Part II: The Jurists.

Wednesday, December 3. 

“I feel like she’s unraveling, maybe?” Jo speculated, walking behind Rosie, Rui, and Max as they exited Department 1122.

Rui waited until the doors of the courtroom shut behind them. “Well, it's really unethical for us to opine like that, but off the record - yes, definitely yes she is unraveling like a piece of thread off a H&M pantsuit.” It was an oddly specific reference, but Rui said it with such confidence that Jo could do nothing but nod her head in agreement. 

“How are you holding up, Max? From our vantage point, you’re handling this really well,” Rosie interjected. Max explained that it probably looked easy because it was. At the rate questions and objections were going this afternoon, Max thought she'd be lucky if she got in a few words edgewise. Max and the other two nervously laughed; she wasn’t wrong, which was either a great thing or a terrible flaw in their strategy. 

The parties migrated toward the rows of public seating in the hallway of the courthouse. They were about to get into an on the record conversation about the progress of the trial and why the government couldn’t offer anything of value to the court transcript. As soon as Jo opened her small writer’s folio to scribble notes alongside her cell recording, a plainclothed woman with a state-issued ID badge hanging from her hip approached them. 

“Excuse me, do you know where Department 1127 is?” she huffed, frustrated and annoyed. Rui stood from the bench to point the woman down the hallway to the opposite end. “Yes, of course, it just down the hall - ”

“Mister - have you seen her?” A little voice chimed in from behind the woman’s legs. A little boy, maybe five or six years of age, poked his head out, holding out a cellphone larger than his hand. On it, a photo displayed of a woman.  

“I - I am so sorry. I work for Child Protective Services. This little one came into our custody about a month ago and insists that his mom went to court and that she should still be here. She was testifying in a criminal matter and she went missing.”

“She went to talk about how the bad guys did, and they broke the laws in our street. She didn’t do anything bad so I think she should still be here,” the little boy swiveled his head around the hallway, sure he’d find his mother somewhere. The worker from CPS gave a pleading face; she was desperate for this boy to understand that his mother wasn’t here anymore. She grabbed the little boy’s hand, mouthed thank you to the group as the little boy rambled on about how the good guys always win. They turned and walked in the direction of Department 1127.

Rui looked momentarily dumbfounded, then like a strike of lightning hit, he became electric and sprung back to life. “Wait, excuse me!” The CPS worker and the little boy stopped as Rui approached. Rui introduced himself, handed the CPS worker and the little boy a business card. The boy examined it carefully as Rui explained the events of November 5, 2025, and mentioned the woman they witnessed detained called out for her little boy. From Rui’s memory, it looked like the woman in the photo. Rui and his trial partner were looking for her and had filed initial pleadings in federal court to find her and to request her release. As the conversation continued, the little boy squinted hard to read the tiny print at the bottom of the card while the facial expression of the CPS worker grew equally dumbfounded as Rui’s just moments prior.

The little boy looked up at Rui, tracking their conversation. “You saw her?” An innocent glimmer of hope reflected in his eyes as he connected with Rui. 

“Si, vi a tu mama. ¿Entiendes espanol - prefieres Ingles?”

“I like both. Mi nombre es Noah.” The small boy stuck his hand out to shake. Rui crouched down to his level, and gently shook his hand. 

“Nice to meet you, Noah. Noah - do you know what a lawyer is?” Noah pondered on the question; Rui clarified abodago in Spanish. With that, Rui witnessed the light bulb of recognition go off in the little boy’s mind. 

“Like Darevil?!” Rui chuckled; he was glad there was some point of reference to make this conversation go down a little smoother. 

“Si, como Daredevil. Noah, ¿quieres un abogado que puede ayudarte y pelear con esos hombres que tienen tu mama?”

“They - they have my mom?”

“Si - yes. Noah, some men came and they took your mom away. I know that’s hard to hear, but I will always be honest with you. Me and my friend Rosie - the lady over there in the green blouse - she and I are looking for her. We want to help her. We want her to come home to you.”

Noah looked confused and hurt. Rui had never represented a kid before; maybe he should have been more measured in how he shared this information with the little boy. The CPS worker looked concerned as she watched Noah process the information. She interjected, “Noah, sweetie, why don’t we -” but Noah held out his hand. He wanted her to stop; he redirected his attention to Rui. 

“You can fight for her, like Daredevil?”

Rui chose his next words carefully. “Not quite like Daredevil, because he’s the best, right?” Rui managed a small, sheepish smile from Noah in response. “Not like him. But my friend Rosie and I, we have our own powers. We can use our brains for the law to try and find her and help her come home. It might take a long time and I am not sure how easy it will be. But what I can tell you is that Rosie and I will use every tool we have in our lawyer superhero bag to try and bring her home to you.” Noah nodded along; the CPS worker did, too. Using his childlike superpowers to discern whether this adult was lying to him or not, Noah tacitly appreciated that this grown up was telling the truth, even if he couldn’t tell little Noah everything in this moment. 

“¿Quieres un abogado, Noah?” Noah quietly replied in Spanish that he didn’t have money to pay for it without his mom. He didn’t want the lady from the shelter to know that Noah didn’t have anything. Rui told him that was okay; that he and Rosie would take he and his mom’s case, and they would do everything they could for the both of them. Noah stuck out his hand slowly; Rui nodded in appreciation and shook it gently. “Deal,” Noah replied. 

“Jo!” Rui called out across the courthouse hallway. She was sitting at the other end, outside Department 1122. She sprang up from the benches and walked over to Rui, Noah, and the CPS worker. As she approached, Rui explained to Noah that this was his friend Jo, and Jo had her job was to write about important stories so people could know what was going on in their community. Rui wondered if Noah could tell them both everything they knew about his mama, and maybe Jo’s story could help them find her. With that prompt, Jo took the queue and grabbed her yellow legal pad of paper for more thorough notetaking purposes. Uncapping her pen with her mouth, she stood there and began immediately writing down everything that was said. She understood with a child in CPS care, she couldn’t record the conversation or identify him directly. This information would require a lot of independent vetting and investigation - she was up for the challenge; for the good fight. 

Rui sat down on the floor of the courthouse hallway, and Jo followed suit, writing furiously. Noah looked at the two of them and smiled. He emptied his pockets filled with action heroes - Daredevil, Captain America, Ironman, and the Hulk. He then sat in a circle with his new lawyer and important writing friend.

Rui picked up the Daredevil toy, handing it to Noah. “Dígame todo, mi hijo.”

And as the little boy acted out a dramatic fight sequence with Daredevil, fighting against Captain America, Noah told his friends everything could about his favorite person in the whole wide world. 

Part II: The Journalist.