Log: Xavier & Gail Collins
Apr. 25th, 2006 01:00 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
x-wallflower-.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsWho: Charles Xavier, Gail Collins
When: Tuesday 25th April 2006 Time: 1pm
Summary: Gail calls Xavier for help after her daughter is arrested in relation to a semi-riot at Salem Center Highschool.
Lyrics: 'Better get a Lawyer' by the Cruel Sea
***
"My daughter's been arrested!" There was no introduction, no preamble other than that - this fact followed by another, far more important one. "It wasn't her fault, she didn't do anything on purpose and now they're trying to turn her into some sort of criminal!" The indignation and anger in the voice was palpable, streaming through to become a living entity, or so it seemed. "I need your help! Please!"
"I will help as much as I am able, Mrs . . . Collins," Charles answered smoothly after a glance at the caller ID, "but I will need to know more about your daughter's situation. Please, take a moment to settle yourself, and then we will talk about what I might be able to do. May I assume, since you've chosen to call me, that your daughter is a mutant?"
"Yes," was the short reply, "which is why they're being such idiots about this. As if she'd suddenly start eating babies for lunch just because she's a mutant!" There was a pause, followed by the sounds of someone taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I should try and make more sense... My name is Gail Collins and my daughter's name is Laurie. There was an incident at my daughter's school and now they're blaming my daughter for this, as though she intended to start a riot of all things. And I need your help... please - they're keeping her locked up and won't even let me see her!".
"I can certainly understand your concern, Mrs. Collins," Charles replied calmly. "My own students have had their share of encounters with the local police; I'm afraid they are not always as open-minded as we might wish." He thought for a moment. "Certainly, the first thing we should do is arrange for you to visit your daughter; to that end, I would like to put you in touch with one of my staff. Nathan is, among his other accomplishments, an attorney of some note, and I have no doubt he will be able to determine how best to proceed. May I give him your telephone number?"
"Oh course you can!" The reply was hurried, followed by the shushing sound of a hand covering the cellphone and muffled words being
exchanged. Indignant, uncompromising and unyielding. "Thank you so much. Here's my number." She rattled off the numbers, repeating them neatly to make sure they'd been understood, automatically so. "I have to get back to making sure those idiots don't do something stupid, now. I'll be waiting for the call, though. And again, thank you so much!"
"You are entirely welcome," Charles replied, a smile flavoring his words. "I only hope we can help."
Who: Nathan Morrow, Gail Collins
When: Tuesday 25th April 2006 Time: 3pm
Summary: Nathan meets Gail Collins for the first time as she's having words with one of the boys in blue.
Nathan hadn't expected to walk into the police station to find the mother of his soon-to-be client engaged in haranguing an intimidated-looking police officer. Not not only that, but Gail Collins was squeezing the man's personal space - and poking him in the chest. Nathan bit his lip, wondering just how long it would be until the cop decided that was assault. Best not to find out.
"Mrs. Collins?" he asked, walking over as she paused in mid-tirade to take a breath. "I'm Nathan Morrow, from Xavier's. The lawyer Charles mentioned to you on the phone."
"Oh thank god!" The words weren't spoken by the petite woman whirling around on precariously high heels to scowl at him, but rather by the large, burly man she'd been focusing on. As he took a step back, then another, hands raised in a placating gesture one might use with a dangerous animal about to rip out one's throat, the woman gave him a dismissive hand wave - whereupon he wasted no time in disappearing into the depths of the precinct.
"You're late!" The words were snapped out fiercely, but the woman's eyes and outstretched hands belied them easily. "Thank you for coming." One of his hands was grasped in hers and she took a deep breath, the bright canary yellow of her ruffled blouse expanding in an alarming flash of color. "Thank you so much. They keep insisting there's nothing to be done! Useless, all of them! Though not as much as her idiot fath-" she stopped at that word, as though refusing to even give Laurie's father that much acknowledgment. "Never mind that. Can we please get this resolved as soon as possible and my daughter cleared of all this!" Another pause, and the anger faded, to pure entreaty. "Please."
"That's the idea." He used their joined hands to draw her over to a seat by the wall. "Professor Xavier told me what you told him on the phone," he said steadily, sinking down in the chair beside her. "So I'm up to date on those details. What's going on here right now? Are they not letting you see her?"
"NO!" She was up from the chair in a shot at that word, arms waving for a moment before she whirled around to point at one particular officer, singling him out from the mass of uniforms in the room in a single instant. "That one keeps trying to tell me it's against procedures! She's my daughter and they're trying to say that I can't see her! They say they're keeping her in solitary because she's a mutant and she might be dangerous to others!" The last was said with a contemptuous sneer, somehow the mere tone of her voice managing to make it clear that she thought every single officer in the room who had tried to keep her away from her child was a spineless, castrated worm of a man.
"Well, then," Nathan said, his voice low and not so much soothing as cool and businesslike. Gail didn't need placating, he sensed. "They're poorly informed, aren't they?" The officer gave him and Gail a thin smile as she gestured at him; Nathan merely gazed back at him stonily for a moment before turning to Gail. "Sit down," he suggested, gently but firmly. "You're afraid for her, I know that. But if we're going to get you in to see her we've got to be deft about it. All they're looking for is an excuse to keep saying no."
Gail's eyes held nothing but a deep seated fury at the thought of anyone even trying to insinuate her daughter deserved what was happening to her, but it was equally clear that it was targeted at anyone but Nathan as that particular moment, just as it was clear she knew he was right. With a small, short nod and a murmured word of thanks, she sat down, taking a deep breath and holding it in for a moment, before releasing it.
"Better," Nathan said, quietly but approvingly. "Now. I need to know precisely what you've been told thus far, so that I know exactly what to expect." Forewarned was forearmed.
Who: Laurie Collins, Nathan Morrow
When: Tuesday 25th April 2006 Time: 5:00pm
Summary: Nathan meets Laurie for the first time, and then talk about exactly what happened at the school.
Laurie looked up as she heard a noise at the cell entrance, she hadn't had any non-cop visitors since they'd arrested her. She figured it was just the cops being arseholes, considering the way they'd talked to her since she'd come here.
The cell was fairly spartan, just a sink, a toilet and the bunk she was sitting on and a small window high above, covered in bars. She'd asked if her mother could bring her a brush or at least a toothbrush so she could do her teeth but hadn't received any reply. If she wasn't so damn scared of what they might do to her in here if she made a fuss, she might have made a bit more of an effort at protesting the treatment she'd been getting.
"Laurie?" Nathan kept his voice soft and his body language unthreatening as he stopped in front of the cell. "Hi. Your mother-" He stopped, blinking rapidly as something - what was doing that? His hands were shaking suddenly, and he was breathing rapidly enough that his still-healing ribs were protesting.
"My mother what?" Laurie asked, watching the man react. She knew it must be her mutant abilities but right now there wasn't a hell of a lot she could do about it. "Um, sorry about that. You might want to stand outside the cell."
Her powers. Damn. Nathan closed his eyes for a moment, taking as deep a breath as he could and tracing a meditative pattern in his mind. It didn't really help. Seemed to be a physiological reaction, not an emotional one. "I'm your lawyer," he said as calmly as he could. "My name's Nathan. I've just been out talking to your mother. Are you all right?"
"S-sure." she stuttered, despite the obvious evidence to the contrary. So, she needed a lawyer then? She'd been hoping the charges were going to be dropped. "S-so, they're going to charge me then?"
He did feel something else, then, a surge of wistful protectiveness. She was just a kid, damn it. This was ridiculous. "Afraid so," he said, then mustered up a wry little smile. "You want to know a secret, though? It's absolute bullshit. And that's why I'm here - to make sure that the people who need to find that out do."
Laurie smiled shyly, pulling the threadbare blanket from the bunk up around her legs. "T-thanks." She wasn't sure what to say, she hadn't ever talked to a lawyer before. "Did Mom tell you what happened?" she said after a moment.
Nathan laid a hand on the bars. "Yeah," he said gently, "but I'd like to hear it from you, too. There might be details that could be important."
Laurie nodded, getting herself more comfortable. She was still nervous, she always was around new people but she could do this. "O-okay. Well, I'd just finished my training and I'd headed to the cafeteria for lunch. Helen always saves me a seat and I was going to tell her about how I'd beaten my time on the cross-country."
She paused for a second and looked at Nathan. "I-is this relevant, or do you want me to skip to the whole semi-riot?"
"Everything that you can tell me could be important," he said reassuringly.
"Sure." Laurie replied, smiling as she went on. "So, I got to the cafeteria and Helen called me over and she'd saved me some jello, the green one, although it makes me hyper. There's nothing better in the world then green jello after training. Anyway, the others were there, and Jessica was going on and on about Keith. He's this guy in our year, complete skeeze but Jess likes him. I kept telling her he was a skeeze but she wouldn't listen to any of us."
Laurie laid her head back against the wall, sighing. "W-wish I'd tried harder. M-maybe I wouldn't be here now if I'd k-kept her away from him."
"Go on," Nathan urged, still keeping his voice low and soothing.
"John's group was the one that started it. They're jocks, and they usually all sit together at this table in the centre of the cafeteria. Well, Keith and his group had gotten there first. God forbid they couldn't have sat somewhere else." Laurie replied, shaking her head. "Neither group really liked the other, Keith's the more scary. Jess told me later he had a criminal record, after it all went down and she wanted me to take the fall for what happened."
That had hurt, having one of her friends try and use her to get the guy she liked off. Jess must have told Keith that Laurie was a mutant as well. Otherwise, how would he have known to tell the cops, to blame her for everything? It had to have been Keith...
"Anyway, Greg threw some soda at Natalie, she's in gymnastics, actually pretty good. And John just lost it and punched Keith square in the face. Well, that's when it turned ugly and I dragged Helen and Jess under the table so we wouldn't get hurt. Found out later that John was in hospital, critical condition. Think someone must have stabbed him during the fight although I didn't see it, and Jess told me that they were thinking it was Keith because he'd been in fights before, nasty ones."
"So, Laurie..." Nathan gazed down at her, nothing but sympathy in his eyes. "How is it that you're the one in here? What happened afterwards?"
"I think someone framed me. Jess, she came to me afterwards, when they knew John was still in a bad way and asked if I'd say it was my fault. She said that because of the way my powers work, they'd believe that it wasn't something I could help and go easy on me. Whereas, if Keith got charged, what with the criminal record and all. I think he must have framed me. I mean, Jess is a friend, no matter how pissed she was at me, she wouldn't do anything to hurt me. But, if she told him what I could do, and he told the cops, and since I'd never said anything about being a mutant. Well, it'd look bad enough, wouldn't it?" Laurie replied miserably.
She should have told someone other then her friends but she'd been worried and she wasn't sure how her Mom would react after everything that happened with her Dad.
"It would look bad enough," Nathan agreed with a straight face. "To idiots." Laurie blinked at him, and he smiled gently. "We're going to sort this out, Laurie," he said firmly, ignoring the continuing tremble of his hands. "This is, like I said, bullshit. And however stupidly prejudiced some people may be against mutants, there are a lot of people out there who aren't. A number of them in the legal system."
Laurie smiled, feeling hopeful for the first time. He sounded so sure that everything would be sorted out. Although, that could just be because he was her lawyer. "Thanks, um do I call you Nathan, or Mr something? You didn't say what your last name was. And do you think, could you ask them if I could have a toothbrush? They said I was in isolation so I couldn't be given anything that could be used as a weapon. I told them that I couldn't do anything with a toothbrush and toothpaste but I think they're afraid of me."
"Just Nathan," he reassured her. "If we're with anyone official, you might call me Mr. Morrow, but don't be surprised if I don't respond immediately." He gave her a very tiny grin. "Long story. And as for the toothbrush..." Cruel of them, not to even allow her that tiny amenity. Then again, little bigoted minds were like that. "I will make sure you get a care package," he said, very firmly. If I need to raise hell and make an absolute nuisance of myself.
"Thanks. So, what happens now?" Laurie asked.
The cops had told her what would happen if she was convicted, they seemed to take pleasure in telling her horror stories of what it was like being in prison. At least, they had till some of them started throwing up for no reason. That's when they'd put her in this cell, she supposed it made them feel safer having a big iron door between her and them.
Nathan tilted his head, managing not to show his shock at the images crossing the surface of her mind. Bastards... "Now I see about getting you bail," he said steadily, "so that you can go home where you belong."
"That'd be nice." Laurie replied, and then grinned as she realised how silly that must sound. "No, that'd be fantastic. I so, so want to go home."
She felt slightly better talking to Nathan, maybe things weren't so utterly hopeless as she thought. She hoped he was a good lawyer, she really didn't want to end up in jail.
"Come here," Nathan said thoughtfully after a minute. "Over to the bars." He waited until she did, noticing that the physiological effects of her powers were fading. That was good. Let's see if we can make the poor kid a little happier... "You know why I know this is bullshit and why I'm going to get you out of this?" he asked, reaching through the bars and taking her hand, squeezing it gently. #Because I'm a mutant too,# he projected very carefully into her mind.
Laurie's eyes widened in shock, and she almost pulled away before pausing. She had known there were other mutants, heck there was an entire school of them up the road not very far from where she lived. But she hadn't _known_ any until now. In a weird and completely illogical way, she'd always considered herself alone in that regard.
She felt shy again, all of a sudden. What must he think of her, hiding what she was for so long? "T-thanks." she whispered, squeezing his hand in hers.
#I know what it's like to have a mutation that people don't understand, that they're afraid of,# Nathan went on. #And you have my word that I am not letting that ignorance hurt you any more than it already has.# He projected an image of the two of them walking out of here, and Laurie's mother waiting outside, arms outstretched. #Maybe not tonight,# he sent, keeping his mental voice gentle, but firm, #but soon.#
It was strange, hearing thoughts in her head that definitely weren't her own. It sounded like him, which she couldn't understand. How could you put your thoughts in someone else's head?
'Can you hear me?' she wondered.
#Of course.# Nathan got a thoughtful look suddenly, leaning in close. #If anything happens - which it shouldn't, because I'm going to put the fear of God into the police before I leave... I want you to shout my name in your head. As loud as you can. As if you were screaming it.# He established the connection between their minds more deeply - a light link, rather like the one he had once used with Alison when he'd gone to Galicia with Tim. #I'll hear you.#
Laurie nodded firmly, she could do that. It made her feel safer, knowing someone was listening.
'I will' she thought, smiling brightly.
She could get through this, she would get through it. She had her Mom, and now she had Mr. Morrow. 'Nathan' she corrected herself. He had asked her to call him by his first name, so it wasn't rude to do so. 'Thankyou, for being my lawyer. Do you think...Will it cost a lot?'
She was sure her Mom had dealt with that but this was her problem, and she wouldn't have her mother footing the entire bill. She was sixteen now, she'd get a job and find a way to help out. Once she got out of here, anyhow.
"Have you ever heard the term pro bono, Laurie?" Nathan smiled, squeezed her hand once more and then took a step back. "It's not going to cost you a cent. And you're welcome."
When: Tuesday 25th April 2006 Time: 1pm
Summary: Gail calls Xavier for help after her daughter is arrested in relation to a semi-riot at Salem Center Highschool.
Lyrics: 'Better get a Lawyer' by the Cruel Sea
***
"My daughter's been arrested!" There was no introduction, no preamble other than that - this fact followed by another, far more important one. "It wasn't her fault, she didn't do anything on purpose and now they're trying to turn her into some sort of criminal!" The indignation and anger in the voice was palpable, streaming through to become a living entity, or so it seemed. "I need your help! Please!"
"I will help as much as I am able, Mrs . . . Collins," Charles answered smoothly after a glance at the caller ID, "but I will need to know more about your daughter's situation. Please, take a moment to settle yourself, and then we will talk about what I might be able to do. May I assume, since you've chosen to call me, that your daughter is a mutant?"
"Yes," was the short reply, "which is why they're being such idiots about this. As if she'd suddenly start eating babies for lunch just because she's a mutant!" There was a pause, followed by the sounds of someone taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I should try and make more sense... My name is Gail Collins and my daughter's name is Laurie. There was an incident at my daughter's school and now they're blaming my daughter for this, as though she intended to start a riot of all things. And I need your help... please - they're keeping her locked up and won't even let me see her!".
"I can certainly understand your concern, Mrs. Collins," Charles replied calmly. "My own students have had their share of encounters with the local police; I'm afraid they are not always as open-minded as we might wish." He thought for a moment. "Certainly, the first thing we should do is arrange for you to visit your daughter; to that end, I would like to put you in touch with one of my staff. Nathan is, among his other accomplishments, an attorney of some note, and I have no doubt he will be able to determine how best to proceed. May I give him your telephone number?"
"Oh course you can!" The reply was hurried, followed by the shushing sound of a hand covering the cellphone and muffled words being
exchanged. Indignant, uncompromising and unyielding. "Thank you so much. Here's my number." She rattled off the numbers, repeating them neatly to make sure they'd been understood, automatically so. "I have to get back to making sure those idiots don't do something stupid, now. I'll be waiting for the call, though. And again, thank you so much!"
"You are entirely welcome," Charles replied, a smile flavoring his words. "I only hope we can help."
Who: Nathan Morrow, Gail Collins
When: Tuesday 25th April 2006 Time: 3pm
Summary: Nathan meets Gail Collins for the first time as she's having words with one of the boys in blue.
Nathan hadn't expected to walk into the police station to find the mother of his soon-to-be client engaged in haranguing an intimidated-looking police officer. Not not only that, but Gail Collins was squeezing the man's personal space - and poking him in the chest. Nathan bit his lip, wondering just how long it would be until the cop decided that was assault. Best not to find out.
"Mrs. Collins?" he asked, walking over as she paused in mid-tirade to take a breath. "I'm Nathan Morrow, from Xavier's. The lawyer Charles mentioned to you on the phone."
"Oh thank god!" The words weren't spoken by the petite woman whirling around on precariously high heels to scowl at him, but rather by the large, burly man she'd been focusing on. As he took a step back, then another, hands raised in a placating gesture one might use with a dangerous animal about to rip out one's throat, the woman gave him a dismissive hand wave - whereupon he wasted no time in disappearing into the depths of the precinct.
"You're late!" The words were snapped out fiercely, but the woman's eyes and outstretched hands belied them easily. "Thank you for coming." One of his hands was grasped in hers and she took a deep breath, the bright canary yellow of her ruffled blouse expanding in an alarming flash of color. "Thank you so much. They keep insisting there's nothing to be done! Useless, all of them! Though not as much as her idiot fath-" she stopped at that word, as though refusing to even give Laurie's father that much acknowledgment. "Never mind that. Can we please get this resolved as soon as possible and my daughter cleared of all this!" Another pause, and the anger faded, to pure entreaty. "Please."
"That's the idea." He used their joined hands to draw her over to a seat by the wall. "Professor Xavier told me what you told him on the phone," he said steadily, sinking down in the chair beside her. "So I'm up to date on those details. What's going on here right now? Are they not letting you see her?"
"NO!" She was up from the chair in a shot at that word, arms waving for a moment before she whirled around to point at one particular officer, singling him out from the mass of uniforms in the room in a single instant. "That one keeps trying to tell me it's against procedures! She's my daughter and they're trying to say that I can't see her! They say they're keeping her in solitary because she's a mutant and she might be dangerous to others!" The last was said with a contemptuous sneer, somehow the mere tone of her voice managing to make it clear that she thought every single officer in the room who had tried to keep her away from her child was a spineless, castrated worm of a man.
"Well, then," Nathan said, his voice low and not so much soothing as cool and businesslike. Gail didn't need placating, he sensed. "They're poorly informed, aren't they?" The officer gave him and Gail a thin smile as she gestured at him; Nathan merely gazed back at him stonily for a moment before turning to Gail. "Sit down," he suggested, gently but firmly. "You're afraid for her, I know that. But if we're going to get you in to see her we've got to be deft about it. All they're looking for is an excuse to keep saying no."
Gail's eyes held nothing but a deep seated fury at the thought of anyone even trying to insinuate her daughter deserved what was happening to her, but it was equally clear that it was targeted at anyone but Nathan as that particular moment, just as it was clear she knew he was right. With a small, short nod and a murmured word of thanks, she sat down, taking a deep breath and holding it in for a moment, before releasing it.
"Better," Nathan said, quietly but approvingly. "Now. I need to know precisely what you've been told thus far, so that I know exactly what to expect." Forewarned was forearmed.
Who: Laurie Collins, Nathan Morrow
When: Tuesday 25th April 2006 Time: 5:00pm
Summary: Nathan meets Laurie for the first time, and then talk about exactly what happened at the school.
Laurie looked up as she heard a noise at the cell entrance, she hadn't had any non-cop visitors since they'd arrested her. She figured it was just the cops being arseholes, considering the way they'd talked to her since she'd come here.
The cell was fairly spartan, just a sink, a toilet and the bunk she was sitting on and a small window high above, covered in bars. She'd asked if her mother could bring her a brush or at least a toothbrush so she could do her teeth but hadn't received any reply. If she wasn't so damn scared of what they might do to her in here if she made a fuss, she might have made a bit more of an effort at protesting the treatment she'd been getting.
"Laurie?" Nathan kept his voice soft and his body language unthreatening as he stopped in front of the cell. "Hi. Your mother-" He stopped, blinking rapidly as something - what was doing that? His hands were shaking suddenly, and he was breathing rapidly enough that his still-healing ribs were protesting.
"My mother what?" Laurie asked, watching the man react. She knew it must be her mutant abilities but right now there wasn't a hell of a lot she could do about it. "Um, sorry about that. You might want to stand outside the cell."
Her powers. Damn. Nathan closed his eyes for a moment, taking as deep a breath as he could and tracing a meditative pattern in his mind. It didn't really help. Seemed to be a physiological reaction, not an emotional one. "I'm your lawyer," he said as calmly as he could. "My name's Nathan. I've just been out talking to your mother. Are you all right?"
"S-sure." she stuttered, despite the obvious evidence to the contrary. So, she needed a lawyer then? She'd been hoping the charges were going to be dropped. "S-so, they're going to charge me then?"
He did feel something else, then, a surge of wistful protectiveness. She was just a kid, damn it. This was ridiculous. "Afraid so," he said, then mustered up a wry little smile. "You want to know a secret, though? It's absolute bullshit. And that's why I'm here - to make sure that the people who need to find that out do."
Laurie smiled shyly, pulling the threadbare blanket from the bunk up around her legs. "T-thanks." She wasn't sure what to say, she hadn't ever talked to a lawyer before. "Did Mom tell you what happened?" she said after a moment.
Nathan laid a hand on the bars. "Yeah," he said gently, "but I'd like to hear it from you, too. There might be details that could be important."
Laurie nodded, getting herself more comfortable. She was still nervous, she always was around new people but she could do this. "O-okay. Well, I'd just finished my training and I'd headed to the cafeteria for lunch. Helen always saves me a seat and I was going to tell her about how I'd beaten my time on the cross-country."
She paused for a second and looked at Nathan. "I-is this relevant, or do you want me to skip to the whole semi-riot?"
"Everything that you can tell me could be important," he said reassuringly.
"Sure." Laurie replied, smiling as she went on. "So, I got to the cafeteria and Helen called me over and she'd saved me some jello, the green one, although it makes me hyper. There's nothing better in the world then green jello after training. Anyway, the others were there, and Jessica was going on and on about Keith. He's this guy in our year, complete skeeze but Jess likes him. I kept telling her he was a skeeze but she wouldn't listen to any of us."
Laurie laid her head back against the wall, sighing. "W-wish I'd tried harder. M-maybe I wouldn't be here now if I'd k-kept her away from him."
"Go on," Nathan urged, still keeping his voice low and soothing.
"John's group was the one that started it. They're jocks, and they usually all sit together at this table in the centre of the cafeteria. Well, Keith and his group had gotten there first. God forbid they couldn't have sat somewhere else." Laurie replied, shaking her head. "Neither group really liked the other, Keith's the more scary. Jess told me later he had a criminal record, after it all went down and she wanted me to take the fall for what happened."
That had hurt, having one of her friends try and use her to get the guy she liked off. Jess must have told Keith that Laurie was a mutant as well. Otherwise, how would he have known to tell the cops, to blame her for everything? It had to have been Keith...
"Anyway, Greg threw some soda at Natalie, she's in gymnastics, actually pretty good. And John just lost it and punched Keith square in the face. Well, that's when it turned ugly and I dragged Helen and Jess under the table so we wouldn't get hurt. Found out later that John was in hospital, critical condition. Think someone must have stabbed him during the fight although I didn't see it, and Jess told me that they were thinking it was Keith because he'd been in fights before, nasty ones."
"So, Laurie..." Nathan gazed down at her, nothing but sympathy in his eyes. "How is it that you're the one in here? What happened afterwards?"
"I think someone framed me. Jess, she came to me afterwards, when they knew John was still in a bad way and asked if I'd say it was my fault. She said that because of the way my powers work, they'd believe that it wasn't something I could help and go easy on me. Whereas, if Keith got charged, what with the criminal record and all. I think he must have framed me. I mean, Jess is a friend, no matter how pissed she was at me, she wouldn't do anything to hurt me. But, if she told him what I could do, and he told the cops, and since I'd never said anything about being a mutant. Well, it'd look bad enough, wouldn't it?" Laurie replied miserably.
She should have told someone other then her friends but she'd been worried and she wasn't sure how her Mom would react after everything that happened with her Dad.
"It would look bad enough," Nathan agreed with a straight face. "To idiots." Laurie blinked at him, and he smiled gently. "We're going to sort this out, Laurie," he said firmly, ignoring the continuing tremble of his hands. "This is, like I said, bullshit. And however stupidly prejudiced some people may be against mutants, there are a lot of people out there who aren't. A number of them in the legal system."
Laurie smiled, feeling hopeful for the first time. He sounded so sure that everything would be sorted out. Although, that could just be because he was her lawyer. "Thanks, um do I call you Nathan, or Mr something? You didn't say what your last name was. And do you think, could you ask them if I could have a toothbrush? They said I was in isolation so I couldn't be given anything that could be used as a weapon. I told them that I couldn't do anything with a toothbrush and toothpaste but I think they're afraid of me."
"Just Nathan," he reassured her. "If we're with anyone official, you might call me Mr. Morrow, but don't be surprised if I don't respond immediately." He gave her a very tiny grin. "Long story. And as for the toothbrush..." Cruel of them, not to even allow her that tiny amenity. Then again, little bigoted minds were like that. "I will make sure you get a care package," he said, very firmly. If I need to raise hell and make an absolute nuisance of myself.
"Thanks. So, what happens now?" Laurie asked.
The cops had told her what would happen if she was convicted, they seemed to take pleasure in telling her horror stories of what it was like being in prison. At least, they had till some of them started throwing up for no reason. That's when they'd put her in this cell, she supposed it made them feel safer having a big iron door between her and them.
Nathan tilted his head, managing not to show his shock at the images crossing the surface of her mind. Bastards... "Now I see about getting you bail," he said steadily, "so that you can go home where you belong."
"That'd be nice." Laurie replied, and then grinned as she realised how silly that must sound. "No, that'd be fantastic. I so, so want to go home."
She felt slightly better talking to Nathan, maybe things weren't so utterly hopeless as she thought. She hoped he was a good lawyer, she really didn't want to end up in jail.
"Come here," Nathan said thoughtfully after a minute. "Over to the bars." He waited until she did, noticing that the physiological effects of her powers were fading. That was good. Let's see if we can make the poor kid a little happier... "You know why I know this is bullshit and why I'm going to get you out of this?" he asked, reaching through the bars and taking her hand, squeezing it gently. #Because I'm a mutant too,# he projected very carefully into her mind.
Laurie's eyes widened in shock, and she almost pulled away before pausing. She had known there were other mutants, heck there was an entire school of them up the road not very far from where she lived. But she hadn't _known_ any until now. In a weird and completely illogical way, she'd always considered herself alone in that regard.
She felt shy again, all of a sudden. What must he think of her, hiding what she was for so long? "T-thanks." she whispered, squeezing his hand in hers.
#I know what it's like to have a mutation that people don't understand, that they're afraid of,# Nathan went on. #And you have my word that I am not letting that ignorance hurt you any more than it already has.# He projected an image of the two of them walking out of here, and Laurie's mother waiting outside, arms outstretched. #Maybe not tonight,# he sent, keeping his mental voice gentle, but firm, #but soon.#
It was strange, hearing thoughts in her head that definitely weren't her own. It sounded like him, which she couldn't understand. How could you put your thoughts in someone else's head?
'Can you hear me?' she wondered.
#Of course.# Nathan got a thoughtful look suddenly, leaning in close. #If anything happens - which it shouldn't, because I'm going to put the fear of God into the police before I leave... I want you to shout my name in your head. As loud as you can. As if you were screaming it.# He established the connection between their minds more deeply - a light link, rather like the one he had once used with Alison when he'd gone to Galicia with Tim. #I'll hear you.#
Laurie nodded firmly, she could do that. It made her feel safer, knowing someone was listening.
'I will' she thought, smiling brightly.
She could get through this, she would get through it. She had her Mom, and now she had Mr. Morrow. 'Nathan' she corrected herself. He had asked her to call him by his first name, so it wasn't rude to do so. 'Thankyou, for being my lawyer. Do you think...Will it cost a lot?'
She was sure her Mom had dealt with that but this was her problem, and she wouldn't have her mother footing the entire bill. She was sixteen now, she'd get a job and find a way to help out. Once she got out of here, anyhow.
"Have you ever heard the term pro bono, Laurie?" Nathan smiled, squeezed her hand once more and then took a step back. "It's not going to cost you a cent. And you're welcome."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}