear that Nate was still not entirely convinced that the ring was nothing more than a tool for her to use in her arsenal, the way her mother had taught her to use anything available at her disposal.

And that in itself was interesting … and encouraging. To stay out of trouble for as long as they had, to the point that even Sinister hadn't been sure if they were alive until recently, the Summers family would have, by necessity, needed cunning. And, it seemed, that was still a consideration even in the public eye.

With Sinister's mind still on Nate and Kate's relationship, it was almost fortuitous that she was next on the stand. And while she had been playful and irreverent away from the witness stand, her mother's training kicked in once the questions started. Jen had her waddle up to the stand (already gaining sympathetic looks), and the fact that she was young, pretty, and pregnant already had people muttering as she unflinchingly described the threats Erik had made against her, James, and anyone else in his way.

When the prosecution cross-examined her, she turned it right back around on them. They'd objected to every single one of her answers, so by the time they sent a lawyer up to talk to her, she immediately disarmed him by smiling sweetly, almost wincing, and asking, "Are you going to let me talk or are you going to yell at me some more, because I have to be honest, this whole thing is stressing me out and I'm just trying to tell the truth here."

Clever girl, Sinister thought to himself as he sat back with his fingers entwined to watch the show.

Of course the lawyer did his best to accuse her of lying, but she would just respond to each allegation by asking "why." "Okay, well why do you think I'm lying?" she asked at one point. "I thought the whole point of each side having telepaths was to keep that from happening, so how come you're so convinced I'm a liar?"

Because he doesn't like your answers, Sinister thought with a pleased smirk. Well done, Nate.

"You're misrepresenting yourself," the prosecution finally said, exasperated. "In every other public appearance, you've never acted this passive."

Kate blinked at him. "Look," she said, leaning closer to the microphone. "My fiancé is on trial. His family is on trial with him. And I'm about to have a baby who might not get to see his dad or his aunt or uncle or grandfather if this goes poorly. I'm trying to be as polite as possible. I'm worried. I didn't realize being polite was a mark against me."

When the prosecution finally half-heartedly said they were done with their questions, Kate even asked, "Are you sure?" and Nate had to hide his snicker behind his hand as Jen helped Kate get back to her seat.

And then, perfectly timed to prove that Kate had been telling the truth, Tony Stark took the stand - to more than a few murmurs. He had video surveillance from his labs of multiple visits from Erik to threaten James, backing up Kate's testimony as the jury heard from Erik's own mouth that he'd been threatening not just death but enslavement or worse for James regardless of if he and Billy stayed together. And the video he had clearly showed James' response to Erik's threats weren't counter-threats, but a wish that Erik would get to live out his life with his family. It certainly seemed to blow 'premeditation' out of the water.

Vision, then Lorna both spoke to what they knew about the threats Erik had been making - and the steps he had taken to make good on those threats. Vision in particular brought up that he and Wanda had felt the need to send their boys to school away from Genosha because of Erik's increasingly unhinged paranoia. Lorna was frank when she talked about multiple conversations the Summerses weren't even aware of in which she had pleaded with Erik to stop picking fights and to stop seeing enemies where there were none.

With that, the second day of the trial was complete, and the gallery started to file out. The Summerses left first, of course, but the other witnesses were talking together. Kate and Tony were joking around, and Sinister saw her swat his hand away from her stomach.

"God, Tony, you're such a mother hen," she said with exasperated affection.

"Well done, my dear," Sinister said as he passed her by, though he didn't stop.

Kate turned toward the sound of his voice, blinked, and then smiled much more politely and waved at him as he walked by. "Thanks!" she called out, then went back to berating Tony for worrying too much when she wasn't due for months.

The third day, it was much harder for Sinister to get a seat, because the courtroom was packed to the brim with press and with royals. Billy Maximoff was right on the front row, looking pale while his brother tried to buck him up. Even though Billy had done well with his testimony arguing that James had acted in self-defense, he was worried - and projecting his worry strongly, particularly his concerns that he didn't think James would fight in his own defense.

As soon as James took the stand for his questioning, they hit a hiccup as the prosecution's telepath stopped before they could get started to complain that she couldn't do her job properly.

James turned her way and drew in a deep breath before he closed his eyes and visibly tried to relax while the woman continued to spew out complaints and accusations, though Sinister quickly realized what James was doing and focused on the boy entirely - all the way up until James interrupted the angry prosecutor with a very quiet "Try now, counsel."

The woman paused, half glaring still, but then went very quiet as she nodded toward the judge and took a seat as the questioning began. And Sinister took the opportunity to piggyback with the prosecution's telepath. Matt tried to start out with a well-thought out, but simple defense, but was irritated when James simply wasn't making it easy on him. When he asked how James had felt when he went to his dad's defense against Magneto, he blinked a few times and shook his head with an understated "I wasn't really thinking about it. I just moved."

Sinister could hear Scott internally swearing for the rest of James's testimony and incredibly in depth questioning, because James simply admitted to everything on tape and offered nothing in his own defense, despite Matt's best efforts to ask him about the context of the fight. Which made it that much more ironic when Sinister knew the prosecution was gearing up to accuse Scott of "controlling his animal."

"All I remember is seeing the tail end of the fight and rushing in. I don't remember how it happened - I lost everything until just after it was over," James said as he tried to sum it up for his answer to what exactly happened. Which - it was the truth. For him. And even the prosecutions' telepath couldn't argue it. His memory of the fight was blank for him after Erik stabbed him - and that's all there was to it.

That didn't help him when the prosecution argued that this was all just in his nature, since it did look instinctual. And James didn't deny that he had acted on instinct, either.

When the prosecution shifted gears to something a little more close, though, the buzz in the courtroom lifted considerably and James' calm exterior was tested.

"How long were you planning this attack on Erik Lensherr?" The prosecutor started out, sounding as if he knew all of testimony up until now was fake.

"I never planned to harm him," James replied.

"Are you sure you didn't carefully orchestrate an efficient way into Genosha?"

James frowned. "Ask your telepath." The tone was so very much like Logan calling someone an idiot without calling them an idiot it would have been laughable if not for the severity of the charges.

"Counsel," the judge said. "Going by what we've determined in our previous questioning with the defendant, baiting him seems like a less than wise move. If you have a question that is relevant to the trial, I suggest you stop grandstanding and get down to it."

"Apologies, your honor," the prosecutor said. "I'm trying to get there. I just need another moment."

The judged waved for him to continue, half caught up in her notes as the prosecutor took another angle.

"Mr. Howlett, I have a few questions that may not seem relevant, but I ask that you simply answer them truthfully."

James raised an eyebrow and looked at him like he was nuts before the man launched into a rapid fire series of overly personal questions. But the first one had James off kilter right away.

"It sounds to me like the crown prince is actually in love with you." The prosecutor paused and James waited as long as he could when the murmur in the courtroom was well above anything official going on.

"Is there a question in that?" James asked tersely.

"Just gathering my thoughts. Do you realize how incredibly lucky you are that in spite of all that happened - all he had to witness - that somehow, still, William Maximoff is so hung up on you that he's putting his own reputation on the line to save your skin?" Before James could respond, he continued. "It seems incredibly lucky that someone so high profile that had been following in his mentor's footsteps romantically managed to hit gold with his first foray into men."

"Objection," Matt said tiredly. "Irrelevant."

"Your honor, I'm simply pointing out that the defendant has been strategically using Prince William to cover his crimes." He gestured toward both James and Billy each. "Clearly, Magneto knew that the prince could be easily manipulated. There is no other plausible explanation for his wrath directed toward those that broke the boy's heart - and considering the influences around young Mr. Howlett, it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine him using anything he could to gain an advantage. If not for the purpose of assassinating the king, then to get a free inroad for Stark Industries down the line."

"Objection- irrelevant and speculation. That accusation is ludicrous," Matt said angrily, and James and Billy shared a bewildered look, though Billy looked to be building his rage. "There are no grounds for accusations like that, and truthfully, your honor, though I don't believe that's the case here, even if it was, That has no impact on the case we're hearing today."

"Manipulation of one of the prime figures in this trial is incredibly relevant," the prosecutor shouted back.

"Do you have proof of a manipulation or are you just trying to color the testimony?" the judge asked to Matt's disbelief.

"I believe, your honor, that all the proof I need is between Mr. Howlett and young Mr. Summers."

James' focus went to Nate, who was blinking slowly and glaring hard at the lawyer as everyone on the defense's team seethed.

"Clearly," the prosecutor continued, "Mr. Howlett isn't as committed to Prince William as Mr. Summers is to his fiance. By comparison, of course."

"Objection- Speculation," Jamie called out even before Matt could.

"If that's the case, then it's speculation to assume that the two of them are still an item," the prosecutor's second said. "By all accounts, there is no reason that there hasn't been anything concrete that would show a real relationship and we want to know the reasoning behind it. Was the testimony we got yesterday given on a transactional basis with the debt to be paid after a not-guilty verdict? Is there another reason why the prince has been spotted with yet another feral, or is there more going on than we're being told?"

The first prosecutor clearly agreed, but was quickly trying to soften the blow. "I know this sounds like we're playing too much into what the press has been saying, but it is a point of agitation, your honor."

The judge looked supremely unamused as she took her glasses off and turned toward James. "You do not need to respond to any of those accusations unless you want to, as I will move to have those comments stricken from the record."

But James could see the damage was done even at that. Sure, she could tell the jury to disregard, but they'd already heard it. James drew in a deep breath and had to bite his tongue from telling the prosecutors that he wasn't a whore, then he leaned forward to put it to rest just as neatly. "There is no engagement because there can't be one until I've met the letters of the law that Magneto put into place around outsiders marrying royalty. One of those limitations is an age limit, which, neither of us has reached."

That was the last thing the prosecution, jury, judge, and literally everyone but the royal family and the Summers family had expected to hear though.

"Perhaps I'm not understanding you properly," the prosecutor said. "You're following a law that the queen could wave off in favor of sticking to Magneto's rules on marrying into his family even well after his death?"

"That's right," James agreed, holding the man's gaze with a dangerous glare. "Maybe I wasn't clear before: I never wanted to hurt Magneto. I respected him and what he tried to do for mutants everywhere - I just didn't agree with the methods. For this, though? I was always going to honor the rules he put in place for his family. I didn't want to hurt any of them in any capacity."

Obviously, the prosecution couldn't quite recover from something like that. It was too good of a move, especially when their telepath confirmed he wasn't lying. They made a few weak attempts to argue that he was hiding behind Erik's rules as an excuse, but they'd obviously lost the thread and fell back on focusing on his lack of memory around the event so they could argue he was dangerous when his instincts kicked in. That much, at the very least, was easy enough to argue.

Sinister, however, watched the Summers family as James sat back down with them after his testimony was over. It was plainly apparent that Scott was beyond proud of James's smart move, and Kate shot him something in sign language that Sinister couldn't quite see, though he could hear her projecting how proud she was and how she wanted to be in his and Billy's wedding please.

But while James's testimony left him looking a lot more like the prosecution wanted to paint him out to be than the Summerses were entirely comfortable with, Lorna returned to the stand again, this time with video surveillance that, judging by the collective surprise from the Summers clan, none of them had seen before.

It was surveillance from Erik himself. And it showed what Billy and James had been up to when Billy's alarm went off. It showed Billy talking about his dead boyfriends, and it showed James pouring his heart out over his anxieties. Sure, the bit about his mother having killed Pietro fed into the prosecution's narrative, but it was known in Genosha enough not to cause too much of a stir, and it worked effectively to humanize James again - which was why Jamie had suggested Lorna take the stand again after James.

Lorna then testified of her own experience beyond just the tapes. She talked about finding her father's body and seeing the damage done to the whole area and knowing there had been a devastating fight. And, when Jamie asked her what her reaction had been when she saw the whole thing on tape, she let out a long, quiet breath. "More than anything," she said, "I was upset with him. With my father," she clarified before Jamie could ask her to. "He could have been a great leader - greater than he already was- if he would have listened to any of us instead of spiraling into his own paranoia. I just wish he would have stopped himself."

During all of it, Sinister was frowning mildly as he listened not only to the testimony, but to the various thoughts of key players around him. Scott sounded two steps away from finally breaking that tooth and having a full blown anxiety attack, if not more than that. The Summers siblings both sounded mentally as if they were holding their breath for various reasons. One in particular was the tenor in which James had poured his heart out to Billy that had them concerned and both Rachel and Nate were sharing worried looks as they stole glances at an incredibly subdued James. On top of that, Billy Maximoff had managed a delightfully controlled exterior - far better than he'd started the day with, anyhow. The boy was holding his own as he listened to every word said, channeling his grandfather if his expression was anything to go by. He'd moved slightly beyond the understandable panic and concern to tentative planning should the prosecution push too far on such delicate turf.

He was far more dangerous than he realized, and obviously easy to manipulate if you knew the right buttons to push - and it was obvious to anyone paying attention that most of those delicate buttons were seated in front of him in a dark gray bespoke suit flanked by Summers siblings.

Each one of them were playing the best possible hands, given their cards. Every one, even the significant others, were playing their parts perfectly. And yet every single one was an inch away from losing their control.

Even if they won, the level of stress they were all exuding was perfection. Exactly what he needed if he wanted to make a move.

The last day of the trial was by far the most well-attended. It was packed, to the point that Sinister got in simply by making a member of the press hand him his credentials that morning. He wouldn't have been able to get in otherwise with his current disguise.

Not only was the press and public interested in Scott's testimony, which was set to close out the trial, but they knew Wanda would be speaking as well.

She was first, and she looked every bit as intimidatingly regal as she needed to look as she described multiple conversations with Scott about how worried she was about her father. She then went on to describe what no one in Genosha had yet heard - that Genosha itself had been in danger from Erik's behavior. She couldn't declassify everything, but what she could, she shared with the public, explaining that she had spoken with Scott about how badly Erik's paranoia and his public crusade was bringing down Genosha's defenses and putting them in the crosshairs of those who would retaliate against him.

She described multiple conversations with Erik himself trying to reason with him. And her conclusion, as she told Matt, was simply this: "He wasn't going to stop. He was convinced that he had to make the X-Men heel and that the world would be forced to pay for what mutants endured. He crossed lines with my own children, and he still wouldn't stop. I'm not surprised he didn't listen to Scott either."

The judge had to call for order several times after Wanda's testimony, because most of the public didn't know just how far Erik had gone. Finally, the judge called for a recess, recognizing that Wanda as the head of state giving testimony to the effect of her father not being fit to rule was so damning that the jury wouldn't be able to give the last two witnesses their full attention.

Even so, it was pretty clear that Hank McCoy as a medical expert wasn't keeping their full attention as he described the injuries he had treated when Scott returned home. Though he did point out that once Erik had removed Scott's eyes, Scott would have been in medical shock and fighting blind, making the rest of the fight almost entirely defensive.

The prosecution, of course, pointed out that Scott had started the fight, but Hank didn't argue that. He simply pointed out that Scott would have been dead, too, if not for Billy's quick thinking. And he made sure to praise Billy for saving a life that day.

And then, Scott took the stand, and Sinister leaned forward.

Jamie had Scott walk through his thought process leading up to that meeting with Erik. They'd already talked about the strategic necessity of remorse, too, so he gave Scott ample opportunity to show that much.

"Honestly," Scott said as he retold the conversation he'd had with Erik, "I wanted him to back down. I knew he wouldn't but…" He nodded to himself. "Professor Xavier could have done it. He always knew what to say, and I wouldn't have been true to what he taught me if I hadn't at least tried. I'm just sorry I didn't know how to get through to him like the professor would have."

Jamie nodded encouragingly and kept right on going. And before he turned the witness over to the prosecution, he made sure Scott had multiple chances to emphasize that this hadn't been his first plan or his nineteenth and that Scott had felt there weren't many options left to him if he wanted to stop Magneto from destroying people's lives - including his own family's.

And then, the prosecution started in. They grilled him about all the prep work he had put into the fight, including the ceramic knives. ("If you ask anyone who knows me, they'll tell you that I always prepare for the worst eventuality. That doesn't mean I hope for it, just that I'm prepared for it.") They pointed out that he wasn't in immediate danger when he struck first, and they argued that he had spoken with other royals and could have worked with them to find another path forward.

But the thing that rattled Scott was when the prosecution stopped, smirked, and said, "But I'll give you this. You did actually manage to train that beast of yours better than his father."

Scott, to his credit, didn't lose his temper on the stand, though his jaw was locked and Sinister could hear him fantasizing about how far through a wall the man would have been had he had his powers. But Nate and Rachel were both swearing eloquently - Nate under his breath and Rachel in her mind. The Maximoff boy was equally angry, and Sinister found himself doing a small double take when he saw not just honest rage from the young man, but a glow to his eyes and hands that took him a moment to get under control. James, however, seemed to be the only one that outwardly didn't look bothered by the commentary.

But after that, the prosecution simply asked a few more questions about Scott's intentions and then rested, and Scott, with his hands in fists, sat back down.

From there, both sides simply had to give their closing statements. The defense went first again, with Matt speaking eloquently in defense of all four of them, outlining Erik's behavior of escalation and then pivoting to talk about the history of the X-Men and how the team - old and new - had promised that they would do everything in their power to keep mutants safe. And when the leader of Genosha himself was threatening enslavement of mutants and threatening the peace of Genosha itself, it was always going to fall to the X-Men, who had always held him to account before. He pointed out that Nate, Rachel, and James had each done nothing but show up when they knew their dad was in trouble and try to save his life - and he pointed out that just before Erik had stabbed James in the heart in an inhibitor field that James had asked him to stop while his dad was bleeding to death feet away - and that Scott had tried everything before he even fought Magneto, as had others.

The prosecution, on the other hand, pointed to the fact that Billy needed to have an alarm spell in the first place as evidence of knowledge of intent. They accused all four Summerses of choosing violence over any other methods and of destabilizing the peace rather than trying to salvage it.

From there, the judge dismissed everyone and sent the jury to their deliberations - though the two telepaths went with the jury, both to make sure no one interfered with them and to give the jury their impressions of the trial behind closed doors, so that private thoughts were still publicly private but lies could be revealed if necessary.

All of it was very impressive as far as the restraint that had been shown from the group that went to stop Magneto, as far as Sinister was concerned. He knew that Scott would never cross that line given any other option, and he assumed the same of the children he'd raised - it was only reasonable. The accusations of instinct and animalistic tendencies directed to James were simply … well, he thought they were doing better handing the boy a defense than calling him out. Particularly when he remained so collected in the face of some nasty accusations.

The other two were clearly only there for dramatic effect - and badly orchestrated at that.

And yet, there was no denying that Scott had actually had a hand in killing the man. The only question was whether the jury would be forgiving.

…..

The jury deliberated for two days before they came back with a verdict. To no one's surprise, Nate and Rachel were completely in the clear; the jury saw two young people trying desperately to save their father and didn't fault them for it.

For James, the prosecution couldn't get murder to stick, but the jury did convict him on a lesser charge by citing justifiable homicide and voluntary manslaughter. He'd been acting in self-defense and had not only visibly tried to break Erik and Scott apart but had been caught on tape immediately expressing remorse once he came back to himself. And Sinister could hear in the minds of a few jurors that there was some question among the jury how much control James had over his own actions when he couldn't remember what happened.

For Scott, the facts were a little harder to ignore. Yes, the defense had done a marvelous job of explaining why Scott had felt to act the way he had, but he had still come to Erik's palace with ceramic knives and the intent to end Erik's reign one way or another. But the jury still knocked the charge down to second degree attempted murder because of the mitigating factors the defense had discussed.

Without even trying too hard, Sinister could hear Wanda, who was in attendance, come to a decision about what, exactly, she would be sharing with the judge to make clear the life-threatening damage Erik had done to the standing of Genosha itself on the world stage, the various madmen who had targeted the island itself because of Magneto's rampages.

This was about the outcome the Summers family had expected, though - and it seemed that none of them were willing to breathe. Yes, Nate and Rachel had escaped judgment, but that was to be expected. But the other two…

Well, both of Scott's telepathic children were actively keeping him from having a public panic attack at the thought that his son was in genuine danger of being jailed in Genosha itself. He wasn't thinking of himself in that moment - he had long ago accepted whatever consequences might come from his decision to return to the world he had tried to leave behind when it took his family from him. All he could think of was his adopted son - and all he could do was worry that he had destroyed his future, especially since James was so in love with the very prince of Genosha.

And so, barely restraining his panic, Scott put his hand on James's arm and said, softly, "I'm so sorry."

James' focus slid from Scott's hand up to his expression before he even considered speaking, and then it was soft enough that Scott had to strain to hear him. "I'm not. I'd do it again to help you."

Scott's hand tightened on the sleeve of James's shirt, but he was all-too aware of the fact that everyone's eyes were on them. They were in a too-public setting. He couldn't pull James into the desperate hug he wanted to give his son, not when he barely had a handle on his emotions. So, instead, he held onto James's arm and kept his gaze locked onto James's. "I'll talk to Wanda … until we know the sentence, we can't plan properly, but I'm sure we can work something out for you. You just got accepted to Harvard. I'm so sorry. This was my mistake and you got dragged into it."

"I've got all the time in the world. Don't worry about it. Harvard can wait."

"I'm your father. I'm going to worry about you," Scott pointed out, though he had none of the usual smirk that he'd have when he often said something like that.

"You don't have to. Worry about Nate or Rachel. They're the ones that look like they're about to freak out."

"Always," Scott said. "Just how God made the lot of us."

"He also made sure that medication was invented, too," James said dryly. "Blood pressure and whatnots."

"I've heard about that," Scott said with mock interest.

James turned toward him and leaned over slightly. "I'm serious, Dad. I'm actually textbook fine. You are not. Please don't stress on my behalf."

"We'll see what happens when the sentences come out," Scott said, not about to promise anything one way or the other.

"As long as you don't end up totally screwed over, I will be fine," James said - just to make sure Scott knew where he stood.

"And as long as you're alright, I will be too," Scott shot back.

"Then it's your lucky day," James countered - which left Rachel shaking her head at both of them.

Scott couldn't help but smirk. "Love you too, bud."

"I mean … worst case we'll be locked up together. Ugh," James tried to tease.

"Oh yeah I'd be terrible company," Scott teased right back.

"You'd be sick of me inside of an hour."

"You'd be scrawling formulas on the cell walls."

"Just the ones with puns in them."

"And I'd miss half the puns."

"Bobby could explain them to you," James said with a much more believable straight expression than he'd pulled off before.

Scott smirked again. "Oooh, that smarts."

From there, the two of them fell into their usual teasing - and Sinister, from nearby, couldn't stop smiling to himself. The relationship between the two of them was so novel. It had none of the true antagonism that had afflicted Scott and Logan, though they did clash, which was itself interesting to note. But their intense need - on both sides - for the other to be okay… that was usable. Interesting.

Not to mention the way they both knew so well how to manipulate each other. Not that either of them would word it that way, but yes, they knew what strings to pull.

The sentencing hearing, which occurred a few days later, was far less attended than the last day of the trial had been, though it was still fairly busy. With the convictions now hanging over Scott and James's heads, the mood of the Summers family had shifted entirely from neves to damage control. Sinister could even hear, to his amusement, that Rachel's girlfriend had already offered to jailbreak both of them and send them to a different dimension to live in peace instead if the judge was going to lock them up for too long.

There was so much here that Sinister could use. Scott was terrified of losing his children, the one thing that had kept him going all these years. He was desperately close to the edge - and Sinister could see without even trying that Scott had already gone off that edge before. He had willingly embraced the other side… and only just clawed his way back into the land of the living because of his children.

Even now, even with an engagement on the horizon, even with all he had promised, Scott was terrified, because his family was everything.

Separated from them, he would be adrift… and Sinister could use that.

James, of course, was just as interesting. And the jury's decision to knock his charges down as much as they did… there was a real possibility that James would walk free while Scott would not. And in addition to driving Scott mad, the guilt that Sinister could see rolling off the boy in waves… he would be ripe for the picking as well.

So many strings that he could pull, with so little effort.

The judge cleared his throat to get everyone's attention and apologized for the long wait - he had needed to get some clarification from Wanda about what she hadn't been able to share publicly and had gotten clearance for that clarification, which helped him to see more clearly the mitigating circumstances of the case.

James's sentence came first and was, as hoped, light. He was under probation for two years, during which time any further acts against Genoshan law would be considered a violation and would earn him a more serious sentence of exile.

At the mention of exile, Sinister's gaze went instantly to Billy, and he was entertained to see that the boy's hands were glowing, though he was trying to hide his reaction. His expression gave away his rage, however. He had laid his claim to James Howlett, and the idea that anyone could separate them was enough to get him to lose control.

That was interesting. Useful.

As for Scott… "Given the circumstances and the clarification from the Queen concerning the real risk to the public as well as the defendant's history of service for mutantkind as the first X-Man, and given the balance of lives at stake in consideration, the court sentences the defendant to one year total house arrest and five years of probation, during which time any further violations of Genoshan law will result in you serving the length of your probationary period in prison."

That's bullshit, Nate projected, but Scott gave him a look. I'm not letting anyone else eavesdrop, Dad. And it is. It's crap.

It could have been worse. A lot worse.

Could be better!

Scott let his shoulders drop and massaged his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. Nate… it could have been worse. House arrest… we can deal with that.

Yeah, sure, Nate said, though he was looking toward Kate and visibly having a conversation with her telepathically. Kate says she's taking her maternity leave in Genosha once the baby's here.

You don't have to-

Yeah, it was literally the first thing she said when I reached out to talk to her, so I don't actually think I get a say in this.

At that, finally, Scott did crack a smirk, only for a second. No, I don't think you do.

By that time, the whole family, including Kate and Billy, were starting to huddle - though they were also mobile, heading out for privacy so the onlookers weren't privy to their life plans. Once they were in the back hallway beyond the courtroom itself, they could talk a bit more freely, too.

Annie was the first one to speak, with a quiet, "Well, damn, I've got to move again, don't I?"

"We'll help," Kate promised, but Annie waved her off.

"You're pregnant; don't you dare."

"I'm not invalid!"

"You're not lifting boxes either. For land's sakes, we've got telekinetics in this family; you can help me decorate the house we'll be living in or God knows what dreary depression Scott will further slip into."

"I'm fine," Scott said firmly. "Really. I'm telling you - this could have been much worse."

"I mean, Mom could've just, y'know, pardoned you," Billy muttered under his breath. "That would have been way easier than this." He had his arms crossed and was floating a couple inches off the floor.

James glanced up at Billy, but had kept incredibly quiet as he thought it all over, irritated that Scott had been hit as hard as he was when he'd almost died from the mess. The judge had gotten it wrong.

Scott caught the expression when he'd looked toward Billy, though, and he paused to turn James's way. "You'll be fine," he said firmly.

"Not worried about it."

"I'll be fine. It's taken me this long to get back into the old life; a year isn't going to hurt me, and you get your education. That's exactly what I was hoping for."

"Backwards and wrong," James said.

"No, it's what I was hoping for," Scott said. "I was the one who started this, not you."

"Then you're wrong too," James argued. "You almost died from this mess."

"Yes, which makes you and the others the heroes here, bailing me out of my mistakes - this is the right call, James. You were acting to stop the violence, not to start it, like I did."

"Sure," he said, arms crossed as he turned away from him in an attempt to just stop that talk.

Scott sighed, but seeing that he was getting nowhere, he let it drop - for the moment - as Annie and Kate were openly plotting and planning how to turn the house that Scott would be spending house arrest in into a home. They seemed to be focused on the kitchen, though when Kate openly admitted that she was badly craving the pumpkin rolls Annie had made a couple weeks ago, that explained that, at least.

"Oooh, we should do some kind of something at your place when Nate and I get married. I'll talk to Jan and figure it out, but you should get the eat the wedding cake you're making, right?" Kate said as they reached the end of the hall. Outside, they could hear the press shouting for answers, but they weren't going in the open; they were following a metal tunnel Lorna had made just for them to lead them to where they were supposed to be.

Which was how they ended up at the old house Erik had given Scott in the immediate aftermath of the demise of the original X-Men - and how Kate and Annie's talk about their respective plans for their upcoming weddings died away to awkwardness when they realized just about all the heroes they knew were there in solidarity to check on them after the trial.

"Oh, god, you really didn't-" Scott faltered, especially when he realized that Bobby and Remy both were standing there looking stressed.

"Um … yes we did," Bobby argued. "What did they decide? It hasn't been made public yet. Not … loudly anyhow."

"Probation for James," Scott said first and foremost. "Jury loved him, and the judge loved him too."

"And?" Bobby prompted.

"House arrest, then probation," Scott said. He gave Remy a tired smirk. "You can call off the jailbreak."

"Fo' now," Remy corrected.

"Yeah, judge did say if Dad breaks the law again, he goes to jail for the rest of the probation," Nate said darkly. As hard as Kate had been trying to cheer him up talking about the wedding, he still wasn't convinced this was a good thing - and was, genuinely, a little frustrated that thus far she'd only brought up marrying him to distract other people or get the jury's favor.

"Which won't be a problem," Scott said. "Magneto's not in charge here, and I'm not in the mood to turn into a criminal," he added dryly.

"Yeah, that would be weird. Don't do that," Bobby said, though without his usual smirk.

"So, all dat in mind, how you gon' celebrate?" Remy asked.

"Celebrate?" Rachel repeated with a frown.

"Princess, you're turning into your father," America said, rolling her eyes.

"Turning into?" James asked dryly - purely to rile Rachel a little in hopes of shifting the subject.

"Oh, hush, both of you," Rachel said - but America knocked her hip into her hard enough to knock her slightly off her balance.

"Well, if everyone's here," Annie said, clapping her hands together, "the least we can do is accommodate our guests. Billy, sweetheart, can you help me get a few things here?"

"Just tell me what you want," Billy said as he tried to put on a more pleasant expression. He was still irked, too - for different reasons than each of the Summers' family, but he knew he couldn't get away with much.

"Oh, it's just if everyone is going to be here in what's apparently our new home, I just… hate to have everyone stand here with not even a bit of food, and I have a few favorite catering spots…."

"Yes, absolutely," Billy said as he made his way over to Annie. "Let's get away from the crowd so I can maybe concentrate a little better?"

Annie grabbed his hands in hers and squeezed them both. "You know that place I asked you to take me so I could surprise Kate? The one with the chocolate pie you ate by yourself?" she teased. "Let's start there."

Billy gave her a little grin and disappeared with her - but that still left the rest of the Summers family surrounded by people who looked like they weren't sure if they wanted to celebrate the lighter sentences or console them for the fact that they'd been sentenced at all.

Scott looked around the group and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well," he said and nodded to himself. "I guess you guys know where to find me if you need me."

"No kidding," Steve said, shaking his head. "You alright?"

"I'll be fine," Scott said. "Really. At the rate Kate and Annie are going, I'll be twenty pounds heavier by the time the year's out anyway."

"That'll be impressive when clearly you have no plans to eat anything that doesn't come out of a bowl," Bobby said dryly.

"Really, Bobby?"

"Where is the lie?" Bobby challenged with a smirk - clearly trying to tease him out of a funk.

Scott rolled his eyes at him. "Guess that means you're volunteering to help Annie stock the kitchen - since you're so concerned."

"Oh yeah, sure," Bobby agreed with a frosty wave. "I remember your favorite cereals. I got this."

Kitty snorted and grinned when Scott gave her a dry look. "I mean, I can help too. I remember your favorite soups."

"I can't believe-"

"You have a very distinctive depression diet."

"It's true," Bobby said, grinning wider when Scott gave both of them the driest look he could manage.

"I'll be fine," Scott said. "You're all overreacting."

"Right. I forget. You're always fine," Bobby said.

"Really, Bobby, this was one of the better outcomes. It's just a year."

"Wow. You suck at letting people care about you - you know that?" Bobby slogged Scott in the shoulder. "Thought you kept saying the team was family. Get used to it; you're back."

Seeing the look on Bobby's face, Scott did finally let his shoulders drop and put his hand on Bobby's shoulder. "Thanks," he said quietly, and Bobby shook his head but knew Scott wouldn't say much more than that, so he just put his arm around Scott's shoulders and steered him deeper into the group.

Across the room, Tony was trying to get something out of James - not anything overly intrusive, but he'd noticed that the kid hadn't said much at all, and he looked pretty irked, all things considered.

But when he put a hand on James' shoulder, he got a very prompt shrug off as James slipped as far away from him as a tightly-populated room of superheroes would allow.

"If you want to give me like … five minutes, I'll go talk to them with you," James said half under his breath. "You don't need to play spokesperson for everyone all the time and I doubt they'll back off for you here anyhow."

"They are starting to swarm a little," Tony said, but it was clear that wasn't the root of his irritation. "But I'm not after a public statement, kiddo."

"They're not going to back off until they get something," James said, sounding like he was on the edge of a growl.

"True, but-"

Right about then, Billy appeared again - with a ton of food for everyone. Almost immediately, Annie went into hostess mode, fitting the Southern hospitality stereotype nearly to a tee as she maneuvered through the group.

Billy grinned and slid over to where James was, shaking his head as he watched Annie go. "That woman is on a mission."

"She's just like that," James said as he pulled on his tie to loosen it up. He looked past Billy with a mild frown. "Where is everyone else? You're missing a few people."

"Oh, who-" Billy turned to look and frowned. "I… thought… who's missing?"

"Just a few," James said, looking over the crowd. "Chris and Susie aren't here yet. Maybe they're with your new boyfriend."

Billy turned toward James with his whole body. "Seriously?"

"I mean. He's a shit kisser, but if that's your thing …"

"James." Billy turned brilliantly red - and Tommy completely gave up on talking to Mia to fall apart laughing right then and there.

"Just want to make it easy on you," James replied, still keeping a straight face somehow.

"He's not even my type!"

James shrugged slowly. "I dunno…"

Billy rolled his eyes. "You dork. I like guys with confidence, for one thing-"

"He's not?"

"You've met the same Creed I have, right? The guy who's constantly trying to make himself smaller?"

"That wasn't the impression I got," James argued with a disbelieving frown.

"Are we really - you know what? No. We're not debating this. He's not my type; I don't even think he's gay."

James smirked finally at that. "Does that matter?"

"Why are you like this?" Billy despaired, shoving James in the shoulder - over the sound of Tommy's snorting laughter.

"He just is," Mia said, giggling behind her hand - not nearly laughing as hard as Tommy, though. "I mean, you've met him, right?"

"I'd hope I've met him, since I'm dating him," Billy said.

"And not Tyler?" Tommy gasped out.

"Are you sure?" James asked. "That's not what I've been hearing at all."

"For crying out-" Billy let out a noise from the back of his throat and then kissed James. "Shut up, okay? Just… no."

"Lil sensitive?" James teased quieter than before.

"I am stressed beyond belief and the press thinks I have a feral fetish and I just-"

"You don't?"

Billy rolled his eyes and kissed James again. "That's it. We're going somewhere you can't give my brother even more ammunition," he said and wished them out of there.