Chase's custody had been more complicated that initially planned. Gemma had, based off of what little information the eight-year-old shapeshifter had given her, assumed that the child was wholly a ward of the state and was, simply put, "up for grabs". Given his hometown, which was Syracuse, and his age, she was able to determine what his whole name was (Thaddeus Chase Townsend), and the social worker who had originally in-charge of him.

Her name was Valerie Skinner. And, through some brief discussions, some very crucial information was gleaned. Gemma was informed that his case was technically still active, though it had been put on-hold following his disappearance. The mandate was that, if he was found, he would have to be return to Syracuse until the trial's conclusion. When Gemma proposed possibly moving him to Xavier's, rather than returning him to mainstream foster care homes, Valerie said this--

To file for such custody would require for a meeting, not only between Chase's caseworker (Valerie Skinner), but also Stella and Laurence Townsend (his parents) and their attorney, and of course, the consent of Chase himself.

To these conditions, Gemma readily agreed. They arranged for a date to rendezvous, and a location. It was determined that the best place to hold such a meeting, if Chase were to be involved, would be on the campus of Xavier's. (This was a decision held in distaste by Laurnece or Stella, but it was decided that, if they attempted to bring Chase in , he'd likely try to bolt once more.)

For reasons that Valerie would not specify over the phone, an in-person meeting was in-order.

===//////===

It was one of those biting-cold afternoons, with a distant and unimposing overcast sky and a wind that cut straight to the bone. A black BMW rolled slowly up the sloping driveway of the Mansion, and a woman with shrewd, grey eyes stepped out. She was a bespectacled woman, with hair needle-straight burnette hair that had been pulled back in a slightly sloppy bun. She had a warm, round face, but wasn't fat. She wore an official yet comfortable outfit-- black slacks, a deep purple blouse offset by an elastic belt around the natural waistline, and black leather wedges. All of this was covered by a wool coat. She even toted and official-looking briefcase. She inhaled deeply, and sighed.

The bespectacled woman had been at the head of a procession of a good lump of cars. The vehicle behind her had contained Mr. and Mrs. Townsend, and behind that, their overpaid, loudmouthed attorney. The bespectacled woman was Valerie Skinner, the caseworker.

Valerie looked around for their representative from the NYPD, adjusting her glasses. He was supposed to be from the Mutant Related Crimes division. Apparently, a while ago, some overzealous mutant-hating parents had nearly burnt the place to cinders in an attempt to reacquire their daughter. Valerie could respect their desire to take such precautions. But, she didn't see the officer in-question. That was okay, because she didn’t see the cars that were supposed to be following her, either.

Valerie smirked and waited on the stairs leading up to the main entry, leaning against the handrail. She was a New York City-native, born and raised. She’d followed a job up to Syracuse, but in her growing up in New York, she’d learned to maneuver the city traffic well. Poor country-folk had probably gotten sucked up by the merciless city traffic. Pity. Valerie took the opportunity to take a breather, adjusting her briefcase as she waited. Xavier’s was a difficult place to miss, they’d be able to find it on their own, so she didn’t feel the obligation to retrieve them.

This was not going to be easy. Gemma was not even sure if it was going to be pretty. Whenever human parents were involved, who hated their own mutant kids enough to chase them away, it was rarely ever pretty.

Moving the meeting to Xavier's was both an advantage and a drawback. On the one hand, everyone could see it was a great place, safe, well equipped, and perfect for kids like Chase. On the other hand, it was full of mutants, and that was bound to make the parents uncomfortable.

In addition to all that, Mom and Dad had a lawyer. Gemma really wished the Mansion would have a resident attorney. That would make her life so much easier.

No attorney, but they did have security this time - Jorge had agreed to join them. She talked to him about Chase before; mainly explained the situation and asked for help. The Mansion didn't have any kids this young, none that lived there full time anyway. She could understand that this would come with a lot of issues; Chase would need constant supervision, and probably an official guardian. She was willing to do that if that was what it took to keep him safe. And away from the parents. She was not one to judge people she had never met, but CPS taking him away from them was a pretty telltale sign.

It was going to be a very official and very uncomfortable meeting. Good thing Gemma was good at negotiations.

She could see the cars arriving from the window. She knew Jorge was going to be there soon too. He knew better than to be late.

Driving up a back road that lead to the Xavier mansion, detective Jorge Cervantes sighed silently to himself as he watched the world roll by his window. The day seemed so peaceful out. Not too cold, but enough to still put a nice crisp in the air, a shining sun, and a beautiful Fall day. It was enough to promise a really good day for anyone who was out and about. Unfortunately that was not completely the case with the good detective. He was not going out to enjoy the day at his leisure. Instead he was going out on official business.

Gemma had informed him that his official services were going to be needed today. A while ago she ran across a kid on the street. A young boy by the name of Chase how was attempting to live on his home. Another runaway. But since he was so young she did research in order to figure out how to best care for his situation and keep him at the mansion.

She uncovered more. The boy’s parents were still around and they had a bulldog for a lawyer. Gemma was going to be in for a fight but with she hoped with his presence there that it would be enough to show that the mansion would be a much safer place.

He could only pray that it would be sufficient. From what he’s heard the parents were not big fans of mutants, which is why the boy ran in the first place. Unfortunately the whole scenario made him think of Agnes and her parents. They were mutant haters too and they went to that school. Did these people also have plans to set the mansion on fire?

He shook his head as he drove on.

Upon getting closer to the school, the detective paused when he saw that there was someone already there. She was by herself and didn’t look lawyery type so that could only mean one thing, she had to be the case worker Valerie Skinner. He sighed a bit and tried to appear as friendly as possible. He hoped that this woman could see that this would be a good place for the kid. He really did.

Pulling his car to a stop next to hers, Jorge punched in the code for the gate and headed for the mansion in his grey suit and trench coat. He briefly adjusted his tie as he nodded respectfully to the woman already there.

“Afternoon,” he said with a nod. “Ms…Skinner, I take it?” he asked. God he hoped he was right. He held out his badge for her to double check his identity. “Detective Jorge Cervantes, MRC.”

Another car came up the drive and parked beside her own. This car was not one that had been in her caravan, thus Valerie watched the approaching man closely, surveying his appearance as he approached. Dark eyes, salt-and-pepper hair, relatively tall. Valerie was about an inch shorter than him in her wedges. He was either a visitor, or the police officer that was keeping an eye on them.

>> “Afternoon-- Ms…Skinner, I take it?”

Yup, it was the police officer. Hopefully he wasn't a hard-ass. That was the last thing she needed. A no-nonsense cop to go with the pushy lawyer. Valerie smile and replied, "Please, call me Valerie."

>> “Detective Jorge Cervantes, MRC.”

"It's a pleasure, Detective," Valerie replied. Okay, he seemed chill enough. The detective offered his badge for Valerie to read, which she surveyed casually. The detective had a legitimate badge, too. Good to see. A casual smile touched her face. They'd have to kill time until the rest of the entourage turned up.

"Mr. and Mrs. Townsend, the parents, and their attorney, Mr. Evans, will join us shortly," she informed Detective Cervantes, "I'm afraid that they aren't accustomed to the city traffic, so I might have unfortunately lost track of them on the way over." She continued to smile wanly. Accidentally. Right.

Contrary to popular belief, she was on the Chase's side. She wanted what was best for him, and was totally sold on the pro-mutant, let's-send-him-to-Xavier's mentality. But, Mr. and Mrs. Townsend were very powerful, and there all these technicalities and legalities, and a bunch of hoops to hop through. It was all very befuddling. Valerie had to go through the motions, especially when it came to such high-earning people as Mr. and Mrs. Townsend. In fact, the only true purpose of their pressence today was to make sure Valerie didn't say anything she wasn't supposed to. And, if things turned out the way that Valerie hoped that they would today, for consent.

Speaking of the devils, two more cars wound up the drive, joining Valerie's and the Detective's vehicles. Valerie sighed and adopted a more professional posture. The first one to get out was a short, wiry man with straight, black hair and a sharp face.

"Mr. Evans," Valerie informed the Detective, "The lawyer."

From the second car emerged a couple of people, a man and woman. The woman was a lank, auburn-haired woman with a pretty face. The man had short, thinning blonde hair and an attractive, nordic features and a fairly muscular build.

"Mr. and Mrs. Townsend," Valerie rattled, "The parents."

The trio came up the hill together, and paused at the base of the steps hesitantly. Valerie donned a warm smile, inclining her head.

"Mr. and Mrs. Townsend, Mr. Evans," she greeted. They were well-acquainted, she didn't need to introduce herself, "Good afternoon."

"Hello, Ms. Skinner," they chorused. Mr. and Mrs. Townsend had managed a fake polite tone, the attorney sounded sarcastically polite. Yeah, they didn't get to call her Valerie.

The detective greeted the woman in as friendly a manner as he could. She did look like she would be a tough woman. But he hoped that she was here for Chase’s best interest and not simply to send the kid back to his home. If Chase was sent back, Jorge had no doubt in his mind that the kid would run off again. And if he did, he did not know the likelihood that he would come back to the mansion. So long as he knew that his parents knew about this place, he wouldn’t come back.

Jorge knew that much about kids, especially runaways. You never return to the same place.

But he kept his judgments silent for now and remained as civil as possible. His interest was getting Chase to safety, that was it…

>> "It's a pleasure, Detective…Mr. and Mrs. Townsend, the parents, and their attorney, Mr. Evans, will join us shortly. I'm afraid that they aren't accustomed to the city traffic, so I might have unfortunately lost track of them on the way over."

“That’d be a crying shame,” Jorge responded. It was just vague enough for the woman to not fully realize if he were being sarcastic or not. Truth was, during a proceeding like this, Jorge needed to remain unbiased. Otherwise he words on this kid’s wellbeing would mean nothing…

>> "Mr. Evans…The lawyer."

Jorge nodded…then sighed. He hated lawyers. Always did…

>> "Mr. and Mrs. Townsend…The parents."

He eyed them. His mind flashed back to Agnes. She ran away from home for a reason. Whenever kids run away from home it’s for an extremely good reason. And usually that reason had to do with the parents…

>> "Mr. and Mrs. Townsend, Mr. Evans…Good afternoon."

>> "Hello, Ms. Skinner,"

Jorge remained silent as the parents and their lawyer walked up to the mansion. They greet the case worker in mock levity, almost as if they were pleased to see her. If was obvious that this was far from true. They didn’t want anything to do with this whole situation and they simply wanted their child back to keep this from causing too much trouble. That much was obvious judging by the amount of wealth they possessed. If there was one thing he knew about rich people was that they did not want to have scandal.

When they finally turned to acknowledge them, he smiled and nodded to them both with just as much friendliness as they were offering to Valerie.

“Afternoon. I’m Detective Cervantes. I’ll be mediating this meeting.”

She could see people gathering at the front door. Jorge was here, thank God, and so was the social worker. And the parents. With a lawyer.

"Oh this is gonna be fun..."

Wearing the most elegant casual attire she could find (looks ar,e after all, really important when you are trying to impress a lawyer, a social worker and a pair of mutant-hating parents at the same time), Gemma walked to the front door, took a deep breath, and opened it.

"Welcome to Xavier's Sister School" she said with a charming smile, that was only real when she glanced at Jorge "My name is Gemma Taylor, I am the school's guidance counselor. Thank you all for coming, it is our pleasure to have you here. Please, come in..."

There was tea and coffee ready in teh living room, closed up for the meeting to keep curious students away. There were also treats, and everything in order, in and around the common room, just in case they decided to take a tour...

It was just a drill. Moves you have to go through, for the kid's sake. She was willing to do it. And she was good at it, too.

>> “That’d be a crying shame.”

“Indeed,” Valerie agreed, mimicking the detective’s tone. She liked this guy already. She watched as the calvary arrived and hiked up the hill towards Xavier’s. The introductions went well-enough, and were nothing short of expected when it came to how they addressed Valerie. With a good deal more staidness about him, the Detective greeted—

>> “Afternoon. I’m Detective Cervantes. I’ll be mediating this meeting.”

Valerie smiled placidly. Good thing he had left out the Mutant-Related Crimes bit. Even if he was an unbiased mediator, if he was in the MRC, the Townsends would have immediately assumed that he was a sympathizer. They were a good deal more civil when they made their acquaintance to Detective Cervantes.

“Detective Cervantes,” Mr. Townsend greeted, “My name is Lawrence, Lawrence Townsend. And this is my wife, Stella. Our attorney, Mr. Michael Evans.”

“Hello,” Stella greeted softly, while Mr. Evans gave a curt nod. Valerie rolled her lips together impatiently, Brown-nosers.

It had to have been divine intervention when Miss Taylor opened the door to Xavier’s and announced herself. Valerie turned, wearing a smile. The parents looked uneasy.

>> “Welcome to Xavier’s School. My name is Gemma Taylor, I am the school’s guidance counselor. Thank you all for coming, it is our pleasure to have you here. Please, come in…”

Valerie led the pack, climbing the stair assuredly with the detective and company in-tow. The Townsends kept close to Detective Cervantes, looking as if they were marching to their death, and Mr. Evans followed them, expressionless.

Once to the top of the staircase, Valerie stopped before Miss Taylor, extending her hand for a handshake.

“Miss Taylor, Valerie Skinner—so nice to finally meet you.”

>> “Detective Cervantes…My name is Lawrence, Lawrence Townsend. And this is my wife, Stella. Our attorney, Mr. Michael Evans.”

“Hello,”

Jorge greeted them. As civil as he could. The truth was that at first sight, he really didn’t care for these people. Something about them just gave him a bad vibe. But the problem was that he was not here to work on judging these people. He was here on official business as a mediator and to make sure that neither side got too out of hand. Though secretly he hoped that these people would see that this place was good for their child, part of him felt like there was storm on the horizon.

This was going to be tough. He could already sense that…

But before the detective could get too deep into his thoughts, suddenly the front door to the mansion opened and there he saw his girlfriend, Gemma Taylor. No matter what she wore, Jorge knew that she was a beautiful woman, but she looked especially smart today. She was ready to take on these people and fight for Chase’s behalf.

>> "Welcome to Xavier's Sister School…My name is Gemma Taylor, I am the school's guidance counselor. Thank you all for coming, it is our pleasure to have you here. Please, come in..."

He nodded and smiled gently back at her knowing smile. It was probably better that they don’t outright let it be known that both she and him were seeing each other. That would probably damage his chances at being taken seriously as a mediator. As it was, the second they started to walk into the mansion, both the parents clung by his side.

Perfect he thought to himself as he glanced at both parents. Obviously they did not like mutants to such a degree that they felt it was necessary to keep the law on their side. Well there was no use buttering him up. He only nodded respectfully to them both that it was okay to proceed inside.

>> “Miss Taylor, Valerie Skinner—so nice to finally meet you.”

Once everyone was in, Jorge hung back to close the door behind them. It was time to get this pony show on the road…

>>“Miss Taylor, Valerie Skinner—so nice to finally meet you.”

"Likewise" she smiled, ushering everyone inside. Once they all took their places in the living room, she made sure everyone got coffee or tea, and cookies. First things first, she was thier hostess, and she wanted to make them feel at home, as much as possible. if they saw the mansion as a safe, comfortable place, maye they would be willing to allow Chase to stay...

She did not tell Chase about the meeting. The boy knew Gemma was working on things, but he didn't know his parents were coming. It was the time of the day when students were outside playing or training, and she did close the living room doors; still, she wanted to get this over with as fast as she could.

Once everyone was seated and ready, she glanced at Valerie, letting her know that she was ready...

The group filtered inside in a quiet an orderly fashion. It was a good deal more placid than Valerie had expected. With a school full of children, be they human or mutant, it should've been louder. But, in the distance, she could hear the chattering of kids in the distance. Good, so they'd cleared the area for the meeting.

Valerie followed Miss Taylor into the living room, which she'd done-up to look rather nice. Casual drinks such as tea and coffee, finger foods-- Valerie sighed faintly... damn, too bad she was here on official business. It was a lovely gesture, much-appreciated by the social worker, but... shoot, she had to be professional. Perhaps, when the official business was done, she'd indulge and let herself have something to eat. That is, if they were still on friendly enough terms that she would be welcome to eat something.

Valerie took her seat in a single-seater lounge chair, sitting on the cusion's edge. The attorney, and Mr. and Mrs. Townsend, sat on a couch. Valerie glanced towards Detective Cervantes, to see if he was ready, and then towards Miss Taylor. Miss Taylor gave her a nod.

Valerie pulled out a small voice recorder, and set it on the arm of the chair for everyone to see, lest she need it for later. She hit the record button, rattled off the date and the time, her full name, her location, and had all of the others who were present speak for themselves. She was just covering her back, lest someone (such as Mr. Evans or his employers) tried to twist her words into something else.

"We're here to talk about the custody of Thaddeus Chase Townsend," Valerie explained, for the sake of the recording, "In the hopes of reaching a compromise on a living situation that is beneficial to the child--" in other words, finding a place for him to stay, a place from which he wouldn't runaway. Now done with the official introduction, Valerie turned her gaze towards Miss Taylor.

"Now, Miss Taylor, to fully explain Chase's situation, I will explain what we've gathered on his case," Valerie informed her, "His background leading up to our finding him, and what we came to determine in his case before he ran, and our potential courses of action-- background, problem, possible solutions. Sound good?"

She waited for Gemma to answer, before looking towards the Townsends and their attorney.

"Sound good?"

She recieved a chorus of affirmatives.

===//////===

Thirty Minutes Prior, The Grounds

There had to have been at least a half-a-dozen younger kids up in the tree, two of whom were Big League and Chase. They were pretending to be monkeys, which they would've frankly told any passerby, and doing a rather convincing job of it. Chase was up quiet high, on one of the highest branches possible, looking down at his cohorts in silent bravery.

"Guys, did ya hear?" Big League shouted, chewing his gum loudly, "They got some top-secret-agent stuff goin' on upstairs. I heard it from a big kids today."

"Naw, Bee, you're kidding us!"

"Yeah, secret agent stuff, my pants! Everyone knows they have that sort of thing downstairs in the basement."

"No, I'm telling you the truth, guys!" Big League protested, "That's why they closed it off! 'cuz of the top-secret stuff!"

There was a chorus of complaints and skeptic groans. Big League and all his crazy talk.

"I'll prove it! I'll show you," Big League grumbled, "We can spy on the spies, and then you'll see. Who's with me!"

"I'll help spy," Chase agreed quietly, waving his hand. He could change his appearance, which sounded like a useful skill for spying.

"You can be my second-in-command," Big League announced, "Who else is in?"

The other kids groaned, no one stepped up. Big League gestured for Chase to follow as he began his descent, "You're all a bunch'a party poopers. Come on, Chase. We can use one of my bubbles to float up and take a peek. No one'll even know we're there."

Chase nodded. They clambered down, and hopped out of the tree together when they reached the lowest branch. Chase followed Big League towards the school

In they went, the social worker following his girlfriend’s lead as they made their way into the mansion. It was surprising how quiet this place was. It was definitely not something that Jorge was used to. Whenever he walked into this mansion all he ever heard were the sounds of mutant teens running around, attempting to get away with using their powers, or laughing, or joking, or arguing…it was a typical school setting! Therefore it was a little jarring for the detective to walk in here and see how much things were different.

He had to nod. Gemma must have organized it to keep the students away from the mutant-hating parents. Very, very smart move on her part.

Once instead he smirked slightly at the appearance of the casual foods as well as the option of coffee or tea. Normally Jorge would have jumped at the chance to sample something, especially the tea, but he was in professional mode. Gratefully he declined anything as he took a seat across from Valerie. One either side of them, Gemma and the Townsends looked across to each other. He hoped that Gemma was up for this.

>> "We're here to talk about the custody of Thaddeus Chase Townsend…In the hopes of reaching a compromise on a living situation that is beneficial to the child--"

Jorge had only heard snippets about Chase. He really has had yet to meet the boy. He really wanted to meet him, just to gauge how the boy really was. It was hard to tell just from Gemma’s descriptions but it was obvious that the boy had some issues. Running away because of his mutation, he feared he was looking at another Agnes in the making. Agnes was an extremely sweet girl but she lost so much of her childhood because of her parents. Jorge didn’t want the same thing to happen to Chase.

He just hoped that Chase was not too emotionally scarred because of his life on the streets or because of his parents or whatever experiences he may have had.

>> "Now, Miss Taylor, to fully explain Chase's situation, I will explain what we've gathered on his case," Valerie informed her, "His background leading up to our finding him, and what we came to determine in his case before he ran, and our potential courses of action-- background, problem, possible solutions. Sound good?"

Jorge situated himself. And kept eyes on Valerie as she spoke, as well as glancing back and forth between Gemma and the Townsends and their lawyer for reactions. In end all that mattered was Chase’s wellbeing…he would have to keep remembering that…

>>"Now, Miss Taylor, to fully explain Chase's situation, I will explain what we've gathered on his case. His background leading up to our finding him, and what we came to determine in his case before he ran, and our potential courses of action-- background, problem, possible solutions. Sound good?"

Gemma nodded. "Sounds good."

She could tell the parents were more than in a hurry to get things over with and get out of the dangerous mutant school - but they did bring an attorney, which in itself meant they were not going to go easy on her, on the school. For the thousandth time in the past few weeks, she wished Sam would be around to represent the school and look all responsible and serious. But he wasn't, and she had to deal with alone.

Except for Jorge. Jorge was here, and that made her feel more at ease. She wanted to smile at him, but she didn't; letting them know they were seeing each other was not a smart thing to do when he was supposed to be neutral in this situation. So, she showed her most professional face, and nodded to Valerie.

"Please, go on."

Valerie cleared her throat and dug into her briefcase, pulling out what seemed to be a small, leather portfolio. She unhooked the clasp and cracked it open. At the very top, perhaps the only picture of Chase, in his natural form, in existence. This was his file. The file contained his most recent history.

"We were introduced to the Chase in March of this year," Valerie began, folding one leg over the other as she skimmed her case study, "He was found by police, on a highway, about twenty miles outside of Syracuse. He'd been gone for about six hours, when w called the Townsend household, and they hadn't even known he was gone. This gave us probable cause to open-up an investigation."

Valerie glanced at the Townsends, at the detective, then at Miss Taylor, before looking back down at her notes.

"In our investigation, we learned that what initially drive Chase to runaway was an altercation with an older boy at school," Valerie recited, keeping her voice cool and professional, "The kid pulled a box cutter on him, he un-shifted, and consequently was pulled out of school because of the anti-mutant community."

"Also, through this investigation, we found evidence of a neglectful and abusive home environment. It have us enough reason for us to remove him from his home."

Valerie lifted her gaze towards the Townsend, who were passively keeping silent, as if emotionless statues. Valerie then looked towards Gemma.

"Questions, so far?"

===//////===

Chase and Big League stood at the base of the building, heads craned towards the second floor. The curtains were drawn so that light filtered in, but the occupants of the living room couldn't see out.

"Are you sure about this?" Chase murmured, "You aren't gonna drop me, are you?"

"Relax, I can hold ya, no problem. Long as ya don't squirm. Come on."

Chase uncertainly hugged up against Big League, frowning faintly.

"Man, you're gonna break my ribs with that death-grip. Trust me, okay?"

"Just go, Bee."

Big League shrugged, blew one of his bubbles, and the two boys began floating towards the second story. Chase closed his eyes tightly. The two of them made it to the section of roof between the first two floors, touching-down smoothly.

"There, we made it," Big League announced, "You can open your eyes now."

Chase released his friend, looking around, "So, what's the plan of attack?"

Big League hummed, "Peek in, see what we can see. See if we can hear anything. Sound like a deal?"

Chase nodded. The two boys began creeping across the roof.

It was only a second but Jorge and Gemma had locked eyes before turning their attentions back to the conversation at hand. She obviously knew the benefits of keeping each other on the unbiased side of this debate. Gemma was going to side with Chase and keeping him here at the mansion; Jorge, on the other hand, had to be impartial and make sure that both sides managed to come to a conclusion of doing what was in the absolute best for Chase.

>> "Please, go on."

He nodded in response to Valerie. He was all ears for this case…

>> "We were introduced to the Chase in March of this year. He was found by police, on a highway, about twenty miles outside of Syracuse. He'd been gone for about six hours, when w called the Townsend household, and they hadn't even known he was gone. This gave us probable cause to open-up an investigation."

Jorge said nothing. His face was a mask of stone that would not be broken. But inside, his heart was crying out for this kid. He had made it twenty miles from his home and his parents were not tearing out their hair looking for him? That alone sent up was warning bells but Jorge did not let that fact be known. Instead, as he said he would, he listened.

>> "In our investigation, we learned that what initially drive Chase to runaway was an altercation with an older boy at school…The kid pulled a box cutter on him, he un-shifted, and consequently was pulled out of school because of the anti-mutant community…Also, through this investigation, we found evidence of a neglectful and abusive home environment. It have us enough reason for us to remove him from his home."

The detective mentally sighed. He watched Valerie as she recounted their experiences with Chase. She was not siding one way or the other with him. She was being extremely professional and merely stating exactly what it was they had discovered. They investigated a boy and found that he was attacked at school because of his powers, and then found an abusive and dangerous home from which he ran away. The detective glanced at the Townsends from out of the corner of his eye.

He was impressed. They looked just stalwart as they did when they appeared. Not a single crack in their facades. Jorge then glanced at Gemma. She worked with these types of cases all the time and he knew they affected her each and every time.

He hoped that they could legally get Chase out of this situation and not send him back…

>> "Questions, so far?"

Jorge shook his head. The detective was processing and instead watched both parties closely for their responses to these findings…

>>"We were introduced to the Chase in March of this year. He was found by police, on a highway, about twenty miles outside of Syracuse. He'd been gone for about six hours, when w called the Townsend household, and they hadn't even known he was gone. This gave us probable cause to open-up an investigation."

That part was actually new to Gemma. She only knew as much as Chase had told her, plus what Valerie told her in advance; but so far, she did not know all the details. She listened to the story and held back from frowning. The idea of an eight-year-old on the highway without the parents even looking for him...

>>"In our investigation, we learned that what initially drive Chase to runaway was an altercation with an older boy at school. The kid pulled a box cutter on him, he un-shifted, and consequently was pulled out of school because of the anti-mutant community. Also, through this investigation, we found evidence of a neglectful and abusive home environment. It have us enough reason for us to remove him from his home."

Gemma glanced at the parents. No emotions. They were probably more afraid of the mutant school than they were ashamed about neglecting their own child. Gemma wished they would have brought another burning angel instead of a lawyer. Then she could bitch slap them for it. But for now... she just had to listen.
The worst part? They didn't even look dangerous. They looked like 'decent people'. Except, they were not.

>>"Questions, so far?"

Oh yes, she had questions. What the hell, people? You have such a special, nice boy, and you chase him away. Why?!

"Later" she nodded to Valerie "Please continue..."