Chapter 51: C (67) Ross's Trial! [1]
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Thursday 29th September 2016
New Avengers Facility
"Tony? Can I talk to you?" Natasha slid into the seat opposite Tony and continued when he slightly nodded in acceptance of her question. "It's been just over a month since the Mind Stone was destroyed. I know you've been busy…" Her eyes focused upon the piles of paperwork on Tony's desk.
Tony glanced up, placing his pen down on the paper. "I want to continue our Infinity Stone hunt but a date has been set for Thaddeus Ross's trial.
It starts next Monday. I have to be there for it. He is intent on dragging this through the courts despite the fact he's already ruined his reputation.
He refuses to accept a plea bargain or plead guilty." Tony leaned back in his chair frustrated. "Ross is claiming diminished responsibility through reason of insanity."
"Seriously?" Natasha was shocked by Ross' audacity to claim such a defence. "He has to know that defence will not work. He knew what he was doing when he tried to manipulate the Accords and murder you!"
Tony nodded slowly. "I know. But apparently he has obtained proof which shows he was out of his mind. But since we are contesting that claim it has to go to a trial."
"When will his case be heard?" asked Natasha.
"Over the next few weeks," replied Tony. "As much as I want to get the Time Stone sorted I need to deal with this first. But the good thing about this is if Thanos sticks to the time frame he did before – and there is nothing to suggest he won't – then we do have time to rest. Time is the last one we can do on our own without outside help. The others are not on this planet and we need the Guardians for them."
Natasha frowned. "I'm surprised Carol hasn't returned yet with them."
"I'm not," replied Tony. "We didn't exactly give her a timeframe, did we? She could have contacted Rocket and the others and they may have refused to come. She would have still held up her side of the bargain."
Natasha sighed. "All true." She leaned back in the chair. "You are happy to leave the Time Stone until after Ross' trial is over?"
"I'd rather not but preparation for the trial is hard work. I'll be on the stand giving evidence. Effectively I am the accuser. The fact it has gone to trial is ludicrous but because Ross refuses to admit his guilt, we have no choice. Pepper is livid." Tony shuffled through the papers on his desk. "We're using your written statements as evidence so you have no need to take a stand and testify. Same for anyone who was present on that day. Only Barnes is testifying against Ross in person."
"Bet Steve will love that…"
"He didn't," shrugged Tony, "but he has been helping Barnes prepare. Plus, William Ginter Riva has agreed to testify against Ross. He's taken a plea bargain on the condition his sentence is reduced if his evidence contributes to a successful conviction against Ross."
"Wait," frowned Natasha, "when I interrogated Riva myself before rescuing you, he said he didn't know who was behind it, or anyone else who was involved."
Tony smirked. "He lied. He knew. Because he was an accomplice to Ross' crimes and he admitted his guilt, Riva is already serving his sentence." Tony leaned back in his chair, clasping his fingers together. "But the sentence can be reduced and that is the only reason why he has agreed to testify against Ross."
"How long was he given?"
Tony shrugged. "Twelve years. It will be reduced to six years if Ross is convicted. For Ross, Pepper is gunning for life with no hope of release."
"Good. He deserves it," Nat replied darkly. She caught his gaze. "Are you concerned the insanity excuse will hold up and he'll be sentenced to a more lenient one?"
"There is always the chance of it happening," admitted Tony, "however, loathe as I am to use it, I could utilise BARF to project the jury my memories and show them how perfectly sane Ross was when he was shooting me through with bullets."
"Then why not use it in the first place?" she queried.
"Because BARF is not perfect. The memories can be manipulated to show what you had wished had happened. If I bring it into this court case, Ross could use it himself to demonstrate I'm lying too. What I have is a prototype. Using BARF could backfire against us."
Natasha frowned. "Shame that. Could have been a useful way to demonstrate his guilt."
Tony nodded, falling silent.
Natasha paused, scrutinising Tony. "Something else is bothering you, I can tell."
"It's… Peter."
"Parker?"
"Yeah…" Tony trailed off, unsure of how to proceed.
"Is he alright?" probed Natasha, her eyes never leaving Tony's, observing the minute movements in his facial expressions.
Tony cleared his throat. "He's fine."
"Then why are you worried?"
"Adrian Toomes."
"Who?" Natasha hadn't heard of him before.
"You were on the run last time this happened. I doubt this was something you or Steve knew about."
"We did keep up with the news," Natasha pointed out. "But… admittedly… it was world news mainly."
"I thought so. Toomes wasn't a large scale threat. I didn't really deal with the situation that well. I tried to tell the kid to leave it alone. I'd already fed information to the FBI about Toomes' movements. The kid got in the way; disrupting the legal process I was trying to use to apprehend Toomes. It did work out for the best in the end though. The kid bought him in. I'm torn on whether to stop him or let the kid deal with him. The difference this time is that I will be a better mentor for Peter… But it is around now the whole incident kicked off and I've got the trial to think about…"
"Do you want me to look out for him?" Natasha intervened. "I can do that."
Tony shifted in his seat. "I can't ask you of that. He's my responsibility."
"Yet you have other responsibilities you need to see to first," she pointed out. "Peter is a good kid. He dealt with it before; I think he can do so again. All he needs is your guidance and you are still in the position to fulfill that role."
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