(Under heavy rewriting) The Wolf and The Wolverine Book One (Completed ✔️)

Chapter 7: In light of former events

The flight to DC was tolerable. Scott and Logan stayed far away from one another, I think they knew that if they started fighting again they'd not only have me, but Jean or whoever else on the blackbird to answer to for disrupting the peace. When the plane hit the runway there was a crowd of reporters standing. Their cameras flashing and their insistent questions had gotten to Logan, his reaction being a loud grunt of annoyance while police escorted us into a limousine. Everyone was quiet while we watched the city go by. The traffic was heavy, and the sound of car horns all around us while everyone was quiet as we read anti, and pro mutant registration signs. I felt my heart sink as I saw the darkness that I'd never seen before in men's eyes while they cussed, threw drinks, and rocks at the car as we went by. My jaw was firmly clenched as I pushed myself into the corner of my seat trying to keep calm, or at the very least keep up the appearance of calmness. Closing my eyes and focusing on staying in control of my emotions when everything on the inside burned a hot coal red. The others who sat on the same bench seat as I, remained quiet with faces of concern. If you were to see storm she was a mixture of furious and broken-hearted. Sitting back, she hid from the outside world of hate, the yelling and screaming of slurs making her emotions run as heated as mine. Logan's face was obscured from most of us. His cowboy hat tipped forward, casting a shadow over his prominent features. His arms crossing over his chest, with his leather jacket sleeve rolled up his forearms. The faded blue jeans he wore were a stark contrast to the black leather of the limo's seats. I hadn't really studied him that much in the month that I had known him, but Logan was a very withdrawn person. He internalized everything around him and took what he needed from the outside world and left the rest of us guessing or clearly knowing where he stands with all of us. I felt my mouth grow dry looking at him. An odd feeling of fear or curiosity similar to the night I met him outside of the danger room. His eyes opened, his head shifted over slightly while I met his gaze for a moment before turning away. I didn't know where I stood with him. I didn't want to know either. 

_

The car stopped and so did the shouting outside the supreme court. As the black gates closed and we stepped out, I realized how tall and intimidating the buildings were. The air bit at my cheeks making them a scarlet while we turned to look at the doors of the building. It wasn't fighting a monster from Kaiju island, it wasn't talking down a destructive teen who had just found out they were a mutant, but this was our job for the next few days, making sure Magneto was charged and sentenced guilty for his crimes.  I swallowed while I watched everyone walk around me then up the steps as I stood there shaking but not as afraid as I seemed, just stuck in time, at that moment.  In the main courtroom there sat the jury which we were apart of. All of us took our seats as we listened to the whispers and passive-aggressive comments thrown in earshot. I straightened my back and took a long breath and kept my eyes ahead of me, keeping an anxiety attack at bay. "Move down one." I heard a gruff voice tell me. I looked up, my eyes following the figure leading to the face adorned with the cowboy hat. "Why?" I asked back as I momentarily looked to my hands that sat in my lap then to my purse which sat on the floor getting ready to move anyway. "I don't want anyone that's vulnerable to sit in the aisle seat." He bluntly said as he remained like a steadfast statue, his hand on his belt and the other hanging to his side. "And If I stay where I am?" I challenged him, though it wasn't warranted. He hadn't spoken to me in days aside from the night before. "I won't tell you what to do, but I can say I've been around a lot longer than you. And everyone that's tried to kill me is dead." He paused, then took off his hat. "Choice is up to you missy." He taunted me with the tone of voice he used. He was playfully but was completely serious. "Fine." I sighed moving down the row. He sat down and not long after the hearing began. 

The hearing itself contained a comprehensive list of all the wrongdoings of Erik lenserr. He was a war criminal, a terrorist, a mastermind, and a ringleader that much was apparent. The entire time all his crimes were read to him and before the jury, he looked as if he disassociated himself from such events. He bore a hole in the wall in front of him, never looking away from it until he did. A woman all dressed in white came walking down the main aisle of the courthouse. A smile painted with a light blue lip stain. As she passed by everyone watched her with confusion or interest. When she appeared before the justices she slipped paper to each of them. For a long while, there was a disturbing silence with the shifting of parchment seemed more like the screen of a chalkboard to me as my heart raced. There was something wrong here. Everyone in the jury could feel it, an uneasiness cast over us like a powerful spell. "It appears that the president has given a pardon to Mr. Erik Lenserr under one condition if he were to accept it." The main justice announced while the room erupted into a tide of whispers. I watched and saw the woman turn to the room. "I have been in council with the president for the past week, showing him footage of Magneto and his so-called crimes. His time spent in confinement, he has been questioned on the location of the real perpetrators of the crimes he was in fact framed for. This means that Magneto is free to go under the guise that he is added to the department of mutant affairs." 

I had never felt my stomach drop so quickly and so violently in all my life after hearing those words.