Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[MzHyde]

Seeing Simeon ran his hands through his hair and down his face after the first half of the trial made Fia smirk slightly as it reminded her of their reactions at the very first day when they felt completely drained from just listening to so much jargon for hours on end. She only got a few words of Simeon was asking, but she understood enough to put together the question he asked, before Cal and Cliff replied to him, and continuing the conversation, with John adding his own little quip, which she did understand, as well as Elliott dropping the bombshell of there was indeed more of what Simeon witnessed after lunch. In her eyes Simeon had the lucky escape by spending the rest of the day with his family, but was happy that he agreed to join them all for lunch before going his own way.

As they found somewhere to go, she sat down at the table opposite Elliott and next to Kay, as they glanced through the menus whilst waiting for Simeon's family to arrive which they did soon enough. She had to admit, she was happy to see little Lee again as she found the child really sweet and her curiosity reminded her of her own when she was just that bit older than Lee, and even now at her age. She also figured if anyone knew Jay well enough it'd be Elliott who would eventually order for her, remembering the woman's earlier quip. For now she turned her focus back onto the menu to decide what she wanted, finding it easier to read said menu even if she did find still times she wanted to make sure she read bits correctly with either Elliott or whoever was sat on her other side.

Kay did as she always did and got the help from pictures in the menu and the others in the group to decide what she wanted for food and drink wise, as she 1) wanted to make sure she ordered something she would like and 2) ordered something she knew she could actually have whilst pregnant.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott did indeed end up being the one who ordered for Jay, Cal declaring in a tone that left absolutely no room for argument declaring that as he was a) the person who'd known Jay the longest, b) the person who knew Jay the best out of them and c) the person dating Jay, he was the only person for the job. The restaurant was one he and Cal had been to before on a fairly regular basis as kids, and which Cal had continued to go to as an adult as the food was really excellent (there was also the occasional time where it all became too much and where she went down memory lane, while yearning for simpler times). It was one of the first places Cal had taken Elliott after breaking him out, just the two of them together, reminiscing and catching up (both getting highly emotional at points).

John took one of the seats next to Elliott while the other one was left empty for Jay. Lee ended up sitting between her parents, although she was a tall kid for her age she still had to sit on a thick booster cushion in order to be able to rest her arms on the table. Lee was in a very happy mood after her day out, giving a run down to Simeon in ridiculously fast paced Attili. Seeing Fia's expression at how fast Lee could speak the language Simeon's partner said said something to Cal, which Cal translated as it was meany for Fia. "He says that all kids who learn Attili as their mother tongue are like that. Nobody's quite sure why, but once they get a grasp on the language and build up a reasonable vocabulary, they develop two ways of talking- either they speak really slowly and hesitantly or just blurt out all their words at once in a big stream. And I say it's kinda hilarious cos kids that young have no filter whatsoever and will say what's on their mind in the most blunt way imaginable."

While Cal was explaining that the others were answering Kay's menu queries. It didn't take Simeon very long to figure out why she was turning to Cliff more than the others as the doctor was the only one who knew whether certain ingredients were suitable to eat when pregnant. Most were, but there were some that were an absolute no-no, doing all kinds of weird things to the bowels when the person ingesting it was pregnant. It wasn't long before he had given his own opinion to Cliff in Attili so she could translate it to English for Kay's benefit. Cliff didn't say it outright, but it was clear from her tone she trusted the apprentice's opinion on this.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia was looking at Lee amazed at how quickly she spoke, and didn't realise it was so obvious until Cal translated what Simeon's partner was wanting to tell her, finding it now made sense. "ah I see! Makes sense, similar to on Earth apparently. I went through a fast speaking stage myself " she replied, letting Cal translate for her. She had heard kids can either be speedsters in their speech or be slow and steady, which she presumed depended on their moods. She remembered when she was going through her super hyperactive stage, she too spoke really fast and was told a lot to slow down and think about her words. Only difference was she older than Lee was, and didn't really know much about her earlier years, or more to the point, didn't really remember them.

Kay was thankful for Cliff's help for choosing what to order as she always was, as it did mean she managed to pick something right. She also didn't mind that it was clear her seeking of help was creating curiosity before Simeon figured it out for himself and gave his own little opinion which turned out to be the option Kay went for. She thanked them both and felt much better about what she ordered. She did find herself thinking how she would be glad when she wouldn't have to think about all of these things and wasn't pregnant anymore, even if that meant the target on her back would heighten and extend to Fia as well.

 

[_gallifrog_]

With Lee, Simeon and Simeon's partner (who they found out was called Tai) present it was easier for the lunch conversation to shift away from the topic of the trial and towards more normal things. It wasn't long before a noticeable split developed in the group, with those living on Earth talking among themselves and while those who lived on Attil focused mainly on catching up on the news and scandal Tai had to offer. He worked at the reception of a high class hotel in the city and seemed to have THE MOST gossipy co-workers who'd ever lived. Some of what he was telling them was stuff that he later found out was complete and utter tripe, but some of it was actually scarily spot on. He also had a wide variety of anecdotes about guests, staff and general mishaps and a particularly good story would get translated into English for the benefits of those who didn't speak Attili.

Jay didn't rejoin the group until well over half way through their allotted lunch period. The only difference in her appearance was the dark scarf wound around her neck. She couldn't (for obvious reasons) sneak a wig into the courtroom, so in order to disguise her face, she'd used the same technique as the pink-haired courier they'd seen days before- a scarf (which she'd wound around her hair as well as over her nose and mouth) and a pair of polarised glasses. She swung into her seat, giving a nod and a brief greeting to the other two before getting Cal's attention and extracting her from the main conversation. "Any chance Deke would be able to hack into the security cameras in the secure levels of the court building?" she asked in English, not wanting Simeon, Tai or Lee to know what she was talking about. "There's something I need checked out." "Probably...." Cal replied thoughtfully. "He may have a bypass code of some sort, he did for the prison. But why?" "Because I wasn't the only one breaking into the mainframe." Jay replied, with a tone and facial expression more suited to discussing the weather than a break in to the highest court building on the planet.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay found it a nice change of pace to be eating lunch in the middle of a trial day and not be talking solely about the trial at hand. It was welcomed greatly and the random conversations that occurred were a mixture of interesting and amusing, yet again always learning about each other, whilst having adult conversations. It was only during the odd moments of joining in in the other conversations that she really noticed how the groups naturally split at times. Some of the chats spoken by Tai were highly amusing whilst proving that sometimes you just can't beat a good old bit of work related gossip. Fia every now and then, between talking with her family and the others, spoke with Lee as best as she could, including taking the piss out of certain members of the group just to make Lee laugh, and at one point found a piece of paper in her jacket paper and a pencil and between eating started doodling with Lee.

As Jay managed to finally appear a while after, both Kay and Fia looked up with curiosity as Jay started talking in English about whether Deke could hack the security cameras. It felt like such a specific question to the both of them which piqued their interest, so when she explained why she wanted Deke's help with what she was doing, it suddenly made sense and got even more curious. "I wonder who else could possibly want to be doing such a thing and why" Fia remarked in thought out loud to everyone. She wondered if Zan could be the culprit but then it didn't seem entirely possible from what little she knew about the man, but she did wonder if it was someone he had maybe paid to hack I to the mainframe. Cases and revelations like this always got her interest and wished she could help Jay in doing it, but knowing it wasn't Earth based technology it'd be pointless even asking to help.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Lee was delighted by the copious attention Fia was giving her. For her this had been a very exciting day, a trip into the city, meeting a whole bunch of new people and getting to eat in a restaurant as opposed to at home or at playschool. Out of all the new people she'd met that day Fia was quite clearly her favourite. While Lee possessed no particular talent at drawing, she could grip a pencil and scribble madly and with some intense concentration, sticking out her tongue and furrowing her brow she could even write her name Attili. the characters were big and kind of wobbly, but they were nevertheless legible. She also fascinated by what Fia could draw, the delight shining clearly in her grey eyes as they followed Fia's every move. The curiosity she'd displayed earlier at the sight Fia's hair wasn't a once off, it would quickly become apparent to Fia, that Lee was one of those kids who was fascinated by anything and everything. Every so often Simeon and Tai would glance over at their daughter with immensely fond expressions that could be described as 'proud parents' on their faces.

Cal's eyebrows very nearly shot into her forehead at jay's words, but she managed to get her facial expression under control before her eyebrows rose to high. She wasn't expecting that at all, she was expecting some kind of request to have Deke loop or wipe the footage to erase Jay's presence. Hearing somebody else was there at the same time was worrying. "Seriously?" Elliott asked, his tone quite, but the sceptical note clearly obvious. "Deadly" the assassin replied. "I wouldn't joke about something that serious." "Did you get what you wanted?" Elliott asked, his tone softer. Jay nodded, pulling up a leather cord around her neck to reveal the flash drive attached to the end. "It was one of the most polite and the strangest burglary interruptions I've ever been involved in. I can MindWalk you through it later if you want, see what you make of it. As for who and why, that's the real question here." "Well that can't be a coincidence" John declared, to which the others nodded. John may have severe prejudices when it came to coincidences, but this time he was firmly in the right, it had to be connected to the trial and by extension to them.

 

[MzHyde]

When it came to giving Lee the attention, she figured as she was the next youngest, she could probably help in making Lee feel included in the group chats and such, whilst also having a bit of fun herself. Fia didn't have her mother's talent for drawing but she wasn't awful either, she could draw well enough to make things obvious what they were supposed to be, and on the whole they were usually just quickly rough doodles, compared to Kay and Elliott who could do proper pieces. As she had also learned to write her name in Attili, she did that for Lee, finding the young girl's concentration faces highly sweet and amusing, but never let it show on her face that it was amusing. She was aware of Simeon and Tai watching every now and then, just as she was aware that Kay that taking glances every now and then. At one point Fia found herself doodling a simple little flower and then drew John's face with hearts for eyes looking at a blue tree, solely because she was feeling childish and it amused her, thinking Lee would too. Kay noticed what she was doing and found herself placing her hand casually over her mouth to try and not look highly amused as she was sat opposite John.

The topic of what Jay was telling them all about helped to keep the amusement at bay. Both Fia and Kay looked over when Jay showed them the drive to which she got what she wanted out of her little break in hacking moment. When John said there was no way it could be a coincidence, both girls nodded in agreement knowing that this was one circumstance that it definitely wasn't a sheer fluke that there was one other person hacking into the system. "agreed. There's no way in any universe that that is a fluke" Fia agreed. "it's one more thing to figure out, so hopefully your mind walk will bring up answers" Kay added.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott hadn't been paying too much attention to Fia and Lee, having been very interested in what Tai had to say for himself, he was pleasantly surprised to know so many of the people they were referencing, some were people he'd been in school with or people his parents had worked with. But he gave the occasional glance over and experienced a slight burst of pride at how well formed the Attili characters of Fia's name were (sure it was a short name, but everybody had to start somewhere). Fia was right in thinking that her childish doodle of John would indeed amuse Lee. The girl didn't quite grasp that it was John (not knowing about the in-joke of John's fascination with the blue trees of Attil), but that didn't matter, the idea of a person staring at a tree with big love-heart ideas was enough to make her giggle. John did indeed see the drawing, the movement of Kay slapping her hand over her mouth was enough for him to twig that something was up. Seeing the drawing he just rolled his eyes, having a feeling that this was Fia's equivalent of Elliott's 'onion John' satire. He didn't get the opportunity to make any comment however, as Jay had arrived back with the bombshell that somebody else had been stealing data from the mainframe.

"It better give some form of answer" Jay replied an ominous note in her voice as she tucked the flash drive back under her shirt and out of sight, then picked up her knife and fork instead. She was a patient person normally and actually enjoyed playing the long game, but only when she was the hunter. With the trial and all the weirdness surrounding it, she wasn't in control, something that was distinctly uncomfortable for her. "Otherwise I'll just snap and demand Dakkon tells me everything he knows about what's going on here." There was a pause before Cliff asked "would that work?" not at all liking the edge in the assassin's voice. Clearly jay's patience was reaching a breaking point. "Yeah, I think it would" she replied with a nod, spearing a large mouthful of the dish Elliott had ordered. "He damn well owes me and if all else fails there's always emotional blackmail. I don't particularly want to go down that path, it's dishonouring my brother's memory, but we need some form of answers." Seeing the looks on the others faces as the realised just how serious she was about all this, if the lengths she was willing to go to meant she would use her brother's death to guilt information out of Dakkon, somebody who she had respect for and had advised against fucking around with. "But i doubt it'll come to that, the more eyes looking at the guy the better. And besides, there was something familiar about them. Pretty sure I'd be able to figure it out by MindWalking through the memory a few times." She then swallowed the first mouthful of her meal. "Oh and good choice on the dish by the way Ell."

 

[MzHyde]

Before Jay came and dropped the bombshell on them, seeing Lee giggle at her drawing of John made her smirk in a smug manner, not even ashamed of it so didn't think to hide it as she didn't really think John could see it from his position but the moment he rolled his eyes, she realised he could see it and just gave him that 'can't deny the truth!' smirk. She could have doodled him scared witless at her prank but she knew that would take a lot more effort to do and she couldn't be bothered with it. So a blue tree heart eyed John would have to suffice. She even gave Lee a little point toward John then pointed to the drawing so to really drive home that her doodle was him, just to make it all the more amusing that it would make Lee think of the heart eyes and trees every time she looked at him. Sure, it was highly childish but when entertaining a child she couldn't not be childish. Kay thought she was being discreet with her casual hand movement, but it was rapidly clear she wasn't discreet enough.

She also didn't particularly like the tone that Jay had in her voice, but it did drive home just how serious this was and how important it was to Jay that she got answers to this mystery and as soon as possible. Which Kay could completely understand as that's all she wanted when she couldn't understand why people were hunting her down before John appeared and gave her those answers. The idea that Jay would go as far as to use emotional blackmail involving her brother solidified it all the more also to her. She hoped it wouldn't come to that, just as Jay didn't think it would reach that level, but the fact she was prepared to do so said a million and one things. Though when she then changed the subject to give compliments to Elliott for choice of food, it felt the energy just shifted in that split for a brief moment.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Chas frowned in disapproval when Jay hinted at her alternate method of getting information out of the lizardkin if Dakkon refused to honour his debt and tell her what she wanted to know. Going down that path was a slippery slope and so could easily ruin the alliance she had forced with Dakkon over the years. Not to mention that using her brother's death as a pawn like that would have severe effects on Jay, the assassin wasn't anywhere close to having accepted her brother's death, even with the new knowledge that it had been due to sabotage and not some fault on her part. Though her words confirmed something the others had suspected for a while that Dakkon had known Jay's brother as well as Jay when they were kids. The assassin had never said explicitly that that was the case, but it was obvious she and her brother had been a team from a very early age.

Elliott blinked in surprise at how quickly the conversation flipped from Jay talking about what she was willing to do to get information to her complimenting him on his choice of dish. "Well none of this lot had the balls to pick and risk getting it wrong." He replied, hoping that somebody would take the bait and respond to his teasing quip and this move the conversation away from the heavier topic. "That's not what happened." Cal retorted. "Oh really?" Elliott raised a sceptical eyebrow. "What did happen then?" "I used powers of being the older sibling to delegate in such a way that you had no choice BUT to do what I said." She replied slightly smugly. "Well that is what those powers are for." Jay smirked, knowing them all too well.

The mood lightened after that, the groups returning to their previous topics of conversation and activities. Once again there was bickering from all sides over who was paying the bill, Simeon and Tai wanting to pay for their share, Cal and Cliff insisting it was their treat. In the end Dan settled the argument by paying for the whole thing, telling the others to stop bickering and that as he was the oldest one with money, and the employer of two of them he was in charge and his word was final. Simeon, Tai and Lee accompanied them back to the courtroom, Simeon declining Cal's teasing offer of joining them for another four hours minimum of mind-melting trial, declaring that he'd prefer to spend the time with his partner and daughter.

 

[MzHyde]

When Elliott threw out the bait about Jay's chosen dish, there was no way Fia or Kay was going to bite and say anything, I fact they even sat back a little bit to say 'nope, I'm not biting for that', and letting Cal take the bait instead. In Fia's mind it made a change for her not having to take them or be the butt of the older sibling jokes, so to witness Cal come back with a great retort was great to see in her eyes. If she was sat closer to Cal she probably would have given the woman a high five for an expert comeback, but she was quite happy between Kay and Lee. As the chatter continued, the mood lifted significantly, before the realisation that they had to head back to the courts after the arguments of who was to pay for lunch reared it's common head.

Back at the courts, Fia said good bye to Lee, going as far as to say 'bye friend' in Attili and let her keep the doodles they did together before letting everyone else say their goodbyes and the route through the tunnels back into the courtroom was made yet again. She hoped she didn't ever overstep her place with Lee and that Simeon and Tai didn't have a problem with her, though she was certain their body language would have been very different if they did have any qualms. Kay wrapped her arm round Fia's shoulders as they walked back and spoke quietly to her, "proud of you kiddo for including Lee like that" "thanks mum, she's a cool kid" Fia replied, giving her a side hug then breaking free of her touch to continue walking. She was still thinking about the stupid doodle she made of John, finding it was making her smirk in amusement yet again to herself.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Lee was delighted to be allowed to keep the doodles as a momento of such a great day (she'd was too young to pick up on the uneasy atmosphere among the group before the trial or the way that the others steeled themselves before heading into the tunnel entrance to the court for another intense session). The little girl had no qualms about giving Fia a tight hug though due to her height she was hugging more of Fia's legs than she was her body. Tai and Simeon parted ways with Cal, Cliff and Dan giving half hugs and making promises to meet up again some time in the near future, for a more grown-up gathering maybe involving alcohol. Tai's parting words were "you can tell them the full story if they ask." When both Cal and Cliff asked if they were sure the two men nodded, Simeon adding with a shrug "I think Qui has figured it out anyway." The two women nodded and said another set of goodbyes to Lee, before heading into the tunnels.

Elliott, having heard his name mentioned in passing made his way over to Cal and Cliff as they walked the short distance through the tunnels and into the courthouse. "So what was that about then?" he asked. "Simeon and Tai think you've figured out the context behind that row the other day." Cal replied, scrutinising her brother as he replied. "I think I have" Elliott replied slowly, even though he had switched to speaking Attili he was choosing his words with care. Simeon and Tai mightn't be with them any more, but he didn't want to sound like he was bad-mouthing them behind their backs. Tai and Simeon may be relatively new additions into his sister and her wife's lives, but they were important people non the less. "But I could be completely wrong and maybe my addled brain is making mad connections where tings are actually quite simple. Anyway, now's probably not the best time for me to explain my theory, we've got a trial to attend after all." As he finished talking he plopped himself down into what had become his usual seat in the courtroom.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia hadn't expected Lee to hug her goodbye, as if she did expect it she would have knelt down to hug the girl properly, instead all she could do was wrap her arms round her as beat she could before everyone else said their goodbyes and such and they headed back. In the courtroom itself, she did briefly wonder (before she thought back to her stupid doodle) why Blue couldn't see Lee and what had gone on so badly that Simeon and Tai chose to protect their kid, even from Blue. Yet unless it was spoken about again after the trial, she wasn't going to pry and instead just think back on the day fondly. Luckily for John and Kay, it didn't give her the need for a sibling and to be an older sibling, as she enjoyed being the younger one too much. If she was any younger she may have thought differently about the idea, but she was too used to being the only child biologically and getting all her parents attention.

She sat in her seat that she was sat in earlier on in the day between her parents, getting herself as comfortable as she could in the seat, before brushing her hair off one shoulder and down the one side with her neck tattoo on, before grabbing a piece of hair from underneath about an inch thick and aimlessly started braiding it, whilst Elliott and Cal spoke to each other. "so you saw my masterpiece portrait of you huh?" she asked John in a smug manner as they still had a tiny bit of time before everyone came in and they had to be quiet again. She tried all she could to not snigger as she spoke, whilst Kay smirked at hearing what she said. Kay had a feeling Fia wouldn't let it just slip on by without saying something to John, knowing that if there even a slither of an opening to tease her father, Fia would take it with both hands.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John wasn't close enough to Elliott and Cal to hear what they were talking about, and he couldn't lip read Attili at all, but that didn't stop him from being immensely curious as to what they were talking about. It was evidently something serious judging by their expressions, which led him to think that it was something to do with Zan and whatever information they'd found out in the morning. The story of Simeon, Blue and Lee didn't even occur to him as a possible conversation topic, he had wondered briefly why two people who were so young had decided to raise a kid, thus ruling out any chance of having a wild, fun filled twenties. It seemed utterly mad to him that somebody would shackle themselves with such responsibility at that age. He certainly wouldn't have done so if he was in their shoes. The only thing he had inferred was that neither Simeon or Tai was attending university since they their time was devoted either to earning money by working, or caring for their daughter. He had even less to say about Lee, having not paid the kid much attention, he really wasn't a fan of kids below a certain age, and Lee was at the stage where she had no real discernible personality traits or features that marked her out from all other kids her age.

He wasn't in the slightest bit surprised that Fia would want to mke some kind of smart-arsed quip about the little drawing of him she'd done earlier. She was related to him after all, as well as having inherited many of his traits and he wouldn't let such a thing pass by without commenting on it. "Masterpiece is layin' it on a bit thick" he replied. "If you think it's that good then maybe you need to get yer eyes tested, Cliff probably knows somebody." Although his words would seem harsh and blunt to an outsider, to somebody who'd grown up with John's sense of humour (like Fia had) it would be blatantly obvious he was actually continuing the joke on. "It looked like the fucked-up result that'd be produced if I shagged an emoji. Which is all kinds of disturbing as a mental image" he added with a smirk, knowing from what he'd seen of Fia so far, that him talking about any kind of weird sexual encounter he'd had embarrassed and wierded the hell out of Fia.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia smirked when he came out with his comeback about how saying it was a masterpiece was overselling the doodle. She knew it was far from such a thing but that wasn't going to stop her using the word. She was about to retort with something when he continued talking and said about fucking an emoji, which if in any other building would have broken her into a burst of laughter and a grossed out shudder. This time however, she stifled her laughter and shuddered, "eww!" she replied. "and granted, I'm skilled like mum or Ell in the artist department but I thought it was a pretty good interpretation of your love of the blue trees and there is nothing wrong with my eyes thank you very much, they're probably better than yours" she quipped back smirking once again.

Listening to the quips going back and forth Kay was starting to realise that it really was too late to back out of this happening for the rest of her life, even if it was amusing to see the two of them able to constantly banter the way they were. In truth, she actually wouldn't trade it as in some ways if she was deeply honest with herself, Fia was like a second chance go give someone a childhood she never truly got in the age range of 9-18, even if in Fia's time, that didn't become the case. "I sometimes wonder which one of you is the kid and which one is the adult" she remarked to the both of them, before noticing more people filter back in.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John smirked when his 'emoji love child' quip gave the reaction he expected form Fia. He suspected teasing her in such a way would never get old, just like making quips about Elliott's habit of using John slumping in strange poses across an armchair as a basis for various anatomy sketches. (Sketching John in such positions had actually improved his sketches dramatically, helping him to draw people in proportion as to the wonky-proportioned 'onion John'). "I wouldn't be so sure 'bout that, I got the good eyesight genes out of me and Cheryl." In recent years John's sister had started to need to wear glasses as she was slowly becoming short-sighted. John on the other hand didn't have such problems, even in Fia's timeline by which Chas had also started to need reading glasses, John's eyesight remained consistently good whether he was looking at thing close up or far away.

Chas couldn't resist replying to Kay's fond words. "That's not a new thing" he smirked "put him near any teenager he gets on with and he just goes like that. Even if there isn't talking involved, that same thing happens. You've cat your dice in with us lot, so it's just one of those things you're going to have to get used." Just as Chas finished, the judges and jury members returned to the courtroom and the usual silence fell over the room. This time it was Elliott's sides' turn to call up more witnesses and experts. Elliott's legal team had spend the morning furiously rebuttling and dismissing the various points of the defence and while the prosecution hadn't won every single point, they were significantly more successful than the defence. Cliff spend a considerable amount of time scrutinising the defence side. Once again Zan was seated on his own, eyes firmly focused on what was happening in front of the judges. The signs were very, very slight, but she was starting to see traces of worry in the defence, things weren't going their way, Elliott's legal team were far from the walkover they'd been expecting. Elliott's team truly had outdone themselves in their preparation and their practice Cliff thought to herself.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia rolled her eyes at John's quip back about who got the better eyesight out of him and Cheryl. She knew he had good eye sight, even in her time but she was stubborn enough to try and deny that he had better eyesight than her, even though she knew his as very good. "yeah yeah" she smirked back at John, deciding to ignore what Kay said completely as she had heard it all before. She was pretty certain actually that Kay in her time had said plenty of times that she was living with two children and not a child and partner, which if anyone saw the banter between her and her dad on the very good days, she could see how someone would think such a thing if they heard Kay say it. Kay on the other hand listened to Chas reply to her comment instead, a slight smirk appearing on her lips as he spoke. She knew she could get used to seeing John be like this as it meant he was in a good mood and she'd trade many things if it meant she could always see him happy.

With the jury and lawyers all now coming into the room and sitting themselves down where they had to be, Kay just nodded at Chas' words instead of speaking, settling herself in for the next long haul. She may not have understood what was being said like the previous days, but she did pay attention to everyone's body language, seeing who was getting considerably rattled and who wasn't. She put some focus on noticing that Zan was sitting on his own, keeping his poise well and professional the entire time, giving not much away. What she was getting from all the observing she was doing was that Elliott's legal team was proving very formidable and seemed to getting the upper hand on this case, even if it was just slight.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Everybody, regardless of their level of understanding Attili was beginning to see that it was Elliott's team that had the upper hand. In the middle section of the courtroom the number of people marking up had grown since day one. It wasn't a massive increase, the attitude towards the trial had been very polarised in the weeks leading up to it. You were on one side or you were on the other. There was no no-mans-land. It was that attitude that meant almost all of the judges and jury members were from off-world and could actually look at things impartially without their own personal biases or stances getting in the way. Elliott suspected that those who hadn't initially marked up were those who feared that there would be consequences for their actions, or would face backlash/ostracisation amongst their colleagues. But the judges had made no attempt to ask people to clean off the marks, which he believed had encouraged people to be more outspoken with their claims of loyalty.

Once again the session went on for well over five hours. With the exception of the very first day of proceedings, the afternoon session was always the longer one, and the more heated one. Elliott would never dare to say that the lawyers were slightly sluggish in the morning session, but he always felt that they performed better in the afternoon. Maybe it was because they filled themselves with coffee and good food at lunch which helped them to get out of any emotional and physical slump or maybe it was because they used their lunch to make a plan of attack. Whatever reason it was, he wasn't complaining in the slightest. They were doing an incredible job, far, far exceeding his expectations and he really couldn't wish for a better legal team on his side.

Back at Cal's apartment Elliott wasted no time flopping himself down onto the couch and sinking back into it's comfortable embrace. "MindWalk first or d'you lot want to know the new bits of information we found about Zan?" he asked, having no real preference on the matter.

 

[MzHyde]

Yet again Kay and Fia were blown away at how hard and precise Elliott's legal team had worked in the trial, proving over and over that they really were going to fight meticulously until the very end. It did also mentally drain them, even if they couldn't understand everything, so they could only imagine how mentally and physically draining it was every day for everyone else who did get what was being spoken about. So when they all got back to the apartment, the couches and various seats were very much welcomed. Both of them sat on opposite couches, leaning back like Elliott did to make sure they were incredibly comfortable with no hints to move in the slightest. At the question asked by Elliott, Fia had to admit she was curious to what Zan said, but she also knew how much Jay wanted to know the answers to her own questions in the MindWalk.

"I'm personally curious to what Zan had to say about what we found last night, but if Jay wants to answers first then she should go first" she replied. "I'm with Fia, I think on this occasion it should be Jay who has the say on which to do first as her need for the Mind Walk is pretty damn important" Kay added in agreement with Fia, no matter how curious she was to what Zan had to say, and wanting to know what was said, she knew out of all the group, herself and Fia probably had the least power of say in the group. She didn't particularly like thinking of herself and Fia so little, but that was how it was with her, even if she would never actually say it to anyone as to her, it didn't warrant being said. She was also partly convinced that it was her pregnancy making her think those thoughts and knew deep down it was probably nowherr near the truth.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Well, I'm bloody curious about Zan, he's getting less and less straight forwards the more we learn about him." John replied feeling he didn't need to say the 'and it's bloody pissing me off' part of the statement. "I don't mind which we do first, but either way, I'd like to hear the full, detailed story of this other person breaking into the mainframe before seeing it." Jay hadn't exactly been forthcoming with details, though Chas could hardly blame her for that, a bustling restaurant wasn't exactly the place to discuss such sensitive matters. "Since Jay's the only one doing the MindWalk, it should be her call, and besides, I could just ask Callie about what she learned about her father later."

Jay didn't head straight to the couch to sit down, instead she grabbed her old laptop and booted it up. She hadn't flown straight back from the dead-drop point she used to communicate with Dakkon, instead taken a detour to an old equipment stash she, her brother and Quin had set up when they were teenagers. Nobody had used it in a number of years judging by the layers of dust that had built up, but despite it being four of five years out of date, the tech was fully operational once charged up. And better still, so long as she didn't connect to the internet her device was untraceable, making it ideal for looking through the files she'd stolen from the mainframe. At Elliott's question and everybody saying it was her call she looked up "It'll take a while for this old thing to boot up" she gently tapped the side of the bulky laptop, which was very similar in size and weight to Rinaa's sticker-covered laptop (though lacking the stickers, or any other distinctive markings for that matter). "And I'd like to take a flick over the files before the MindWalk, see if I could find any reason for somebody else wanting to break in. So" she paused for a moment before continuing "if you're up for it, tell us about Zan." Although the words sounded like they were directed at both siblings, something told Elliott that when she said 'you' Jay meant only him.

"Well that's that settled then." Cal replied with a shrug which she followed with a "where to begin...." clearly talking to herself as opposed to asking for suggestions for where to begin. "His family seems the obvious place." Elliott didn't have the same problem as his sister when it came to starting talking. "One of four kids- one older brother, one younger brother and one younger sister. He used to be close to them all and his parents, so much so that he was one of those students who returned home from university to visit family every weekend he could afford to do so and enjoyed coming back too." "But that after the massacre it all changed. His parents believed that not only did he know about his flatmates stealing the money from the gangs, but that he'd helped them to do so. Which he insists he had nothing to do with, and I believe that for some reason." "Same here." Elliott couldn't claim to know his birth father any more, but despite all his scepticism towards the man, he genuinely believed Zan was telling the truth about not being involved. "Anyway, the long and short of it is that after Zan came out of hospital and testified at the trial, his parents disowned him and cut all ties. He was legally dead after all, so it was easy to do so. His parents declined witness protection, something along the lines of 'just because the kid fucked up his life, pissed of the mob doesn't mean we have to uproot ours.'." "It was only six, seven years ago that his sister began questioning what her parents had been saying about Zan. She'd only been ten years old when he was disowned and obviously got no say in the mater. She got back in contact with him and is currently the only member of his family- be it his birth family or me and Cal- who actually talks to him. His parents, and two brothers are still of the opinion it'd be better off if he actually died."

 

[MzHyde]

It didn't surprise either Fia or Kay that John expressed his need to know what Zan said in the manner he did at all, knowing how little he trusted the man, it was only obvious that he'd want to know that first if everyone else was. They also didn't need him to say 'it's pissing me off' to know that it was. They also got where Chas was coming from with his opinions, Fia having wanted to know who this other person was and what they were trying to find ever since Jay briefly mentioned it at the restaurant. Yet also understanding why she didn't go into detail in such a public place, knowing it was too risky to do so, even if she was speaking in English. Whilst Cliff's words echoed Kay's more, knowing that it wasn't just Elliott they needed the information of what Zan said to come from, there was also Cal.

Seeing Jay bring out an old bulky laptop that almost matched Rinaa's one, they both looked over at her as she spoke up with the suggestion of which way to go around with it as they all decided it was her more her decision than any of theirs. It made sense that she would decide to hear what Zan disclosed to his kids whilst the laptop booted up, so with that decided, they both then turned back to Cal and Elliott and listened to what they were saying. As they reached the point where it was revealed that Zan's parents just abandoned him after the massacre, Kay couldn't help but feel angry and disgusted at Zan's parents, wondering how someone could just wash their hands of their child if they were truly innocent in the situation. "damn, that's bloody callous" Kay replied. "I'd get it for those who the culprits and did the murdering to a certain extent, that some people would want to disown their child, but to do it someone who deemed innocent enough to be put I to witness protection? That's cold" she added.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cliff made a quiet 'huh' noise of surprise when Elliott listed off Zan's siblings and whether they were older or younger. The list was almost identical to her own (she'd just have to get rid of Matteo or Nat and they'd be an exact match). John on the other hand couldn't help rolling his eyes at the idea of somebody actually wanting to return home to their family at the weekend during their university years. Even though he'd never been to university, John knew damn well he wouldn't have returned, he would have done exact what Cheryl did and kept as much distance between her and their father at all times. It didn't matter that Zan actually got on with his family whereas John had detested his father, it was taking a lot of self restraint for John not to mutter 'goodie-two-shoes' under his breath.

Cliff suspected the story would take a darker turn given that when her wife was younger Zan's side of the family never mentioned, neither Cal nor Elliott had known much about their grandparents (they'd just assumed that they'd died and that was why they had never met them) and both were under the impression that Zan had been an only child or if he had siblings they were very, very estranged. But she hadn't seen such a horrible twist coming. Her face, like most of the others went through various expressions of shock, sympathy, disgust, horror and even anger. She supposed she could see where the parents were coming from, Zan had been sharing a flat with these people after all, so it was feasible he'd known something about their less than legal activities. But after your kid was shot and nearly died? Surely they should have been supporting him instead of just ridding themselves of him? If there was one thing she'd learned as a medical doctor it was that every gunshot victim was left in some way traumatised. Being abandoned like that couldn't have done anything good for Zan's mental health and for the first time she found herself willing to break ethical code and snoop around in his medical records.

"That's awful" she said simply, one hand still clamped over her mouth in shock. Cal nodded slowly. Hearing the story she couldn't help but compare it to her own experiences at age sixteen, sure she'd lost her whole family, but Zan hadn't turned his back on her, it had been the other way round, she'd left him, just as their mother did. It had been immensely tough for Cal to forge a new life, but at least she'd had friends, money and was in one piece mentally and physically. Zan had had nobody, was living under a fake name and was on a completely different planet. She could understand why he never talked about that part of his life before. "That's more than cold, that's something else entirely." Chas agreed, shaking his head in disbelief, once again thinking of how he'd never do such a thing to his own daughter. "At least the sister saw through it in the end and got in touch again." Even if Trish had been involved in such illegal activities he'd never abandon he like that. Jay just shook her head sadly "That's just fucked up." John meanwhile didn't know what to think "christ" he sighed. "I actually kinda pity the bastard now, that kinda shit would screw anybody up."

 

[MzHyde]

With the announcement of how his parents treated him, and when Kay first spoke up she had the tiniest flinch of 'please don't be the only one who thinks that was disgusting, coz if you are then it's hormones thinking' thought, so when everyone reacted the same way as her and Chas even openly spoke his agreement with her comments, she felt more than relieved to see that her reactions were genuine feelings on the news, and not just overacting hormones making her feel pity for Zan. To her, it even said something when John expressed some sort of pity for the man when he trusted the bloke even less than Elliott and Cal seemed to, which always said something in itself. "I can't imagine what that must have been like...to be abandoned like that" Fia said, her tone still expressing her disbelief in what she heard. She was so thankful that for whatever she did, she knew her parents in her time would never just disown her like she meant nothing to them. She knew that no matter what she'd have her parents love and protection.

"what else was said? If anything? Did you find out if that young teen in that article was indeed him?" Kay then couldn't help but ask, wanting to move forward with the news that they had obtained from their biological father. She didn't think their group needed to dwell on what on emotional turmoil the disowning from Zan's parents would have done to the guy. Though it did make her wonder if he went through all that with his own parents, then why did he inflict such turmoil onto his own kids? She knew the legality of why when it came to Elliott's gift of magic, but emotionally speaking, she just couldn't fathom it out. But then it made her realise how Rinaa at the time must have thought the same thing when she found out about Kay's dark past, the inflicting that pain onto her. It really seemed to be becoming a running dark theme with their group and it wasn't one she was liking in the slightest.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John had never thought that there would ever be any circumstances under which he'd pity Zan, but he genuinely did feel pity. He knew all too well about living through a shit hand that life dealt you and as much as he hated to admit it, there were similarities between him and Elliott's birth father. "There was some other stuff about his siblings and his parents. Some basic stuff that's not particularly exciting, nor particularly relevant to anything." Elliott waved a hand in a dismissive sort of way. "His sister on the other hand" Elliott really couldn't call a woman he'd never met and more to the point didn't even know existed until a few hours ago his aunt "works as some kind of research scientist- biologist I think he said?" Elliott said uncertainly, shooting a querying look at Cal who nodded. "You're right, she is a biologist." "They meet up anywhere between a every month and two months, due to her work and the fact that he's still in witness protection they can't do it on a regular basis." "Well moreso due to the fact that the gang that bad the money stolen from them is still active." Cal elaborated.

Kay's question was one they were all thinking, as it had been the one the siblings were most determined to get answers about and everybody leaned closer slightly when Elliott took it upon himself to answer it. "But yes, the teenager in the photo was indeed him and it was indeed that massacre that he survived. Points to Jay for remembering and recognising him" Jay gave a flash of a smile from her position on the floor on the other side of the coffee table. She'd been listening with great fascination as Elliott spoke. Like John, she'd always had Zan pegged as the bad guy, but the parts of his backstory that were coming to light were forcing her to question that view. It didn't excuse what he'd done in the slightest, but it did make her wonder what had changed him from a kid who grew up happily on a world that allowed magic to a politician that was staunchly against magic use in all it's forms. "Apparently that photo was taken before he was in university. When he was beta testing the implants one of the conditions of his contract was that he had to keep his hair cut short." Cal added. "Makes sense, i had to shave part of my head when I got mine and when you're a guinea pig they would want as easy access as possible."

 

[MzHyde]

As Elliott dismissively said there were other things not important, Kay and Fia both found themselves nodding in understanding, whilst they listened to the information about Zan's sister, finding that very interesting that she had really seemed to succeed in life in some way and become a biologist. With Zan being still in witness protection, even after all these years, it didn't seem all that strange to them that any visits between them would be few and far between, but still there nonetheless. The more intriguing bit that Cal said though was that that very gang that massacred Zan's friends, was still active and around. Neither really knew what to say in response to that tidbit of information, instead just letting it sink in as Elliott explained and confirmed that yes, that teenager they saw in the photo was indeed his father.

Fia was the one out of the two of them to really notice the flash of a smile from Jay at Elliott giving her the props for remembering such an article and finding it again. She was pretty sure that after hearing everything so far, they were all second guessing their opinions of Zan and wondering how the hell to see the guy as it was proving he was one big grey area. Like Jay and Kay, she found herself questioning what made Zan turn a completely 360 on the whole magic use situation and topic, which made him turn on his own son. To her it was incredibly baffling as she never experienced it herself, to her surely Zan should have kept Elliott's secret and it until he was six feet underground, standing by him no matter what the laws were here on Attil. Her thoughts were broken up when Cal explained when that photo was taken and why he looked the way he did, nodding.