A special note of thanks to reviewers. Your suggestions help improve the story.

Disclaimer: This is an AU story. It takes place well in the future. The law being applied may not be US law. The procedure of a civil or criminal trial may not be US civil or criminal procedure. There may be similarities, perhaps the civilization in place at the time kept the best aspects of current legal practice and added elements from other bodies of law. Perhaps things changed. But nothing that follows is meant to replicate how a trial would proceed under US law.

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Peter - January

Peter Kristofferson crossed the threshold of his apartment, chasing the snow off his overcoat with one hand before he took it off. It had been a huge relief to receive a package with the freshly laundered coat before the weather turned really cold. After he'd given it to the Vulcan woman, he'd made do for a couple of weeks with layering and seasonal jackets. Then the parcel had arrived, addressed in Standard that looked a lot like Vulcan script, and a note definitely hand-written by an alien thanking him for his intervention and apologizing for the late return of the coat.

He'd never followed up with the hospital to find out what happened to her. They wouldn't have told him anyway, but he wondered from time to time. He chose to take the coat delivery as a sign everything was all right.

He liked to imagine it was the woman herself who wrote the note. Though it might as easily be the Vulcan security staff. They had interrogated him, just like the Human police. Not that he could tell them much, it was night and it was dark, he hadn't figured out what was going on until he was on top of them. He hadn't even realized a woman was involved at first, let alone an alien. He would be of no use identifying the attackers. And he didn't want to be more involved than he'd already been.

He hadn't told many about what happened. At first he had, and the lukewarm reception in some quarters had made him reconsider. In the end, it seemed better not to say anything. For what had he done, really? Cross the street at the right time? Anyone could have. He kept his adrenaline-infused memories to himself.

xxx

Police Officer Hughes - March

"So you're saying a Vulcan can tell someone who they'd hear say a couple of words, purely from their voice, even weeks later?"

Police Officer Hughes, frowned slightly. He would have shook his head but he knew better. Some of the perps in the alien-bashing case were insisting it was a case of mistaken identity. Someone should have warned them it was a losing strategy. The public defense attorney was inexperienced. The prosecutor was a pro and the Vulcans well-versed in these kinds of cases. The defendant was only delaying the inevitable.

The Vulcan expert witness raised an eyebrow at the question, staring at the lawyer in its 21st-century garb. The inefficiency of the Human legal system would always be worthy of special notice. Trial by a jury of peers indeed. He carefully set his thoughts on the matter aside, proceeding with his answer. "The Vulcan auditory system is quite different from the Human one. The Vulcan ear can identify a previously heard sound with 99.49% accuracy. That is a 30% better than visual recognition, such as that of an eyewitness."

Hughes looked down at his shoes to hide a smile. He'd been at enough of these trials that he knew the expert witness would rationally and logically make mincemeat of all the defense arguments. Mistaken identity was the go-to strategy, because everyone knew Vulcans don't see that well at night. Even if it made no sense. Even if they had the confession of other members of the posse. Facts were facts, as T'Para would say. He didn't see why they even tried. It wouldn't take more than a couple of hours and the jury would return with their decision. As usual, he would wait until the verdict. Nobody in the squad had noticed he was always the officer in attendance at these trials.

Like nobody realized he was on all cases of suspected alien bashing. If only they'd known the reason he kept his personal life strictly to himself, always with a ready excuse for office functions and other get-togethers. A couple of squad detectives had concluded he was gay, discreetly nodding knowingly each time he came up with an excuse. As if he'd bother hiding he was gay. But it confirmed that it was better to keep mum about his personal life. And T'Para. He knew some in the squad would have an issue with it. And she was much older than him, to boot. He didn't know why it worked between them, but it did, and they'd been happily mated for quite a while now.

And always the fear she would be the next victim. That was the first thing he did whenever he was dispatched, check that the alien was not T'Para. Like with that woman, the Starfleet officer. His heart had skipped a beat when they arrived at the scene. She was wearing a man's coat, giving her more heft. For a split second, he thought it was T'Para. He'd felt guilty at how relieved he was when it wasn't her.

As a form of amends, he had climbed in the back seat where the victim was, handed her a wad of tissues to wipe her face. He'd told her he was sorry. That was the best he could do, other than find the perps.

xxx

Trip - July

T'Pol looked at Archer and he understood the silent plea. "Trip, perhaps it's better if you were not in the room during the trial," he said.

"Your sense of outrage is overwhelming," T'Pol added.

Trip looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Of course it is. Perhaps Vulcans don't react the same way, but I'm outraged!" Trip exclaimed. "These guys are suing you when they're the ones who attacked you!"

"Only one of them is suing me." T'Pol had a sense that would not pacify her mate. It didn't. Trip glowered at her then turned to Archer. "And Starfleet can't do anything about it?"

Archer sighed. "They are. They're covering her defense but they can't make the suit disappear. We have to go through the process, even if we all know the guy's just grabbing at anything to avoid jail time. He won't win."

"Really?! He won't win?! Perhaps if she were a Human woman, but she's not. Can you vouch that nobody on the jury's going to go against her because of that?"

"Defense will weed them out."

"Yeah, and they're all choir boys and none of them has ever lied."

"The Vulcan embassy is putting its resources and expertise at our disposition. They are experienced with these kinds of cases," T'Pol interjected.

"Correction. They're experienced with alien-bashing cases. They have zero experience with accusations of excessive self-defense! They probably don't even know what that means."

"I'm sure they do," Archer cut in.

"She's Starfleet, for goodness sake!" There was no stopping Trip.

T'Pol cocked her head to the side. "I fail to see the connection."

"You're a Starfleet officer, and that's all that matters. Guilt by association. they'll say you're trained in combat and they're not. And Starfleet has deep pockets and a reputation to maintain."

"Trip!" Archer admonished. The chief engineer was close to the line. "Starfleet has no intention to yield on that one." That, or the Vulcans would be breathing down their neck, not something Starfleet necessarily wanted. "But we still have to go through the process."

"And hope that the jury sees this for what it is? That's putting a lot of faith in the process."

Archer pinched the bridge of his nose. "I think we all agree that's not as it should be but we've got no choice. Starfleet and Vulcan are defense counsel for the trial and I'll be their deputy aboard Enterprise. T'Pol, you take the time needed to talk to them or whatever else they want, that's your first priority. Trip, I think it's better if it's just T'Pol and me in the room. We'll have the proceedings piped to your quarters."

Trip looked at T'Pol then at Archer, realized the Captain would make it an order if pushed. It would be better to go along. For the time being.

xxx

T'Pol - July

T'Pol nodded at Archer and he opened the vidcom. Under Starfleet regulations and Federation laws, Starfleet captains could be deputized as defense counsel, an accommodation to the fact its members could not always be present for court appearances, no matter how far in advance they were scheduled. Starfleet needed its crew on its ships, not mothballed for months or years in a slow legal process. He saw Vulcan and Starfleet co-counsel sitting together at a side table. His role would be mostly ceremonial, keep things on track aboard the ship, not much more.

T'Pol started succinctly and efficiently answering the questions that the Starfleet co-counsel lobbed at her. It was no different from the first trial, when she had appeared to relate the events of the attack, a straightforward task until the prosecutor had asked how she could recognize the attacker just from his voice, leaving the jury gasping at the range of Vulcan hearing. On Vulcan, one had better be able to tell the difference between the whisper of a dried twig blowing over the sand and that of a k'karee snake ready to strike. The two would be undecipherable to Human ears. She had never before considered how Trip's auditory perception differed from hers or what it would be like to be limited to the Human range.

Trip had not argued further about being in the room. Based on her bondmate's pattern of behavior, this was highly unusual. She trusted his capacity to act logically under the circumstances.

On the screen, the lawyer for her accuser was consulting the padd on his desk. The weirdly-garbed man got up from the side table and semed to approach her, though the video feed gave it a tunnel effect. She was aware that her own movements would seem unnaturally stilted through the feed. The man started asking questions, broadly covering her Starfleet training in the use of weapons and close-combat skills. He was obviously trying to establish she had experienced and dangerous fighting skills.

"Now, this Suus Mahna is a type of martial art, is it not?" the lawyer was asking.

"It is, centered on self-defense."

"And it requires many years to learn?"

"It does."

"How many years of experience do you have in it?"

"I studied it for thirty-four years and three months, but I am not very advanced in the form progression."

"Thirty-four years - that sounds like black belt level."

"I am not familiar with the equivalencies."

"But I heard that with suus mahna you were able to disarm and knock out a male Klingon attacker?"

"I was helping a mining colony defend itself against Klingon marauders."

Archer narrowed his eyes at the lawyer. How did he know that? Did someone on the ship talk? Or did he get the captain's logs? What else was he going to throw at T'Pol? He quickly went through what he could remember of his daily logs, hoping he hadn't written anything damning, especially in the beginning when he was upset at the Vulcans for having put a spy on his ship. And what spy that had turned out to be. He owed someone in the Vulcan embassy a huge note of thanks, perhaps even kiss their feet. He brought his attention back to the lawyer.

"And the average Klingon is 1.5 times larger and stronger than the average Human male, is that right?" the lawyer was going on.

"Klingons differ greatly in size and strength even within their own race."

"But on average, that is. And Vulcans are three times stronger than Humans. So if we figure that a male is about 30% stronger than a female across the species, then a Vulcan woman would be about twice as strong as a Human male, right?"

"Again, Vulcans differ greatly in size and strength."

"Still, on average. So if we factor in the fact Mr. JoovahnTwo is a teenager, you're more than twice as strong as he is."

"That is not accurate." "Objection, your Honor." Her answer and the co-counsel call overlapped each other. The judge frowned. "Counsel will keep to the facts."

"Certainly, your Honor," the lawyer turned back to T'Pol. "Do you recall saying that you grabbed Mr. JoovahnTwo's ankle?"

"I do."

"Let's go back to just before that, get the chronology right. You are down on the ground, and Mr. Kristofferson has called from the other side of the street and is crossing over. The fight is over."

"It was not a fight."

"That being so, you, a Starfleet officer with combat training and thirty-four years of martial arts experience, you have been bested by four teenagers. That must have been a shock, right?"

"No. The number of attackers exponentially increases the complexity of defense."

"Yes, but here you are, you can knock out a male Klingon in unarmed combat, and four kids get the better of you. That must have made you mad, right?"

"Vulcans do not get mad."

"So then, how did you feel?"

"Objection!" "Objection!" The Vulcan co-counsel was up on his feet. Starfleet co-counsel had shouted at the same time he did. Archer was glad they intervened. He swiveled to T'Pol, saw her eyes widen slightly. He unobtrusively stepped in front of her to block the video feed, gaining time.

Trip swore at the exact same time he got a sense of Vulcan upset through the bond. Whoever asked Vulcans what they felt? He swore again. He knew exactly what the lawyer was doing. A shaken T'Pol would retreat into full Vulcan mode, give overly complex answers to simple questions, come across as an aloof automaton, exactly what the lawyer wanted. Make the jury see her as alien, someone who could not have the same reaction and feelings as they did, a monster lurking underneath, while the attacker looked even more human by comparison. He was already in the corridor, hightailing it to the vidroom.

Archer heard the door open and close behind him but he didn't turn around. He was watching T'Pol like a hawk. The release of tension in the corner of her eyes told him that it was Trip who had entered the room. That was all good as far as Archer was concerned. Obviously the playbook had just gone out the window.

Trip positioned himself straight in the line of sight of T'Pol, where she couldn't help but see him as she answered questions. He slowed his breathing, focusing on the bond, trying to project his feelings to her, give her a clear read on how a Human would react to what she said.

"So," the Human lawyer went on. "Sorry, I forgot Vulcans don't have feelings."

"Your Honor!" Starfleet counsel was on his feet.

"Counsel, this is the last warning." The judge sighed. "The jury will disregard that statement."

The lawyer turned to T'Pol. "Let's go back. You are down on the ground, and Mr. Kristofferson has called from the other side of the street and is crossing over. Do you really believe at that time that you are at risk of permanent damage?"

"Based on the contextual structure of the encounter, probabilities were..." Archer frowned, waiting. Trip focused his entire energy on projecting his feelings through the bond, hoping she'd understand.

T'Pol scowled slightly, stopped, looked at Trip, though it seemed like she was looking straight back at the lawyer. "After Mr. JoovahnTwo hit me, I fell on one knee. Odds were..." T'Pol stopped herself, looked at Trip again, hesitated. "It seemed possible... the attackers were in a position to kick me." A wave of relief washed over Trip. She had understood, was modulating her response based on his reaction through the bond. She went on speaking slowly, "I thought… I expected that if I fell they would stomp on my head." Trip worked harder at pushing his personal feeling of anger down, focusing on what the average person would feel if they heard her. When this was over, he could get as angry as he wanted, at the attack, at the clownish lawyer who dared ask these questions, make her have to explain she'd been afraid for her life.

The Vulcan co-counsel looked up from the co-counsel table, frowning. The explanation was rudimentary, insufficient. He looked over at the jury, controlling the rise of his eyebrow as he realized the Human jury was listening sympathetically. It seemed they were satisfied with the imperfect recitation. He went back to his padd. He didn't understand but he didn't have an explanation.

"But that didn't happen," the lawyer pressed. "Now, what happened is you were down on one knee, correct?"

"That is correct."

"And you, you grabbed and twisted Mr. JoovahnTwo's ankle?"

"That is correct."

"Was that a suus mahna move?"

"Not it was not."

"So it was not self-defense."

"Objection."

"Sustained."

"The danger had already ended. Mr. Kristofferson had called from the other side of the street for Mr. JoovahnTwo and his friends to stop. You're a Vulcan, you've had to have heard him."

"Objection!" The Vulcan co-counsel half-raised from the table.

"I'll allow it." The judge turned to T'Pol. "You can answer the question."

"The combination of…" She started, stopped, looked at Trip, and through him at the lawyer. "I... I did not hear him."

The Vulcan co-counsel scowled. The answer was entirely unsatisfactory. It would lead to more questions. She should explain how the rise in isortimol created an inner background noise that made it impossible to hear anything outside of the immediate radius. If even the chronology was right. He looked up in surprise when the Human lawyer paused, looking at his padd. It seemed the response was acceptable after all.

"When you twisted Mr. JoovahnTwo's ankle, how much force did you apply?"

"I applied the force required to stop the attack."

"And Mr. JoovahnTwo is a teenage Human male, a growing boy."

"I did not know that at the time. Mr. JoovahnTwo is taller than the average Human male and has developed all the attributes associated with post-puberty."

"Let's say that Mr. JoovahnTwo is as strong as a normal Human male, you're still about twice as strong as he is, right?. And what happened is you actually grabbed his ankle twisted it to the side and upward, correct?"

"That is correct."

"So hard that all the ligaments in his ankle snapped."

T'Pol was looking at Trip. "It was necessary to stop the attack."

"By making it so that he will never walk without a cane again?"

"That was not my intent."

The lawyer scoffed. "The injury you inflicted is out of proportion with the threat you were under. Mr. JoovahnTwo was well undermatched to you. His future is permanently compromised."

"Objection!" this time both co-counsel were on their feet.

"Jury will disregard. Counsel, one more statement like this and I declare a mistrial."

T'Pol blinked, privately reflecting that Mr. JoovahnTwo's compromised future would have mainly consisted of criminal activity.

xxx