The policeman was not asked in, nor did he look like he expected to be. He looked rather uncomfortable in fact, as though he sensed he shouldn't be there, but had to be anyway.

"Yes?" Bert asked in what he hoped was a polite tone, because it didn't do to be rude to policemen, but also with enough warning in his voice to keep the man at the doorstep.

"I'm here to ask for Alpha Jane Banks?" the poor policeman answered, trying to peak around the tall alpha at the door just in case the one he sought was hiding just around him. She wasn't. She was still in the bedroom, guarding that door. It is just as well the policeman couldn't see her. Her scowl was rather fierce and not at all polite. It didn't help that the knock had brought Jack back to full wakefulness, just when he looked about to drift off again.

"Jane Banks is looking after an injured pack member," Bert answered, still polite, but the threat was clear, if only because everyone knew how packs got when there was an injured one in their midst. The policeman got the message too, because he hopped half a step backwards, as though to make it absolutely clear he had no intention of intruding.

"Yes, well…ah," said the policeman, "I was told to ask for her presence for an emergency courtroom session on behalf of two omegas in her pack…"

Bert raised his eyebrow at that, in part from the unusual request considering the late hour but mostly because as far as he knew Jane didn't have two absent omegas in her pack. She had Michael and Jack, who were both in the house, and sort of Angus who was not in the house but also not officially hers. The policeman, feeling on more even footing now that he had official business to convey, pulled out a bit of paper to read off of.

"There's a Mr. Angus and a Mr. Fred. Er…their surnames were not given to me before I departed." Then he looked at Bert in an apologetic sort of way. "They told us to come to this address. If they have lied about having a respectable alpha here, you can tell me now, and I'll be on my way." And he clearly expected to hear exactly that, and to be able to put the whole mission behind him and get on with his more regular duties. Except of course that Bert didn't say anything of the kind.

"Jane Banks is here, as I said," said Bert. "And she does have two omegas by that name in her pack."

"What, really?" asked the policeman. "I mean…she can have who she likes in her pack, as long as they're willing only…are you sure it's the same Angus and Fred? These two are lamplighters…"

"Yes, that's right," Bert agreed, still convivial yet somehow, something in his smile looked a bit sharp and predatory. "Three of her omegas are leeries, and one is a banker. She's happy to let her omegas work at professions they enjoy."

"Right, yes…of course," the poor policeman answered, eying Bert nervously now. "Well then…will she come? Only there was some trouble with an alpha and…"

At that, the door to the bedroom was thrown open and Jane strode to meet them, fire in her eyes. Behind her, three curious faces peered through the now open door before their father reached around them and firmly shut it again.

"What alpha?" Jane snarled. "What did that monster do to my omegas!"

"Nothing!" squeaked the policeman, taking yet another step backwards and almost falling. "It's what the omegas did to the alpha…attacked him, and him a respected gentleman!"

If he had hoped to stun her with her omegas' criminal activities, he failed, because her furious snarl relaxed into a pleased grin.

"Good," she said. Then, "They didn't kill the alpha, did they?"

"No," answered the policeman, still eyeing her warily. "Just battered him around and tied him up."

"Good," Jane repeated, and perhaps the policeman took that to mean she disapproved of the attack, because he tried to explain his purpose there again in careful and apologetic tones.

"The judge wants the trial to happen at once and needs the omegas' alpha to be present…to…to account for the omegas' crimes. Are you sure you want to claim the omegas?"

"Of course I'm sure," Jane answered. "Just as Bill," and she muttered the name like a curse word, "will stand for his crimes. And then, if justice doesn't kill him, I'll do it myself."

"Oh…" said the policeman, part horrified but part fascinated, like he was in the middle of watching a train wreck. "Then…you had best come along with me."

"No."

The policeman blinked at her, discomfited once more. He looked at Bert, as though expecting a more reasonable answer. Bert didn't say anything, just looked on.

"No? Only, you said you would speak for the omegas, and the trial is directly, and I'm to fetch you…"

"Because of that monster masquerading as an alpha," said Jane, "I have a severely ill and injured omega to look after. I have three young children and my brother to see to as well. Now, if it were just them, and I was certain Bill was detained, I might go with you. But I am not going to risk my omega's fragile health for anything. If worst comes to worst, I can make an appeal for the rest of my pack, an appeal likely to be won under the circumstances, and they will be safe in the meantime. Unhappy, but safe."

"So…you won't come?" asked the policeman, trying already to work out in his head what he was meant to say to the judge when he returned, especially as it sounded like the victim the judge wanted to avenge might really and truly be the criminal.

"No." And then, just when the policeman was sure the door was going to be slammed in his face and he would have to go back and try to explain somehow, she added, "I'll send Bert in my stead."

"Oh," said the policeman, at once relieved and not, because it would still be awkward but at least he'd have someone to back him up when he made his report.

"Just give us a moment and I'll come with you," Bert agreed, and then the door was slammed in his face, and for a rather long five minutes the policeman wondered if he'd been lied to and was now waiting around like a fool and no one was going to come. But Bert did come out at last, wearing his coat and hat (or Michael's hat, actually; he'd have worn Michael's coat as well to look more respectable only it didn't remotely fit).

So the policeman returned with Bert and the announcement was made. And of course the first thing the judge and Mr. Hyde tried to say was that it was a trick and the respectable Jane Banks wasn't anything to do with them. It fell a bit flat when the newcomers greeted their friends. At any rate, the policeman felt the need to explain himself.

"I spoke to Alpha Jane Banks, your honor," he answered. "She is real enough. She refused to come on account of looking after an injured omega of her pack, like he said."

To this, Mr. Hyde growled, "Lies, I'll wager. Did you see the injured omega?" Even the judge looked at Hyde a bit askance at that, because of course no alpha was going to allow a stranger in to see their injured pack member, especially if the injured one was an omega. Still, it was a point, and not an impossible one, only…

"Jane Banks, did you say?" said the doctor who had given Hyde a very preliminary exam but hadn't been allowed by the man to take him into a side room for a more in depth examination. "Of Cherry Tree Lane?"

"That's the very address I went to," the policeman agreed.

"I know that household well, your honor," said the doctor. "I cannot, due to patient confidentiality, give further information, but I can attest to Jane Banks's honesty."

"That's alright, Doctor," said Bert. "She won't mind if you give the judge the particulars, not if it will get that one off the street and away from her pack." He nodded his head towards Hyde.

"I will need to receive that permission directly from her," the doctor said, his tone apologetic.

"I would think," said the cultured and rather unimpressed tones of Mary Poppins, "That the report you already filed with the police on the incident might suffice. And if it does not, a phone call to Miss Banks would do."

Of course, the solution was obvious…once it was said out loud, and once the doctor came to understand that the very man he had attempted to treat was the same alpha who had attacked Jack.

"I suppose I could find the incident report," said the other policeman who had escorted Mary Poppins, the omegas, and Hyde into the station in the first place. He sounded reluctant, perhaps hoping for someone else to volunteer for the task after all.

"Excellent, constable," answered the judge. "Just get the particulars off of Dr. Jenkins and fetch the report at once."

"This is nonsense," growled Hyde, furiously. "They attacked me; why are you trying to find incriminating information against me?"

"Who said it was against you?" asked Mary Poppins with a raised eyebrow. "I thought we were ascertaining the existence of an injured omega under Miss Banks's care?"

"Yes, Bill, it is unusual," said the judge, not sounding friendly towards Hyde at all despite the familiar term of address, "but it's important to understand all sides of a matter before justice can be done. And to that end, while we wait on the constable to return, I want to hear all sides of the story. You start, Bill. Tell me what happened."

Bill got a disturbingly triumphant look on his face that might have alarmed his opponents, (and after all, he was an alpha and the judge knew him, and could they really expect things to go in any way except in Mr. Hyde's favor?). He actually looked a bit discomfited when everyone else responded by respectfully taking their seats and listening quietly.

"I was searching out my omega," Hyde started with, taking on injured and somewhat less psychotic tones, and for the first time one could see how anyone could ever mistake the man for being a respectable gentleman. "The one you assigned to me, the poor young omega with the horrible criminal alpha. I know his route as a lamplighter, and I went to join him. Only…only that one came along instead. And when I came to ask after my omega, he attacked me. And his friends joined in. And they tied me up and talked of murder."

"I see," said the judge, giving the two omegas a severe look. The omegas responded by sticking their chins up and refusing to be intimidated, which was actually not in their favor as the judge was of a class to go easier on a timid and cowering omega than an uppity one, but then, they were sitting between Mary Poppins and Bert so it would have taken a lot in that moment to cause them to cower. When his severe look failed to have the expected reaction, the judge nonetheless said, "Then I will hear from the omegas now. First, the one who attacked first."

"I'm afraid, your honor, that the story starts a bit further back then tonight," Fred said, his tone respectful even if it wasn't submissive. "It starts, in fact, with the night you handed Jack over to that alpha."

"Oh nonsense!" growled Hyde, "They are trying to obfuscate the proceedings!"

"You had your moment, Bill," the judge answered, just as severe on the interruption as he had been on the omegas for attacking Bill. "I said I would hear all sides, and I intend to. Go on, young man, but be sure you stay to the point, or you will not be allowed to speak after all."

"Yes, your honor," answered Fred, and this time he did bend his head in a more submissive stance, which the judge clearly approved of because he severe expression softened at once. For the first time, Bill actually looked a bit nervous.

So Fred explained about Jack coming home all shaken and pale and scared.

"And he'd been beaten," Fred said.

"Discipline!" Hyde shouted, "I hardly touched him, not a proper beating!"

The judge once more gave Bill a look, but then, albeit in a gentle tone, he asked, "Are you certain of severe injuries? Could it not be that the young omega was justly disciplined, and sore over it and complaining? Did you see any wounds?"

A bit reluctantly, Fred answered, "Jack didn't tell us anything about a beating at all. He didn't want us to know, I guess. He doesn't like worrying others over things like that."

Bill looked triumphant, right up to the point Fred added, "But after he fell asleep in our cuddle, Angus pushed up his shirt a bit to check, and it was all over in bruises. That was no 'discipline', that was a proper beating."

"And did a doctor…" the judge began, glancing towards where Dr. Jenkins still sat near Hyde, just in case his poor health caught up to him and he had to accept medical attention after all.

"We didn't let on to Jack we knew," Fred had to reluctantly say. "We didn't tell anyone. We thought…we thought Jack got away and he was safe now and that was the end of it. Only…only the alpha, Bill, he came around looking for Jack. And Jack got all quiet and clingy and…it wasn't right. And then Jack met Jane and we thought…we thought she would be his alpha and Bill would leave off. Only, yesterday morning I was doing my rounds, turning down the lamps and I saw him, and he was dragging Jack off, and he'd hit him across the face, and I…I ran the alpha down with my bike and I screamed murder. And Bill ran off. And a policeman came…same one that nabbed us tonight, in fact. And he said Jack was still standing and talking so he was fine and he walked us home and didn't go to arrest Bill like he should have."

"I was only bringing my omega home when that ruffian ran me over!" Bill shouted. "It was a kindness that I didn't bring you up on charges right then, one I regret!"

The judge did look a bit doubtful, though it was hard to tell who he found less believable, Fred or Bill. Finally, Fred explained what happened that night, that Bill had attacked him (and Bert growled at that, and for a moment it looked like he meant to attack Bill right then, forget trials or justice, but then Mary Poppins said, "Enough, Bert," and that was that). And Fred tried to imply he and Angus subdued the man all on their own, with the sweeps help, not wanting to bring the two leeries into it. Unfortunately, the judge turned out to be rather sharp.

"I thought it was mentioned that there were five men involved in Mr. Hyde's attack," he said, sounding suspicious now, and it wasn't a good sign that he was still calling it 'Mr. Hyde's attack'.

"That's right," said Fred, sensing that he'd only damage their case if he tried to hide things further. "Angus whistled for help and got two leeries and a sweep running to our aid. Only they got there after we'd already gotten Mr. Hyde on the ground and didn't do much more than stand around while we tied him up. The constable let them on their way."

"Did he?" said the judge, turning his eyes on the unlucky constable, who had by then returned, having found the report with unusual alacrity. Somehow, everything did seem to just run smoothly that evening, even things that usually would take an age.

"Of course he did," said Mary Poppins, and the judge tried to give her a severe look for her daring, but rather missed the mark. "Seeing as they had nothing to do with anything, what was the use detaining them? Or did you not think your courtroom crowded enough as it is?" And she gave him a pointed look that, unlike his own, didn't miss.

"Yes, well," said the judge, and then, to the surprised policeman, "Just don't get in the habit of it."

"Yes sir, I mean, your honor," answered the policeman, feeling rather like he'd dodged a bullet, and he tried to give Mary Poppins an appreciative look, only she wasn't looking in his direction.

After Fred finished, it was Angus's turn, and then the sweep's. Then the judge wanted to hear from the policeman and finally, Mary Poppins herself.

"I came looking for my umbrella, which Mr. Hyde was kind enough to hold onto for me."

"Hold onto!" shouted Mr. Hyde. "It bit me! Twice! It held onto me!"

"Now, Bill," said the judge, looking less and less inclined to take his old friend's side every moment, with ever new testimony against him, including the words of a constable who shouldn't have any reason to take the side of the attackers unless there was some truth to what they said. "Umbrellas don't bite."

"It did!" shouted Bill in a full on rage.

And then the doctor came forward, having both made a quick phonecall to the Banks household and having his submitted report to fall back on. And he informed on exactly how severe Jack's injuries were, that he'd that very night had a sudden fever that, without intervention, would surely have led to the omega's death.

The other omegas went rather pale at that. Bert looked grim. The constable looked ill. And Bill…Bill didn't look horrified at what he'd done or guilty or anything of the kind. He looked almost like a child who was sulking after having his hand slapped when he'd reached for a biscuit that wasn't his.

The judge looked at the doctor. He looked at Bill. He looked at everyone in the courtroom.

"The alpha William Hyde has been found guilty of omega abuse, attempted kidnapping of an omega, battery, attempted pack theft, and attempted murder. That is my judgement on the matter and the alpha in question will be detained without question of release until such a time as the victim's alpha, Jane Banks, demands restitution, at which point the William Hyde's fate will be at her discretion, whether that be life imprisonment, physical retribution, or death. William Hyde is banned from all association with omegas. This is my judgement." And he slammed his gavel down to make it official.

Bill ranted and raved and more or less proved himself to be utterly guilty, growling that Jack was his, and he could discipline him how he deserved and worse.

Angus, Fred and Bert felt a strange sort of shock; they had known things would go alright, how could they not with Mary Poppins in the room, but it was different to think everything will end well and to actually see it happen.

The constable looked a bit shocked as well, as though he'd seen the world turned upside down and everything was back to front.

"That never happens," he kept saying, and he stood around and just watched even after the other policeman had said, "I say, Earnest, aren't you off duty? Why don't you go on home; I can finish up here."

"That poor omega," the judge said, looking a bit haunted. Then, more to himself than anyone, he added, "Well, how was I to know? Bill was always so respectable and…and…clean and upright. How was I to know?"

Then he went home, only to realize in the end that he still had left his hat at the station. He didn't go back for it, which was just as well because Fred, who was in a somewhat jovial mood after all the dark and horrible proceedings, had found it and it wouldn't have helped anyone for the judge to have walked in on that.

Everyone who wasn't an official policeman or judge or convicted criminal returned to Cherry Tree Lane. In fact, Earnest did escort them home, or rather, walked with them and theoretically was escorting them except none of them paid him much mind, and when they got there he wasn't invited in and had to go on to his own house the longer way around. He still felt better for it.

What followed was the quietest celebration imaginable, because Jack was sleeping, but just knowing that Bill was never going to be a danger to them again lightened every heart in the house, and Jane didn't even protest the sweep being invited in, despite not knowing him in the least, or several more leeries that showed up all on their own without invitation.

And when Chalky showed up, looked cowed and nervous and oddly submissive for an alpha (he clearly knew that Jack's new alpha could potentially have a problem with his presence) he too was invited in with only the minimum of growls from Jane and one punch from Bert that was pulled enough to only barely knock him down instead of knocking him out. Fred was rather aghast anyway, while Michael and Angus rolled their eyes, but the alphas all shared knowing looks and Chalky certainly seemed to feel it was only his due.

"I should have done more for Jack," he explained gently to Fred. "Shouldn't have gotten myself arrested in the first place."

"But it wasn't your fault!" said Fred (only in a whisper because everyone was still being quiet).

"It wasn't…but it was," said Chalky.

"The judge shouldn't have taken Jack from you," Fred insisted. "It was his fault." Angus remained silent, and still looked a bit guilty himself over the incident.

"I would have made the same decision in the judge's place," Bert said, to Fred's utter shock. "Given the situation. Only I know him, so I'd have known better." And at any rate Bert and Chalky hugged after, clearly still friends, so the omega had to let it go. And the rest of the evening was devoted to merriment and released tensions and joy in each other's company.

In spite of all intentions, the party might have gotten a bit too boisterous and would surely have awakened Jack in the end, only, one of the guests seemed to have an almost magical ability to keep voices lowered and stop clinking glasses from clinking or bumped vases from falling. And when she was convinced to do a bit of singing and dancing, it somehow turned into a sort of gentle lullaby that had them all away to those nighttime places that are mysterious and ancient and bright and perhaps they dreamed they danced or perhaps they did dance, but not where it would disturb anyone's slumber.

And when Jack finally awoke in the morning, he found himself surrounded by pack, old and new. And he was stiff, and sore, but in that moment, all was right in the world, and he wouldn't have traded that moment for anything. The journey had been rough, but the destination was perfect.