Taking Counsel

[Trask]

"So you suspected the terrorist leader was directly responsible for the explosion," Derek said, "and went looking for him."

In case he was going to cause another explosion or holding hostages?

The building had been gutted by the blast, setting off another explosion would have been meaningless and no hostages would have survived the fury of the inferno.

Derek wondered what the real reason for Bobby's search had been.

"And he refused to surrender to you. Did he say anything to you?"

[Iceman]

Again, the guy worded it the worst way possible. Bobby closed his eyes momentarily to keep himself from rolling them, and opened them to watch Mr. Benedict ask his question.

"He said he wasn't going anywhere. Pretty much told me not to stand in his way...And, uh, that he had something to 'handle'..."

[Trask]

"But he didn't tell you exactly what it was he had to 'handle' I suppose?"

Derek remained carefully expressionless.

"Is that when the Sentinel arrived?"

[Iceman]

Bobby shook his head at the first question. "He just said he had to handle it."

To the second question, a nod. "Yes. The Sentinel arrived, and though I had been briefed somewhat about the Sentinels, it was unclear whether they would target any mutant in the area, or knew the specific terrorist mutants and would only go for them. I was unsure at the time whether the Sentinel would attack me as well." He could have stopped at 'yes', but he was anxious to get his reasons across.

[Trask]

Now they were at the heart of the matter. Derek already had prodigious notes detailing Bobby Drake's explanation, his personality and his relationship with John Allerdyce, but this was where things would get interesting.

"Certainly the Sentinel was there to apprehend John Allerdyce, in fact, were designed with apprehension of the Brotherhood firmly in mind. Why then did you not surrender when ordered by a federal officer to do so?"

[Iceman]

"Because, he made no specification that he was after John Allerdyce, and like I said, I didn't know if he would see me and assume that I was a threat as well because I had the mutant gene. I didn't know that the Sentinels were designed 'with apprehension of the Brotherhood in mind'." Bobby was beginning to sound a bit frustrated, which he quickly tried to swallow.

"I saw him aiming his guns, and I thought that if I didn't do anything, that I would be killed. It was my intention to defend myself--murder was never my intention." Bobby's voice tightened, knowing that they were on the verge of the most controversial of the questions. 'So why did you kill him then?'

God, this sucks.

[Trask]

Derek frowned, now, it seemed, the desperation came out and with it more than a trace of foolishness.

"Come now Mr. Drake, the Sentinel's were there to apprehend any and all aggressive mutants. The order twice given to you clearly stated to surrender or be fired upon, an order with which you did not comply."

He shook his head.

"In fact, your actions immediately after that directly prevented the apprehension of John Allerdyce did they not?"

[Iceman]

(ooc: I just realized that it ought to be that Bobby is pleading not guilty to murder, but guilty to interfering with an arrest, because he was in his right mind when he did that. So...yeah. 'S important.)

Bobby was definently frustrated, but he was frustrated with himself, not with Mr. Benedict. "Well, first of all, I had no way of knowing what would happen to me if I surrendered," Bobby said, managing to keep his voice calm, if not forceful. "About a year and a half ago, William Stryker was given permission by the President to detain and question certain people living at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Not only did he ensue panic in the school, but he took six children and kept them as lab rats in a base beneath Alkali Lake. I had no way of knowing if the person in command of the Sentinel fleet, or someone higher up, had the same plans."

"I was not intentionally interfering with the arrest. I was trying to keep myself from being either killed or apprehended for un-noble reasons, and to keep him from the same thing. I was not trying to keep John from being arrested. I want to see him go to jail for life; because he deserves to rot." Bobby's finishing words were heated, clearly not directed to Derek Benedict, but a reflection of the hate he harbored toward one-time friend John Allerdyce.

Bobby looked to Cameron with a look that asked for his help or input; Bobby could tell that his answers were weak against Benedict's interrogation.

"I do think that I was in my sound mind when I first defended myself against the Sentinel's weapons and fired in return, I'll admit that."

[lawyer]

Cameron had put his fingertips on Bobby's arm when he began to get frustrated. The kid's mind was spinning and he was beginning to become unsettled by Derek's questions. It was so common a tactic he almost thought it beneath the DHS.

When Bobby became truly upset, Cameron spoke up. "Just a moment Mr. Benedict." He leaned over to Bobby and whispered in his ear.

"You're becoming emotional. This man is not here to judge you. You will have a jury of american citizens who will be given ample opportunity to hear you out. Answer only his questions- and if you can, hurry on to the point where Emma influenced you. Don't avoid his questions, but don't linger in the timeframe where you were fully cognizant."

Sitting up, he made quick notes in his PDA.

[Trask]

Derek sat back and allowed the boy to confer with his adviser. Bobby Drake was in trouble and he knew it. He had essentially admitted that he had made the conscious choice to interfere in the arrest of John Allerdyce, something that would cause him no end of trouble in the future.

When Mr. Hodge had finished, Derek continued.

"Mr. Drake, the Sentinel program is a very public and very well publicised project, not some black ops mercenary outfit."

He shook his head, there would be time for all of that later, and lots and lots of time for Mr. Drake to think it over if things continued the way they were going.

"So, you decided, for your own reasons, to interfere with the arrest and attacked the Sentinel, and working in collaboration with John Allerdyce were able to successfully destroy it. At what point to you come to the decision to kill the officer rather than say ... escaping?"

[Iceman]

Bobby listened to Cameron, nodding when he finished. He knew he was losing it, but the whole damn thing was making him so flustered…And he was still cold, which he’d never gotten used to.

“I didn’t make that decision,” Bobby said, painfully aware that the rest of his account would be fantastic and unbelievable in the interrogator’s eyes. “I planned to freeze the Sentinel to the ground, rendering it immobile but intact, and the pilot inside unharmed.”

“But there was a member of The Brotherhood somewhere in the area with telepathic powers—incredibly strong ones. Emma Frost. And she messed with my thoughts, took over my mind. I didn’t even know it until afterwards; I…I thought it was my choice to do all those things, what I did to the Sentinel, and I didn’t even think about what I was doing.”

“But then, after the Sentinel was…down…I must have passed out because when I woke up, I was on the ground, and John was gone and there was this woman with me. It was her. She had me go to the building next door, and I guess then she…stopped controlling me, because everything came flooding back. Everything I did.”

Bobby stopped for a breath, watching Mr. Benedict’s expression carefully. He was leaning forward in his seat, and speaking earnestly. “She made me use powers I had no idea I had. There’s no way I could have tapped those powers; I can’t do it since, I’ve tried.”

He finally took a deep breath and let it out slowly, leaning back in his chair and glancing at Cameron as he did. He awaited the skeptical onslaught from Mr. Benedict with discomfort.

[lawyer]

Cameron nodded reassuringly to Bobby. If he stayed clear headed, and took the next step to explain how he knew it was Emma in his mind, he might just have his trial delayed while the DHS investigated the rather powerful woman. As far as Cameron had been able to surmise through public record and media documents, Emma Frost was quite powerful, and not publically known to be a mutant. Both revelations should deem powerful to Mr. Benedict, if in fact the DHS was not already intent on railroaded Cameron's client.

Fortunately for them both Cameron had his way of dealing with that, as well.

[Trask]

"Emma Frost of Frost Industries?" Derek queried.

He'd heard some fantastical defence arguments in the past and given the mutant phenomenon it had only been a matter of time before somebody claimed mind control was the source of their crime. The problem of course was how to sort the innocent from the liars.

And, of course, there was the fact that Bobby Drake was not the first to make such a claim.

The documents left behind in the wake of William Stryker detailed exactly how he had used a mutant sythesised serum to control mutant subjects.

One of which, if reports were to be believed, was currently residing with the X Men.

How fortunate for them.

Derek Benedict kept his expression carefully neutral.

The great and powerful would be very, very interested in this particular claim. Even if there was no way to prove that the woman had been in control of Mr. Drake's body, the revelation of Emma Frost as a mutant would set Derek Benedict in Bolivar Trask's good books for the rest of his life.

[Iceman]

Bobby nodded. "Yes."

He hadn't realized why the name sounded familiar until another X-Man had sat him down and told him. Emma Frost was a mutant, and Bobby had known she was. He'd seen her around school a few times, when Xavier was still alive. She was the head of some school like Xavier's in Mississippi or Minnesota or somewhere. A telepath.

He couldn't believe that she was now with The Brotherhood. He'd never talked to her, but he'd heard she was a bitch. But still...Xavier had telepathy, too. Why would he work with someone unless he thought they were one hundred percent trust-worthy?

But John had switched sides. So it really shouldn't have shocked Bobby so much, he decided.

Bobby had known before Cameron even told him not to tell the interrogator that Emma had once been friendly with the X-Men. He was not about to make them seem any more aligned with The Brotherhood than they already did.

"She is an incredibly strong telepath. She not only controlled me, she tapped into powers I had no idea I had...And she can do some kind of...Projection of herself. I saw her in the warehouse, and then in the building next door a minute later."

[Trask]

"You do of course realise Mr. Drake that it will be incredibly difficult to verify your claims. Even if Ms. Frost is a mutant, if her telepathic abilities are as powerful as you claim it will be extremely hard to fool her into revealing herself."

That little quest was not his department though. Trask could chew on that particular bone.

"We will however pass on your information to the relevant departments for investigation."

He turned to Cameron.

"Is there anything you would like from the DHS in this case Mr. Hodge? We have every wish for this investigation and subsequent trial to be carried out in a fair and unbiased manor in accordance with the Bill of Mutant rights."

He glanced around the plush hotel room with the faintest hint of a smile.

"A few ... minor differences not withstanding."

[lawyer]

"I anticipate that should my client be moved, his counsel will be informed. He will retain the right to communication by any means available to the DHS within the facility in which he is kept," He nodded to Derek, knowing all of this was rote. "And should those means change, his counsel will also be informed."

"If you are finished with the questioning for today, I'll be going. Should you need to inquire further on Mz. Frost," he slid his card across the surface of the table towards Mr. Benedict. "Please contact me." He offered a polite smile.

[Trask]

Derek nodded and slid the card into his top pocket.

"That is enough questions for today, I have more than enough to work with, and the sooner I report your claim to the correct departments, the sooner they can start their investigation."

He gave Bobby a thin smile.

"That ends this interview."

He stopped the Dictaphone and packed it away in his case before dropping in the notes he had been frenziedly scribbling.

"Thank you for your time gentlemen."

[lawyer]

Cameron stood and shook Derek's hand. Speaking briefly to Bobby in the other room, he reminded him that he need participate in nothing without his lawyer present. That if he began to feel uneasy at any time he had only to call. If he wasn't allowed to call, he should know the situation was likely not in his best interest- that he should participate as peaceably as possible, and contact Cameron as soon as he was allowed to.

Shaking Bobby's hand, he left, his mind already working over what he would have to compile for the trial. He had very little hope they would find the information they wanted on Emma. Emma was a much harder target with a lot more influence. Why not try and convict an X-Man? It was great PR.

With a sigh, he got into his car and drove away.

[end scene]