"Alright, so I think that's everything we need..." Adalet whispered to herself as she double-checked the folder she had, "report cards, notes from teachers, medical records from his check-ups..."

"Starlight, breath," Fili says to his wife, grabbing her hand, "everything will be alright, we have everything we need to show the court that we deserve to have custody of Ahmet, and the team will back us up!"

"I know, it's just... I don't want to lose him, Fi," she whispered, listening to the sound of her son moving around upstairs.

"And we won't," he insisted, "now, let's get everything together and get to the courthouse, it won't be good if we show up late!"

She smiled, "you're right, can you handle this while I go get Ahmet?"

"Of course," he says, stealing a quick kiss.

As Fili began gathering up all of the paperwork they had regarding Ahmet, Adalet headed upstairs to check on their son. The boy was in his room fussing with the collar of his dress shirt seemingly trying to straighten it as he stood in front of his dresser mirror. Adalet smiles as she walks over to stand beside him.

"You know, if you keep messing with it, you'll only make it worse," she hums knowingly.

Ahmet sighed in defeat while turning to face his mother, "I just wanted to look good for the trial, I know how important this is for us, I don't want to ruin it..."

"Hey now, you won't," she assured him resting her hands on his shoulders, "and a slightly crooked collar isn't going to affect the outcome of this case."

"I know, I know..." he grumbled, "can't believe they're doing this... Never cared before..."

"Ahmet..." she sighs.

"It's alright," he mumbled, "they just don't want people to think they're heartless or somethin'..."

"Well by the end of this I think people will know who they really are," she smiled, "are you ready to go?"

"I... I don't know," he confessed, "do you think it will all work out?"

"... Come here," she says, gesturing for him to sit beside her on the end of the bed, "I planned to give this to you on your birthday, but what's the harm in an early present?"

Ahmet gave her a curious look as Adalet turned her wrist to show the palm of her hand. A white glowing dot appeared in the centre of her palm and it expanded outwards creating a ring of light, about the size of a baseball. Inside the circle, it looked like a miniature galaxy filled with twinkling stars and a rainbow of auroras moving around, changing colour with each passing second.

Adalet reached inside the small pocket dimension and pulled out a necklace. It had a silver chain of small interlocking rings with a simple latching clasp. Hanging from the center of the chain was a silver pendant shaped like a wolf's head with intricate knots carved into it to create the wolf's features.

"Do you keep snacks in there?" Ahmet asked as he admired the necklace in her hand.

Adalet laughed before glancing into her handheld pocket dimension, "your uncle Magnus asked me the same thing the first time I showed him, but yes, I do keep snacks in here, in fact, I think I still have- Ops, I'm going to have to incinerate those later..."

"What?"

"Looks like I accidentally left a bag of chips in there from my visit to Xandar a few years ago, they're probably very stale by now... Anyway, let's move on, shall we?"

Adalet curled her hand into a fist, sealing her pocket dimension closed. She unlatched the necklace as she began to speak.

"While most people associate the wolves of Norse mythology with Fenrir and him being a ferocious beast capable of horrible things, they forget that he also represents independence, family orientation, loyalty, power, bravery and a strong desire to free oneself," Adalet lectures as she clasped the chain around Ahmet's neck, "things that I see in you, Ahmet."

"But I'm not brave or powerful!" Ahmet argued, "and I don't think I can call myself loyal either, I ran away from everyone..."

"You ran away to protect yourself," she countered, "when your birth mother turned her back on you, you learned to take care of yourself, to be independent. It took bravery to face such a scary situation at such a young age, and it made you strong, but now you don't have to run anymore. Fili and I are here for you, as a family."

"You won't let them take me, right?" he asked softly.

"Not if Fili and I can help it," she promised, "now come on, we have to get going!"

Grabbing their coats they met up with Fili at the front door. They had to leave Dean and Hunter at home for the trail, so they bid the dogs goodbye before locking the house up and climbing into the truck. Fili took his palace behind the wheel while Adalet got into the passenger seat and Ahmet buckled into the seat behind his father. The Irish man started up the truck and backed out of the driveway into the road leading into the city.

"Say, Mom," Ahmet says, breaking the silence, "I remember you saying once you only came to Pacific Bay to help Randolph escape."

"That's correct," Adalet confirmed.

"Well, did you plan on leaving after that?" he questioned.

"Leave where Pacific Bay?" she inquired.

"No, Earth," he clarified, "would you have gone back to your home planet?"

She hums, "originally that was my plan, yes. I had only come back to Earth because the GIA needed my powers to help Randolph escape, so after he had left Earth, I was going to follow his lead and return to New Asgard."

"What made you change your mind?" he asked, curiously.

"Your father, for one thing," she smirked, "tricked me into marrying him!"

"I did no such thing!" Fili denies, glancing at his son through the rearview mirror, "Ahmet, don't listen to a word she says!"

"How would Dad have tricked you into marrying him?" Ahmet inquired, cocking his head to the side.

Adalet's smirk widened, "by asking me to marry him just mere hours before he had to leave on a dangerous mission. He left me no choice but to say I do, after that, I knew I couldn't just up and leave him."

"But, wasn't he declared... Dead during the mission?" he recalled, "and that was long before Rhine Canyon!"

"True," she agreed, "but then I met you and after deciding to adopt you, I knew I could never ask you to move to New Asgard, so I decided to stay."

"But you didn't have to adopt me, you could have gone home!" he exclaimed, "don't you miss it?"

"I do, but I can still visit, legally I am a citizen of both planets, and how does that Earth saying go? Home is where the heart is?" she responds, turning to face Ahmet, "I don't regret deciding to adopt you for a second, and maybe one day I can take you and Fili there, show you my old stomping grounds! Oh! I could teach you to ride a pegasus!"

His eyes widened, "what?! Those are really?!"

"On New Asgard, yes," she grinned, "Eir, one of Magnus and Tomus's mothers taught me how to ride one."

"Er, maybe hold off on that, starlight," Fili says looking nervous, "just until we have this settled."

Adalet pouted at her husband, "killjoy, but anyway... You two are the reason I decided to stay, plus everyone else I've met made me realize that Earth isn't a bad place to live, besides, there are worse places to live in the universe..."

"Didn't you live on Earth before now?" Fili questioned, "when you were younger."

"I did, I was part of an integration program, the InterGalactic Council wanted the Earth branch of the GIA to prove that an alien could live peacefully among humans, and since I'm the only human hybrid in existence, I was a perfect choice," she explained, "Baba brought me to Earth when I was eight and U.N.I.T. helped the GIA to create my identity."

"Wait, you knew about U.N.I.T.?!" he cried.

"Of course!" she laughed, "the GIA helped them to establish their independence, the two agencies work closely with one another. I was actually sent to Grimsborough as a loner agent of sorts to them."

"Really?!" Ahmet leans forward, "what for?"

"To create a profile for me with the police department before coming to Pacific Bay, but Grimsborough was specifically chosen so that I could help Nathan with his mission to take down the Crimson Order," Adalet answered, "though I didn't know he was the U.N.I.T. agent until that case where we investigated the Director's death. Nathan knew who I was since he had been told that Gatekeeper was the agent being sent to help him, he put two and two together after I arrived. All I had been told was to be on the lookout for a snake... I didn't think they meant I should look for Agent Nagendra!"

"Did you ever tell him?" he asked.

"Before we came back to Pacific Bay, Nathan and I talked in private about it," she answered, "we agreed to never tell anyone about the other, not even the rest of our team from Grimsborough, it would have compromised my mission if word about me being from outer space got out..."

Fili snorted, "I think Colonel Spangler did a bang-up job of compromising your mission!"

Adalet groaned, "don't remind me! It took everything I had not to come clean and tell him the truth, maybe if I had he would still be alive..."

"Hey, it's not your fault," he tells her, "his death had nothing to do with your mission, it was a terrible misunderstanding between him and that archeologist!"

"Yeah!" Ahmet backed up the older man, "but back to your story, what did you do after coming to Earth?"

"Well, after my identity was created Baba and I met Renée in Norway to go over the back story, then we all moved to Montréal, she was a GIA agent who agreed to pretend to be my mother to help with my integration," Adalet rolls her eyes, "the only reason we used her was because she most closely fit the required profile; she was the right age, Norwegian, hadn't spoken to her family in years etc. Of course, Baba and Far had complaints about her, but we needed her for it to work."

"What did they complain about?" Fili asked.

"Be lucky you never met Renée Murphy before," she says seriously, "the woman was a total diva and drama queen, it was her way or no way. It's why my original Earth birth certificate states my name as Rüya Gizem Sadik, she didn't like the way Adalet sounded so she insisted we use a different name. Changed it back the second I was legally old enough to."

"She sounds like a b-witch," Ahmet corrected.

"No arguments here," Adalet laughed, "but watch your mouth, Yann will be mad if he catches you teaching Lily and James "adult words". Anyways, after I graduated high school, I travelled around the world for a little while, then I decided to move back to New Asgard. Helped out on the royal council, became Assistant Ambassador for Earth a couple years ago-"

"Wait what?!" Fili exclaimed, "you never mentioned that title!"

"I didn't?" she frowned, "huh, could have sworn I had... But yeah, I was appointed as Assistant Ambassador of Earth about two years ago in order to be further involved in Earth's integration into universal society. That was another reason why I came back, it works best if you live on the planet you're representing."

"That is so cool!" Ahmet beamed as they finally pulled into the parking lot of the courthouse, "Dad, why don't you have a cool title like that?!"

"I think number one MI6 Agent is a great title!" Fili boasted proudly, "you two just don't understand it!"

Adalet hums, "yes... You are amazing, Fi. Now come one, we have a date to keep!"

Climbing out of the truck the small family entered the courthouse and made their way to Courtroom 5 where the hearing could be taking place. They found the team, Ramirez, and an unknown man in a brown suit standing outside of the room waiting for them. Amy rushed forward to meet them halfway when she caught sight of them.

"You're here!" she grins, "the rest are inside, we're all set for the hearing!"

"The rest?" Adalet echoed, "who-"

"You'll find out," Frank smirked, "don't worry, you two will be taking Ahmet home with you, no doubt about it!"

"Alright..."

"And this is Jessica's cousin, Terence Bellerose," Yann introduced the unknown man, "he's a lawyer and volunteered to represent the two of you."

"Pleasure to meet you," Terence shook Adalet and Fili's hands, "Jessica has told me a lot about you, it's an honour to present you."

"Thank you," Adalet smiles, "well, we best get inside..."

The large group made their way inside the courtroom and broke apart to take their seats. Ahmet and Yann joined Jessica, Léon, and the kids on a bench on the left-hand side of the room. The rest of the team took seats in the benches surrounding them, while Ramirez made sure he had a spot closest to Adalet and Fili who sat at the defendant's table. Adalet noticed some familiar faces on the benches on the other side of the courtroom.

In the front row sat Sue Xiong and Sergei Yablokov with Andrew Kamarov in-between them. The little boy smiled when he saw her looking his way and Adalet waved back. On the next bench were Aicha Ben Malek, Piotr Golovanov, Jacob Fishman, and Eddie Moretti. On the last bench were Agatha Christmas, Jupiter Crane, and Blake Cooper. Adalet wasn't sure how or why they had all come, but it was a welcomed sight to see them. Taking a seat at the defendant's table beside Terence, Adalet and Fili were able to finally get a look at Ahmet's biological parents for the first time.

Christopher Hanson was a handsome man in his late thirties, but the scroll that adorned his face ruined his good features. He was pale, but not sickly pale, with short brown hair neatly trimmed close to his head. He was cleanly shaved and his simple, black-framed glasses sat in front of his cold blue eyes. His freshly pressed grey suit was free of any stains or wrinkles and his black tie was tied perfectly around his neck.

His wife, Yasemin Hanson, was several inches shorter than her husband and was slim and shapely. Her black hair was pulled up into an updo with her bangs pinned back with shiny, silver hair clips. Her skin was a shade or two darker than Ahmet's but their brown eyes were almost identical, tho Yasemin's were colder like her husband's. She wore an elegant, knee-length pink dress with a white blazer and held her head high as if she were the most important one in the room. Adalet chose to disagree.

Turning to face the front of the court, Adalet and Fili stood at the command for all to rise as Judge Dante entered. The white-haired man took his place at the front of the room and ordered for everyone to be seated, once formalities were out of the way, Dante eyed the two couples and lawyers who sat with their respective party.

"So, Mr. and Mrs. Hanson, you have challenge Mr. and Mrs. Savage's petition for adoption of Ahmet-"

"The child's name is Ziya Tilki," Justine cut the judge off.

"Do not interrupt me, Ms. Dawson," Dante glared, "the boy has asked to be called Ahmet, and he shall be referred to as such. Now, as I was saying, his adoption has been challenged and we are gathered here for both parties to present their reasoning for why they should be awarded custody. Now, Ms. Dawson, you may proceed."

"Thank you, your honour," Justine says as she stood, "my clients have chosen not to take the stand, this is a troubling time for them, their child is being taken away and they are fighting to keep him. Mr. and Mrs. Hanson have tried to give Zi- sorry, Ahmet a good life, but the boy continually ran away from home not wanting to attend school and no matter how hard they tried, the boy always escaped from their home."

'That's not what Ahmet said...' Adalet thought but bit her tongue to keep quiet.

"They just want to take their son home, you're honour," Justine continues, "they would like to put this horrible time behind them and become a family once more. They have been working tirelessly to make their home a welcoming environment where Ahmet can thrive and receive the love and care he deserves, all they need now is for their son to come home."

"Is that all?" Dante inquired when the lawyer made no move to continue, Justine nodded, "very well, Mr. Bellerose, you may now speak."

"Thank you, you're honour," Terence smiles as he stood, "while I have only just officially met my clients, I feel as if I have known them for years. In preparation for today, I have spoken to many individuals who speak highly of Mr. and Mrs. Savage and their love and caringness towards Ahmet. I have spoken not only to their close friends and teammates but also to those who they have helped in the past, many of whom can also speak about Ahmet and his life before and after coming into their care."

"And I believe you have some people that you wish to call to the stand in their defence?" Dante says once the lawyer had finished.

"That is correct," he confirmed, "I would first like to ask Sue Xiong to take the stand."

Sue made her way out of the bench after handing Andrew her phone to play games on. She passed through the gate into the floor of the courtroom and took her place on the stand beside Dante.

"Ms. Xiong, you are the owner of the bazaar in Inner City, correct?" Terence asks, moving to stand in front of the Chinese woman.

"That is correct, I have managed the bazaar for many years," Sue confirmed.

"And during those years, had you ever met Ahmet?" he inquired.

"I've had several encounters with the boy in the past, all of them brief, mind you," she adds, "I believe I first met him when he was seven, eight years old at the most. Though if I remember correctly he tried to pass himself off as being older."

"And did you know that he was living on the street on his own?" he asked.

"Not at first, I had originally assumed him to be from a poor family and that they were struggling to live, I am ashamed to say that it wasn't until a couple of years after we first met that I learned he had no family," she says sadly, "I attempted to track down his family but everyone I talked to said the same thing, that Ahmet just appeared one day giving nothing more than an alias and that he had never been seen with any relatives."

"So you were never able to track down his family?" he inferred.

"No, sadly there was no record of Ahmet's birth nor his immigration to Pacific Bay," she explained, "which made it impossible for me to find any relatives."

"Did you ever send him to an orphanage or safe house?"

"A few times, but I quickly learned that he would be gone by the next day. So, I started leaving things out in the open for him, food, spare change, sometimes new clothing... I knew I wouldn't be able to get him into a home, so I did my best to support him on the street."

"Thank you, Ms. Xiong, that will be all," Terence smiles in gratitude.

"I would like to ask Ms. Xiong some questions," Justine spoke up.

"Alright, I'll allow it," Dante says, "proceed."

"Ms. Xiong, you said you tried to find Ahmet's relatives, did you ever try looking outside of Inner City?" Justine inquired.

"Once, but I came up empty-handed again," Sue answered, "I kept an eye on the local reports of missing children encase he was ever reported as missing, but nothing ever appeared."

"That's because my clients had been trying to get their son back without involving the police or other authorities," the lawyer explained, "that is why there was never a missing person's report made involving him. Now, had you ever seen my clients around the bazaar?"