Eight A.M. saw Andrew Leroy pacing a circuit in the lobby of the court house. His trial was due to start in about an hour and he'd been there an hour already. His lawyer had turned him out into the lobby saying that his nervousness would hurt them more than any evidence possibly could and to get out of there and deal with it before the trial started. So the twenty year old was pacing while he tried desperately to calm down.

Step, step, step.

There was no way they could find him guilty. All the evidence was there to support the fact that he had acted in self defense and defense of another. The marks around Jorge's neck from the attack were documented and matched the dead man's hands. Not to mention there was the small matter of Jorge's word saying what had happened.

Step, step, step.

Of course that didn't necessarily matter. They could decide he was guilty anyway. If they found out he was a mutant and what his power was they could just decide he was guilty. It wouldn't be surprising. Then he'd have to leave the Mansion and his friends and go to jail.

Step, step, step.

That would mean leaving Jorge, Verdy, Kate, Kealey, Sam, Shin, and others. Andrew didn't want to do that. He needed to calm down and get control of himself. He was better than this.

Step…

Step…

Step…

The rushing sound of footsteps echoed from the tiled covered floors as a grizzly looking police detective stomped through the halls of the city court house. He looked anxious, almost as if he were on his way to witness a decision that would mean life and death. The stubborn five o’clock shadow that hung onto the lower half of his face showed that he had had a sleepless night. But still he had managed to keep his hair nicely combed and his navy blue suit looking clean and not wrinkled for once. His gray coat flapped behind him with each of his echoing steps giving his whole appearance a greater sense of immediacy.

Jorge Cervantes sighed as he glanced at the written on scrap of paper he held in his hand. He had the courthouse address, the room number and the time that he was supposed to be there. A glance at his watch showed that he was surprisingly on time. He was happy for that. After all, if there were one day he should not be late for it is this one, he did make a promise to the kid.

Months ago Jorge and his boxing trainee and friend, Andrew, had gotten into some trouble. After one of their training sessions and group of thugs deemed it right try and rob them. In the end this resulted with a fight, a chase and unfortunately a death. Jorge knew that Andrew was no cold blooded killer. He had only killed one of those thugs because one had attempted to choke to death the waterbending detective. But just because both he and Andrew saw it was self-defense, the thugs family had wanted blood. They wanted Andrew to pay for what had happened to their beloved child and they were going to make him pay.

“At least they are going the legal route,” Jorge muttered as he rounded a corner and stepped into another hall.

The walls were white and lined with various attempts to make the building look antique and artistic. Paintings and the occasional statues lined the walls in order to distract both those who are the accused and those who are accusing. Normally Jorge paid attention to these types of diversions: the faux-Monet’s, Picasso’s, etc., but today his mind was more occupied on what was coming. The trial and whether or not Andrew was going to be okay.

The evidence all pointed that Andrew should not be guilty. He was defending someone from an attacker and he obviously had no intent to kill the man. Forensics backed up all their telling of the events but still…these days you never know. Even in self-defense, lawyers love to try and turn cases around on people just to make a name for themselves. Jorge could only hope that family did not get one of those upstarters.

The detective looked up and further down the hall he found Andrew pacing up and down in front of a door. He knew the kid was nervous but right now he looked like a guilty kid who was in fear of being caught red handed. He prayed Andrew would get it together before they walked into that courtroom.

His shoes clicked louder as he approached Andrew and gave him a wave.

“Hey kid,” he smiled a little encouragingly as he stood nearby. “Um, it’s…you know. It’s going to be fine.” He paused a little awkwardly as he sighed and then nodded to him. “Go for some Chinese food after this?”

Cops and levity…they don’t always mix well.

Andrew heard the clicking of another set of shoes as he paced. He wasn't alone anymore. Andrew looked in time to see Jorge dressed for court and waving at him. He stopped mid-pace and smiled tensely at the man.

"Hey old man."

Jorge tried his hand at calming Andrew down. He appreciated the gesture but it was a little sloppy. When the time came he would shape up. It wouldn't do for the court to see him like this so they wouldn't. Andrew fixed his smile into something more relaxed.

"I was thinking coffee actually. Shouldn't take too long. They won't have a leg to stand on once this thing gets going."

False assurance was better than nervous pacing. It was so much easier to just lie to himself and Jorge. Jorge would know easily that it was fake but hopefully he wouldn't say anything. Anything less than perfect composure would get him torn apart in there. That's what he thought anyway. True or not he needed to be calm once he walked back through those doors to face this thing.

"How are you doing old man?" Andrew took a longer look at the man before commenting again, "You're looking a little scruffy. Might wanna fix that before you see Gemma next."

>> "Hey old man… I was thinking coffee actually. Shouldn't take too long. They won't have a leg to stand on once this thing gets going."

“Coffee…one of my favorite meals.” he said warmly.

Jorge smirked but he said nothing else. He knew there was no sincerity in Andrew’s last statement. Unfortunately the situation was a sticky one and from what he heard from Gemma, as well as his own observations, the kid was still taking this whole thing hard. At least he was sleeping again. Still Jorge was not surprised. He told the kid once, way back on that night that seemed like it happened only yesterday, that it would hit him hard. He took a life and though he did it in defense of another, good hearted people have a hard time channeling what they have done. Andrew survived, he had to give him that, now he just had to survive this.

Easier said than done.

Still, the detective said nothing as he waited against the wall with his hands stuffed into his coat pockets. He wanted to tell Andrew to remain calm, to stop pacing and to trust that everything would be alright. But in the end, he let him be. Truth be told, it was probably better for Andrew to work off all that anxious energy by pacing right now, out in the hall in privacy, than inside of the courtroom. It would do no good for the judge to see Andrew fidgeting nervously.

>> "How are you doing old man? You're looking a little scruffy. Might wanna fix that before you see Gemma next."

“Ha, haha, ha.” Jorge replied with a condescending chuckle. It was all in good fun, anything to break the tension.

Jorge looked at himself in the reflection of the framed painting and had to admit that he did look a bit scruffy. His five o’clock shadow was more pronounced in this light. He hoped that in the courthouse that the ability for one to shave did not count against them as a witness. He knew it didn’t, but this case was ripe for twist and turns. This family wanted Andrew and all those associated with him to pay for what happened to their darling, baby boy who was “tragically murdered in cold blood”. A scoff filled his throat when he remembered reading that the first time in their statements. It was obvious these people had no idea what their son was actually like.

Finally, after he fixed a stray hair or two, he turned back to Andrew with a nod. “I’m fine. Didn’t get much sleep last night is all.” he said quietly, but quickly followed it up. “I’m working on a tough case right now, leading me into some sleepless nights,” he muttered and glanced back to the door to the courtroom before turning back to Andrew with a grin. “And yes, I do clean up very well before I go out with Gemma.”

He sighed as he took a seat on the bench next to the door and merely sat back with his arms crossed over his chest. He cast the occasional glance at Andrew, then to various other paintings that hung on the walls. Andrew had spoken to him at some point and said that he had lawyered up and that the man had gone over everything Andrew would need to say or do during the proceedings. Jorge was glad the kid had that extra help. But he needed to keep his mind off of that for now. They would be fine! He felt that Andrew would be okay. He just…knew it.

So with that he turned and nodded to Andrew. “How’s Verdigris? I thought she’d be with you today.”

Verdy awoke from a rather pleasant dream to the rather unpleasant feeling of Jack’s slobbery tongue sweeping her face. The second it took her to leap from the bed and dash to the bathroom to spit in the sink and ferociously brush her teeth was soundtracked by a wailing ‘eeeeeeeeew’ followed by swearing through frothy paste.

“Why would you do that?!”

Jack cocked his head at her innocently and she frowned, it was difficult to stay mad at the little pirate captain. One final spit and rinse and she felt sufficiently cleansed from the rude awakening to return to bed. Jack barked at her as she moved towards the bed, then barked again as she sat down on the edge of it.

“What is wrong with you this morning?”

She glanced at the clock and saw a few minutes past eight. Far too early to be out of bed, the lazy side of her complained, and she felt a great desire to agree with it and tumble beneath the covers for another forty winks or so. The rational side of her was yelling something incomprehensible but she ignored it with a sigh and fell back against the soft mattress. Jack began barking the moment her head touched the pillow.

“What!!!”

She shoved herself out of the bed and raked the room with her eyes looking for the lead. If she took him for a quick walk now perhaps he would calm down and she could catch some more sleep before noon. She glanced at the clock again and froze.

She wasn’t supposed to be here.

Andrew’s trial was today, and she had promised-kind-of-sorta, that she would come and be there, as emotional support. Jack couldn’t go, of course, but he would be fine to stay in the room by himself. In fact, now that she was tearing around the room rummaging for a clean shirt to wear under her work suit Jack seemed content to jump onto the bed, turn around three times and settle into the warm patch she had left, his work done.

Finally retrieving a pale blue blouse from where it had been lurking in the bottom of a draw she shook it out and inspected it. The front was mainly ok, but the sleeves looked like they could do with an iron before an important occasion, and the trial of her boy-gap-friend on the subject of murder was definitely an important occasion.

Cursing her lack of foresight and hanging space she slipped a hanger into the shirt and hung it from the inside of the bathroom door, the steam would encourage most of the crinkles to fall out of the thin material, and any that didn’t… well she could either live with it, or dash down to find an iron in the shared laundry, depending on how much time she had.

She was in and out of the shower in a flash, only spending enough time to scrub herself into a clean pinkness and wash her hair. She speed-dried and brushed her hair simultaneously before scraping it into a sensible bun with all the green carefully concealed. Despite the fact it wasn’t her on trial demonstating that the company Andrew kept was wholesome could make a big difference if it were a juried trial, people were incredibly judgemental and she was secretly glad that neither herself nor Andrew had particularly obvious mutations, there was bound to be at least one bigot in the jury. Cursing her lack of foresight she recalled a concealer she had read about which would cover tattoos, although if Andrew had on long sleeves that shouldn’t be an issue.

Drying her bangs so they left her eyes well and truly exposed she touched on mascara and eyeliner with a shudder. Why did women have to wear makeup to be taken seriously? Slipping on a sheer pair of tights and the sensible, flat, mary-jane-type shoes she wore to work she tugged on her skirt and checked the time. She was still running late, but she might just have enough time to iron if she ran. Snatching her bag up and pulling on her jacket over her bra, the blue shirt dangling on the hanger from her other hand she wrestled for a moment with her phone on the charger. Skipping out on the vest she ducked into the hallway, grateful for the lack of people, and dashed onwards to the laundry where she was certain she had seen an iron. Perhaps they had one in their room, but she wasn’t sure where it was. The seconds until the iron was warm enough were spent organising a cab on the phone and praying nobody walked in on her, as she had removed the jacket in the steamy warmth. A quick job with the iron and her shirt was respectable. Not wishing to crease it she re-hung it, donned her jacket once more, buttoned it to a decent level and dashed to meet the cab at the gate.

((OOC: Crazy long post, and it's only half of what I wrote... I split it up 'cause it looked too weirdly long. The other half can wait. Working tommorow, so I mightn't be on until late.))

Jorge was having a rough time of it too it seemed. Andrew put his hand on the elder man's shoulder for a moment or two before letting it drop back to his side. When something like this happened it was easy to forget that other people were struggling too. Of course Andrew reminded himself constantly that his life could always be worse. Just because he had an inconvenient mutation didn't mean it was the end of the world. Andrew chuckled at the old man's assertion that he looked nothing but his best before he went out with Gemma. It wasn't their usual banter at all but Andrew didn't think they would be able to manage their usual banter until the trial was over.

He was beginning to calm down somewhat. It wasn't that the fears had diminished any. That wasn't the case at all. It was simply that he was getting a handle on them as he would with a promise that he didn't want to keep. He thought he would be able to go in there and face the trial soon. At Jorge's question about Verdy though Andrew paused.

"You know, I don't know. I haven't really seen her this morning. She said she was going to be here. Today is her day with Jack though, for obvious reasons. That might be what's holding her up."

If he could have prevented Verdy from coming he probably would have. But for better or worse he'd told her and she wasn't the sort of person to leave a friend to fend for themselves. He was simply glad that he had managed to avoid telling half the mansion. It would have been awkward to have them show up or expect them and be disappointed. One friend being there was worrisome enough.

>> "You know, I don't know. I haven't really seen her this morning. She said she was going to be here. Today is her day with Jack though, for obvious reasons. That might be what's holding her up."

Jorge nodded but didn’t say anything at first. He was sure that Verdigris would be here for Andrew, after all the pair of them were as thick as thieves. This often made him wonder if they were actually a couple. After all, he usually sees them together as well as the fact that they own a dog together. But there always seemed to be reluctance between those two that he noticed whenever he was around them. Maybe it was an unrequited love, or a caring that they dared not take beyond what they had grown comfortable with. Whatever the case, he did not doubt that the woman would be here, he just hoped that she arrived on time.

He looked up to Andrew as he continued to pace. He knew the kid was nervous and he really didn’t blame here. He was facing murder charges and though all the evidence supported this story, sometimes judges can be swayed by enough crying family members.

The detective prayed that this one was a hard hearted person.

Unfortunately he had seen it enough times where the entire grieving family of a victim managed to sway judges to the point where they can bend the rules just enough to bring them justice. Normally Jorge had no fear of that when it came to thugs like this man who passed away, but the sad truth was that...through some research, Jorge found that the man was clean. He had only a minor record of loitering and harassment, but nothing more serious than that. For all intensive purposes it looked as if the man were a saint with just an attitude and a mouth that got him more and more into trouble. But the assault of an officer and a college student was new for him.

Of all the times to try something new, Jorge thought as he looked back up at Andrew who paced.

“Kid, it might be better if you sit down. I know you’re trying to get the nerves out now, but you need to relax.” he said as he sat back on the bench, his arms still crossed over his chest. “You’re going to be just fine. We’re just going to go in there and tell the truth.”

Jorge prayed that everything would be that simple. For months now Andrew had to live with this and he would have to live with it the rest of his life. But is that enough to condone what he did? Jorge thought so. He felt Andrew shouldn’t have beat himself up at all for what happened on that night, but when someone kills for the first time…it is a life altering experience. So far Andrew survived and he hoped that would continue…even better if it would be outside of jail.

He glanced at Andrew again and smiled warmly. “You saved my life, Andrew. They can’t condemn you for that.”

Mercifully the cab was there when she arrived, and the cabby said nothing as she tumbled in, gave him the address and pulled off her jacket to don the warm, neatly ironed shirt. Fingers shaking as she did the buttons she realised how nervous she really was. The cabby made the journey in what had to have been record time, taking streets she wasn’t sure really existed and pulling stunts which made her suspect he had some form of traffic-controlling-light-changing-pedestrian-removing mutation. Thanking him profoundly and tipping him as generously as she could she tumbled from the cab, took a second to neaten her skirt and don her jacket, slip the strap of her bag over her shoulder and make her way up the steps. One could have been forgiven for thinking she was a trainee lawyer, and from the glare she received from a waiting defendant a firm one.

Stopping only once to ask directions she made her way to the courtroom and was relieved to find Andrew and Jorge outside. What she would have done if the corridor had been empty and the doors closed she wasn’t sure, but it was something she didn’t need to think about right now. Right now Andy needed her, emotional support needed to be strong enough to support the person in need. Approaching him she scanned his face carefully before turning to Jorge.

“Morning Jorge, are you well?”

Her attention, rather rudely, wasn’t on him long before it shifted back to Andrew. He looked nervous, rightfully so, and she wished she had arrived early enough to get him a hot chocolate, or some cookies, or some other homely thing which might take his mind off things for a little while. She put her hand in her pocket and felt the reassuring smooth, cool surface of a marble. She pulled it out and looked at it, blue, the colour of openness, truth, peace and clarity of mind. A lucky colour. She slipped it into his hand and squeezed him into a quick hug.

“Sorry I was a little late, my alarm didn’t go off. Hey, it’s ok, you’ll be fine.”

Surely anyone who looked at Andrew could tell he was a good person, that he would never kill anyone on purpose. Well, perhaps if he had promised, but even then probably not… In fact, she wasn’t quite sure why they were in court, of course someone had died and that needed to be resolved, but from what she understood it was clearly self (or rather… for someone else’s self) defence. In a tossup between a detective’s life and the accidental life of the attempting murderer, well anyone could see that while lives couldn’t be measured against one another, Jorge deserved to live. That was unlikely to be the argument taken by the plaintiffs though, you didn’t press charges just to back down at the last moment.

What they could possibly want from a student, working for the mansion, other than revenge, was a mystery. There was certainly no way to pay them off for their ‘loss’. Perhaps they were simply in pain, and like all good bullies were lashing out at someone weaker than themselves. While there was nothing she could really do, she wanted to be there as best as she could. Squeezing his fingers reassuringly she checked her phone for the time before switching it totally off. It wouldn’t do to disrupt the courtroom with a sudden ringtone.

Andrew shook his head and continued to stand where he was. He had too much nervous energy at the moment to just sit down. As for relaxing, he could do that once the trial was over. Jorge asserted that they couldn't punish him for saving his life. Andrew knew darn well that they could and might. With the way their legal system worked all it would take was a clever enough lawyer on the other person's side asking the right questions. Though Jorge was trying to cheer him up and get him to calm down entirely it wasn't going to happen. Honestly he'd be a little afraid if he was completely calm about being here. How many times would he have had to have seen the inside of a court house to be entirely calm before a trial? Andrew smiled at Jorge apologetically, as if to apologize for the fact that his well meant words were not doing any good.

Right about then Verdy appeared. She took a moment to greet Jorge and then turned to Andrew. He felt something cool and glassy slip into his hand right before she hugged him briefly. Apparently her alarm clock had failed to activate at the proper time.

"Hey, you're here now so no harm done."

Andrew accepted her assurances as calmly as he could. Until the verdict was read he would continue to be nervous. Having people he knew in the court room was something of a double edged sword though. On one hand he was glad for their support but on the other hand he didn't like to worry them like this.

Though, all told there was something to be said for this trial finally happening. Once it was done he wouldn't have to worry about legal repercussions of what he'd done anymore. That would be a huge weight off of his mind. He gave a glance at the clock to check that they still had time before he needed to be in the court room. They did. So he took a moment to examine exactly what Verdy had given him. It wasn't much. Just a blue glass marble. It was the thought that counted. He tucked the little marble into his pocket.

Jorge watched as Andrew refused to sit now. Instead the man simply continued to stand and pace too and fro. The detective watched him carefully but said nothing else. At least he had tried to help. In truth though he knew that nothing was really going to help Andrew until the verdict in his case was rendered. Until then he would have to deal the only way that he knew how and Jorge had to respect him for it. It took a lot of guts for Andrew to come here today and face that jury, that judge, and especially that thug’s surviving family. They would be glaring daggers at him the whole time. At the precinct Jorge overheard several times how the family wanted nothing more than to crucify Andrew for what he had done. That same mentality would definitely be here today.

Luckily the silence and tension was broken up by the sound of rushing footsteps in the tiled hall. A glance up and he spied immediately the familiar face and form of a young lady whom he was not only training to box, but also seemed to be attached to Andrew’s hip…Verdigris.

He smirked slightly as he watched her make her way up to them and glanced over at Andrew. They may have not been together, but damned if they didn’t make a good couple. He would root for them when they finally realized they had something to spark with.

>> “Morning Jorge, are you well?”

Jorge merely nodded in reply with a warm smile but he said nothing. Which was good because before he knew it, she had turned her attention back to Andrew. Most would have seen the move as rude, but Jorge merely smirked and said nothing about it. Instead he stood from the bench and decided to give them a little bit of space. He moved a little further down the hall and instead leaned himself against a wall with his back to the “friends.” In silence he watched empty hallway and his mind began to fill with musings.

The past few months had gone by quicker than he would have liked to have seen. Ever since Andrew’s incident all he has seen in the precinct were constant phone calls from the family demanding blood and threatening letters to the chief of police that we weren’t doing our jobs. There were a couple of times that they even showed up at the office, demanding to see the officer who lied that their “baby” had shot at and nearly strangled. Because of the case he was not allowed to go near them, but he did catch sight of them once…

Step…Step…Step…

Multiple footsteps resounded in the air and before he knew it, Jorge was looking down the hall at a sight that ran his blood cold. The thugs family…they were here and were wandering far down on the other side of the hallway. It didn’t seem like they were going to head down towards them soon, nor did they seem to notice Andrew or the detective. Instinctively, Jorge pushed himself off the wall and headed for Andrew and Verdy. He prayed those people would be smart enough to stay where they were, and nearsighted enough to not spot either of them.

The last thing the courthouse needed was a confrontation in front of their room.

“Of course, we couldn’t leave you by yourself to face this bunch of crazies, that’s what friends are for.”

That, and sharing a dog and going on rampages and sword-fighting in a shopping centre and all manner of things not yet done or planned. Jorge wandered off down the hall as Andrew inspected the ball of glass, she flushed a little as she tried to explain. In her head it sounded right, outloud it was a little stranger.

“It’s for good luck, and blue is the colour of peace and clarity of mind.”

She wasn’t sure if she believed in good luck charms, but she believed in covering all bases and seeing as truth was a given in the courtroom a little luck and the frantic taxi-cab-prayer as she struggled with her buttons couldn’t be of any harm. Giving a good luck charm seemed a little less queer than saying ‘I prayed for you’ especially since she wasn’t sure who she had addressed her plea to, more of an open request to anyone listening in the cosmos.

“I don’t know if it’ll help or anything, but everything’s so uptight in courtrooms, it might be nice to have something that’s got nothing to do with why we’re here.”

Andrew seemed to accept her little gift (how she wished she had something that would just make it all go away, for everything to be better) as he slipped it into his pocket. Before she could think of anything comforting or reassuring to say, Jorge made his way back to them, a look of worry on his face. Instinctively Verdy scanned the hall for what he might have seen to get him off the wall which he had been doing a fine job of holding up.

A group of people were far enough down the hall that even with her now clear eyes she struggled to make out details. She was fairly certain at least one of them was a woman, but other than that it was anyone’s guess. So guess she did. Her guess was that these were the people pressing charges against Andrew, and she shifted her position so that if they looked down the corridor they would see her very professional looking back, and not so much of Andrew and his nervous pacing. Wishing she was a little taller so she could shield more of him from their view she looked at Jorge.

“Is that them?”

What would they do if they noticed Andrew, the detective and herself standing outside the courtroom? Surely they would be civil. No one would dare do something stupid in a courthouse of all places, but still, Andrew was jumpy enough that it mightn’t take much to disrupt whatever little calmness he had in him. Despite the limited nature of their relationship she found herself wanting to hold his hands, reassure him that everything would be alright, if not pull him into a hug strong enough to shield him from the world. As it was she had to settle for a little nod of encouragement accompanied by a little smile. Determined to radiate calm she focused on her breathing for a moment or two, letting Hunter’s training work its way through her, putting her own nerves and tension aside for Andrew’s sake. She regretted not taking the time to meditate with him before the trial, as it seemed to help quite a bit in calming her own jitters.

As Andrew saw the group coming up the hallway and Jorge's reaction to them all other thoughts ceased. He had been preparing to thank Verdy for the apparently lucky marble of clarity and peace of mind. Who'd have thought blue could do that huh? He'd have to wear more blue clothes in the future. Meanwhile however he had a potential crisis to deal with. Those were the people that had charged him with murder after all.

"I think we should get inside the court room. It'll look worse for them if they start a scene in the court room as opposed to out here in the hallway where no one can see."

Sure it would cut short his time with his two friends but he would rather do that than have a fight occur outside the court room that could be blamed on him.

"Thanks for being here by the way guys."

Andrew shook Jorge's hand and gave Verdy a half hug before heading quickly toward the court room doors. The sooner he got inside the less likely they would be to cause trouble.

His return to the group obviously warranted a look of curiosity from Verdigris as well as Andrew. He did not want to alarm them about the thug’s family arrival, but that notion was quickly taken out of his hands. As he arrived to them, the keen eyed young woman immediately turned to looked past him and spied the more angry then sad looking family. The question that followed was inevitable:

>> “Is that them?”

Mutely Jorge nodded as he turned to look at Andrew. So far the kid had been blissful unaware of the family except for snippets containing whatever Jorge or the kid’s lawyer had decided to tell him. This was different though. They were here, in flesh and blood and bone and they wanted only one thing in the world, to take Andrew down for removing a member of their family from life. Jorge wished that he did not have to go through this but even back in that alley he knew things would come to this. He couldn’t keep the kid’s actions buried for long, and the family’s lust for vengeance was more than expected. Well…maybe not as bloodthirsty as they have appeared thus far, but it was expected nonetheless.

He then saw the look in Andrew’s eyes. He didn’t know if the kid realized who these people were at first but he seemed to realize it judging from both his and Verdigris’ reactions. Andrew then stirred them towards the courtroom doors.

>> "I think we should get inside the court room. It'll look worse for them if they start a scene in the court room as opposed to out here in the hallway where no one can see…Thanks for being here by the way guys."

Jorge smirked as he shook Andrew’s hand firmly then watched as he gave Verdigris the most friendly of hugs. It had been a long and very strange journey thus far. He hated the idea that Andrew had to go through all of this just for saving the life of a grizzly detective. Jorge was never one of pity parties, but lately he had been feeling guilty about Andrew. Though he felt that he would be okay, Jorge still felt guilt that for the past few months, Andrew had to live with this on his shoulders. He had to exist forever on, knowing that he took the life of someone. Even though that thug may have not been the most innocent man in the world, killing should never be justified.

Entering the courthouse, Jorge could only shake his head as he stepped back and allowed the two youngsters to step in first. He waited for a moment and watched the family slowly making their way down the hall. The person in lead was a woman, the boy’s mother and the most boisterous of the family. He had come to know that first hand whenever she would walk into the precinct. It was like the scene in Jurassic Park where the big dinosaur’s footsteps caused pools of water everywhere to vibrate and pulse. Whenever the stomping, dinosaur of a woman walked into the office, her footfalls caused everyone to look up in surprise. She was a big woman, but not only that, she had the loudest voice and the reddest face to match. It was obvious that when she spoke, people could not help but listen.

For a brief second down the hall, Jorge and the woman locked eyes. It took her a moment, but once she caught sight of him, Jorge could see the rage building up behind her cheeks. He could only imagine what choice words she was sure to have for him.

With a sigh, he turned without a word or gesture and followed the pair into the courtroom with a prayer on his lips.

It was them. They walked, no, -marched- up the hallway as if they were preparing for battle instead of mourning a loved one. Verdy wasn’t sure if she held more pity or loathing towards them but the loathing section was more prominent at this point in time as she saw the way that Andrew acted. To drag a dead man’s name all around through court, for the sole purpose of causing someone else pain was cruel.

Andrew’s suggestion that they move inside was one that showed his level headedness. While she had been getting tense, ready for a storm of evil words, he was moving them to a safe place where they would be out of the weather. The thanks he gave to herself and Jorge seemed almost like a farewell so she squeezed him back in the hug and refused to let tears cloud her vision for more than the hug’s duration. He was going to be fine, he was honest, defending a friend, and he had her lucky marble, although she was fearful of its potency against the angry, red woman bearing down on them.

Slipping into the courtroom in front of Jorge but behind Andrew, she took in the layout with a mixture of apprehension and curiosity. The Judge wasn’t in the little podium-esque square of wood, so she was fairly sure they didn’t need to bow, but she dipped her head so as to not make eye contact with the jury who were semi-assembled in their area, speaking in low voices or organising papers and things. As she was not associated with the case she made her way towards the seats reserved for the public, hopeful that most of the family members would have better sense than to sit near her if they weren’t getting up to give witness.

Currently alone in the sea of wooden pews she felt a wave of loneliness for Andrew, as well as herself. The support which she and Jorge provided was nothing compared to the pressure of the trail. Would he be able to hold himself together? Or would he buckle and be crushed?

Shaking off such disturbing thoughts she turned her thoughts to the courtroom itself. Would it have some form of measures to ensure that the judge and jury were not influenced by any mutations present in the room? For if someone like Slate with mental influence were inclined to, it would be possible to communicate with any of the inhabitants of the room. In fact, many mutations could have caused serious issues in the trial, and the only way to deal with them would be a zero-tolerance. Could the courtroom have some form of mutation-nulling aura? So that any x-genes couldn’t sway the proceedings? Her palms didn’t feel any different, but she was disinclined to test to see if her ability had been negated, nor could she see Andrew’s wrist enough to tell if the promise band, so like a tattoo, was still there.

Folding her hands into her lap with a sigh she resigned herself to waiting and seeing. What more could she possibly do? Somehow she felt rude sending messages to the unknowns in the cosmos twice in the one day when before she had mainly ignored them. Although… truly she must have had tonnes of prayer space stored up, once more couldn’t hurt.