Author's Note: Both of my betas have been crazy busy of late and this is the last chapter they're up to, so I may need to take a hiatus for the first time in quite a while. It shouldn't be more than a month, so hopefully the suspense won't be too bad. When I'm back, it should be right back to the schedule, with chapters 58-62 coming out every other week, then it'll switch off for the two epilogues and the alternate endings in their own separate story. So follow me if you want alerts for that.

Facilier's name flashed on Elsa's phone from its place next to the day's third cup of coffee. That's never a good sign. "Elsa Agnarrsen," she answered, not wishing to give that creep the slightest bit of familiarity.

"Well there's my favorite attorney."

"Oh, you found a mirror?"

The phone smacked against something as she could faintly hear his chuckling. "Good one, Elsa. I do have one right in front of me, and you're right. I do see the best, and the best looking, lawyer in all of New York."

"Wow, you've grown more humble."

"I know."

"What do you want, Facilier? I assume this isn't a social call."

"Unless you'd like to finally take me up on my offer of desk sex."

"Gonna stick with no," she stated.

"Your loss. And mine."

"Just the latter."

His sigh crackled into the phone. "Well, then, if that's off the table – or desk rather – then I thought I'd do you the courtesy of informing you that your client just failed the grand jury."

"My client?"

"Have you forgotten already? I can't blame you, he didn't leave much of an impression on me either." Papers rustled. "Officer Nick Wilde. I believe he's one of yours."

Right. The liar. "You're fucking with me."

"Oh? Am I? I'd certainly love the opportunity, but I fail to see how you've come to that conclusion."

"He's a New York cop. The bastard could shoot some black kid in the middle of the streets and be fine, and yet a grand jury wants him because he lied in court – and even retracted it under oath. Who has he even harmed?"

"We take perjury seriously here."

"Sure, so long as you're not the one doing it."

The chuckle was drier this time, and right in her ear. It made her skin crawl. "I would never, my dear, Ms. Agnarrsen." Each word filtered across slowly, dragging out each and every syllable. Creep.

"So you're making an example of him."

"Of course. What else would you expect? I'm not going to just let him get away with that. He lied, and blamed one of my attorneys for it. You know it as well as I do, he openly admitted to the crime. If we don't send out a clear message that that will not be tolerated, then how can anyone trust anything our police force says? Or anything the DA says."

There's the selfish motivation. I knew there was no way he was being altruistic. "Well, because you decided to let him get away with it in the first place, I had to offer to defend him so that Pan wouldn't lose his license."

"I didn't ask you to do that, you can't put it on me. Hell, why wouldn't you just lie to him? The man deserves to go to prison, and he deserves to pay for what he did. Let his union get him an attorney, you don't need to do anything."

"I gave him my word, Facilier. Weren't you just saying something about being trusted?"

"Yeah, but not to criminals! No one cares what they think."

"Wow, such a prosecutor already. Weren't you getting those criminals off - and helping more than a few perjure themselves if the rumors about you were true - just last year?"

Another chuckle. Elsa shuddered. "Well, I'm the DA now, and I intend to act like it."

"Now that'd be the day."

"He's going away, Elsa. If you're following through on your promise, then I look forward to seeing you in court. It's been far too long since I last got to face off against you. Do you remember my safe word?"

I don't know what's worse: that he just keeps getting grosser, or that I'm growing used to it? She spat back, "I think you remember what happened last time. Maybe before I humiliate you, you should just go ahead and offer a settlement so we can wash our hands of this whole thing."

"There's not going to be a settlement." The mirth had all but vanished from his voice. It was strange to hear. As uncomfortable as his normal behavior was, the idea of him taking something seriously just felt wrong. "He's getting the maximum sentence, and there's no other way about it. I'll not have other officers think they can get away with this. He's going to pay, Elsa. All of the facts are on my side. You're welcome to stay on as his attorney, but all it means is that I finally get to beat you." He paused, the playfulness finally returning. "So, I suppose it's win-win for me. This is gonna be fun."

God damn it. It's not like I want him getting off either, the man's a fucking monster, but I'm not going to just abandon him after I gave my word. If it wasn't for him, then Pan would be going to prison along with him, the least I can do is defend him. I just hope it doesn't mean he ends up getting off the hook. I'd rather just reduce his sentence.

"You ready for me, Elsa? You don't have too long. I'll be nice and send all the files over, you won't even have to wait 'til the night before. I'm just such a fair DA, and I'm still gonna kick your ass anyway. I'll see you next week."

"What do you mean? There's no way the trial's –"

"We have to strike while the iron's hot. If people have time to just forget about this – well, I'll see you on the 15th."

Elsa glared at the wall, in lack of Facilier to face her ire. "Well then, I'm going to be filing for a change of venue. You've already admitted that you're trying to take advantage of public opinion."

"You don't get it, Elsa!" She wasn't sure she'd ever heard Facilier raise his voice before. She wasn't scared, or intimidated, but she was certainly disconcerted. "He broke the trust that the community places in us. The judge will feel the same way."

"Then it's a mistrial. He still deserves a fair and impartial trial."

Snickering, he scoffed back, "Well then, be my guest. We'll see what your motions amount to. I'll see you on Thursday, Elsa." The call clicked off, leaving Elsa with a mountain of paperwork and one hell of a week. She was going to need some help. If only Belle wasn't so busy with efforts for partnership, she'd have the perfect defense, but Elsa wasn't entirely sure she wanted that. Fortunately, she knew someone who would be positively overjoyed at the chance for a rematch.

The second she left her office to go search for Gaston, however, an over-eager head of curly brown hair bounded up to her. "Is it true?" Mia asked, grinning up at her, looking ready for a fight.

"Is what true?"

"You're going back up against the DA! You have to let me in. Come on. I'm your associate, I've got to do your research anyway, but please let me second chair. I'm already making a name for myself, just let me do this. If I beat the DA –"

"If you want to win, this really isn't the case for you."

"We'll manage."

"Mia, I'm serious. He has a full confession."

"Then it'll be fun." Her smile lit up her face, and Elsa just couldn't say no to her.

"Oh, fine. He's sending over all of the documents, and we're going to need to look up some precedence. He did recant it under-oath, but I have the feeling it's gonna be too little, too late to count for much of a defense."

"I'll get right on it, Elsa. I won't let you down."

"I know you won't." Elsa smirked at her, feeling pride tug at her heart. Between her and Belle, the best associates did seem to always latch onto her. At least this time she actually knew enough to appreciate her.

"Elsa!" Anna screamed, throwing her arms around her, as she tried to avoid being run over by a couch, carried by two men through the hallway.

"I take it the movers arrived."

"I sure hope so." She chuckled, planting a soft kiss on Elsa's cheek.

"Well, they brought furniture for you either way, so I think we can count it as a wash if it's not the movers."

"Just so long as they brought my car."

Elsa smiled down at her partner. It was nice to joke around with Anna like that. It had never really been how they'd interacted when they were younger, and part of her was still a little surprised every time Anna joined her in snarking. "So, do you need any help?"

"You'd be willing to get your dress dirty for me?"

She managed not to physically recoil at the idea. "So you want me to actually move things? Yeah. Of course. I can do that."

Giggling, Anna placed a hand on her shoulder. "I think we'd just get in the way. You can maybe help me figure out where to put some stuff, or go grab pizza and beers for the movers."

"But I paid them."

"Yeah, and I'm sure they'd appreciate having some food too."

That was something altogether new for her. She'd paid for a service. Tipping she got, and hell, even providing food for your employees if they were being particularly productive, or bribing your friends with that pizza and beer to help you move when you're a broke law school student, but this had honestly never occurred to her. "Is that a thing?"

"Yes, Elsa. You don't need to get anything expensive, but I'm sure they'd appreciate it. Just grab Domino's or something."

Cheap pizza was only moderately more understandable. "You know this is New York, right?"

"Does that really make a difference?"

She wouldn't leave her over that question. They could make it through this. Even if she just suggested getting Domino's in New York. "You are so lucky I love you."

"What?" Anna stared at her, confusion and concern warring on her face.

"I'm gonna go grab some food, then when I get back, we can figure out where to put everything. This'll be fun. I haven't done any redecorating in – since Tiana and I moved in here, honestly."

"Then hurry back." The movers were stomping about upstairs, so Anna moved in, kissing Elsa far less chastely. Elsa leaned into it, sweeping her arm around her girlfriend, pulling her flush against her, feeling her warmth and her scent surround her.

"I won't be long."

"I'm sure we could just go upstairs and lock the door while they take care of everything. They don't really need pizza."

"I'll be right back. Even your libido can wait."

"Not sure it can. It's not worth the risk. We should just go upstairs."

"What do you want on your pizza?"

After some intense grumbling, that stopped only because the movers had walked past them, Anna gave Elsa her order, finally letting her leave. While it wasn't her preference, Elsa swung by Gaby's for a few massive pies and stuffed them in the back seat. She'd already grabbed a couple six packs from the corner store, although she wasn't entirely sure why she wasn't just sharing her own beer with them, but that felt too weird.

As she arrived home, she had to wait for the men to finish moving in Anna's bed, which she couldn't help but feel was rather pointless. "Does this mean you're gonna have your own room now, Mama?" she overheard Olaf asking as she made her way upstairs to let everyone know that the food was there. Well, this is gonna be fun.

"Oh. No," Anna said lamely.

"That's my office," Elsa pointed out.

"Yeah, but why wouldn't you give it to Mama?" He cocked her head at her, staring up at his sensei. "You gave a room to Belle."

"Yeah –" Elsa answered, finding herself without any sort of explanation. Not like it's my job or anything.

"She needs her office," Anna added.

"And you don't?"

Anna opened her mouth to reply, but promptly closed it again, squinting down at her child. I knew he was gonna cause us trouble.

"I figured you were just waiting on your bed."

"Well I can put that in Elsa's and my room!" she spat out. It, at least, almost made sense.

"But why not just put it in there?" He pointed toward the mostly empty room, with only the desk, chair, wall-mounted TV, and a few knickknacks.

Elsa met Anna's eyes, pleading with her to come up with something, but Anna seemed to be doing the same to her. Neither of them had any good excuse for why they'd be doing this, despite all of the time they'd had to come up with one. Well, you see, when two women love each other very much – Yeah, that won't work.

"It's Nani's room!" Anna shouted, raising her hand like she'd just come up with the best idea in the world.

Eyes wide, Elsa stared at her partner. What the fuck are you doing?

"She's gonna live with us?" Olaf's face lit up. Did that work? "So Lilo –"

"Yes, of course! Why else would I be doing this?" She snorted, looking over at Elsa and shaking her head. 'Yeah, I totally wouldn't sleep with her otherwise. Don't be weird.' Elsa managed not to chuckle. "She's planning on moving out here, and then we're gonna let her stay with us, and she'll have that room, and Lilo can share your room."

"But it's my room."

"You don't want –"

"Can we get bunkbeds?!" His smile was so wide it had to hurt his cheeks.

"Sure," Elsa said. "That sounds great."

"Okay! Thank you, Mama, thank you, Sensei. This is the best surprise ever. When does Lilo get here? Is she on the truck too?"

"Probably not for a few more weeks, honey." Anna squeezed Elsa's hand. 'Please forgive me.'

"But in the meantime, there's pizza downstairs. I got you one with just cheese and no sauce."

"You did?!" He somehow looked even more excited.

He ran down the stairs, plummeting toward his dinner. Elsa called for the movers, finding that they were already setting the bed in the study. They dropped everything for pizza and beer. Anna had been right, it must've been a good idea.

"Are you mad?" Anna asked.

"I'm not mad."

"You sound mad."

Elsa shook her head. "It just sounds like you're turning my house into some sort of commune. It was barely even two people here less than two months ago and now –"

"I'm sorry. I panicked. So you don't like it?"

She could never stay mad at Anna. She squeezed her hand. "I didn't say that."

Anna's lower lip quivered, but she sank her teeth into it to still it. "I know it's tough to get used to."

"Anna, I love it. I love having you here, it's just a big difference from what I'm used to."

"Is it a bad different?"

With a heavy sigh, Elsa squeezed her hand. "No. I guess not."

"Really?"

She nodded. "Really. Honestly, it's kind of nice not having an empty house all the time. Belle's one of my best friends, I like Nani and know how important she is to you – and I actually am pretty fond of both Lilo and Olaf."

"Olaf is our son. You've already told one person that. You have to love him now."

"I do."

"You mean it?" Tears threatened to spill and Elsa kissed Anna's eyelids, trying to will them away.

"I love you, I love your son, and I love most of the changes to my life. I've just had a very stable and consistent life for a long time and –" she shook her head. "It's just a big change, honey. That's all. I promise, I'm not having second thoughts, or whatever you're worried about. I just didn't plan on having a bunch of other people living with me."

"You and Nani are gonna be best friends. You both love looking after me. And judging me."

I do enjoy those things. "Yeah, but doesn't she kind of – well – not approve of our relationship?" That's one hell of a euphemism.

"She'll be fine."

"Anna –"

"She will. She just needed some time to get used to it and she has. She said she was going to take that job didn't she? That already proves that she's over it. We're family."

"That's kind of the problem."

"Her and me!" Anna grumbled, glaring at her.

"Well, does your family know that she's moving in with us?"

"No, but she'll love it. She'll never have to deal with Lilo on her own anymore."

Elsa paused. That was pretty hard to argue with. Lilo had never been that much trouble for her, but it was easy to see just how little time and energy the little monster left her big sister. "Yeah, she'd probably do just about anything to have help with Lilo."

With a grin almost as large as her son's had been, Anna replied, "Exactly. Now let's go grab some pizza before everyone else eats it all."

The conference room was almost as full as Elsa had ever seen it. There were a few high profile depositions and settlement meetings, and her first partner's meeting, but that was about the only events that came close. Gaston helped himself to the bagels as the last couple people filed in. It wasn't every single partner, but it was still far more than Elsa would expect to show up for an emergency meeting.

De Ville rose from her seat, sending the room into complete silence. Her yellowed eyes met each and every partner as they settled into their chairs. A hand smoothed back her grey hair as she took her seat once again. "We have a promising new partner, and I would like to go ahead and have them confirmed."

"Why are we doing this out of season?" an old man in a suit that didn't at all match his complexion asked. Elsa had never bothered to catch his name, and even with her intention to be better about that, she had no desire to do so for him. "If someone is up for consideration, they can wait for their turn."

"I'm afraid we've already made the deal," Carol replied. "They've earned their place here, and I intend to give it."

"Who is this mystery partner?"

"Her name is Belle O'Hara."

"That intern?" he asked.

Elsa grumbled, already pissed and knowing that it was only going to get worse. "She's not an intern, she was an associate."

"Didn't she quit?"

"She's, what, a third year?" Another man asked. Smith, if Elsa remembered correctly. He'd asked her to bring him coffee at the last partnership meeting. It had done little to ingratiate him to her. "Why should we let her skip the line? There's an order to things. You put in your seven years, and then maybe you can make it."

"I only put in five before I made equity," Elsa pointed out.

"Yeah, well –" She could just hear the words 'affirmative action' on the tip of his tongue. Fortunately for him, he bit it. "She's not even a very good lawyer."

Gaston chuckled. "She just brought in six clients worth more than," he paused, likely more for effect than anything else, "you've brought in your whole career, now that I think about it, John. Maybe we should give her your seat, you're clearly not earning it. That's all of our paychecks you're hurting."

"Oh, please, if we were to get rid of everyone who doesn't deserve their seat here, we'd actually have some elbow room," Elsa replied.

Smith cleared his throat, narrowing his eyes at Elsa. "What was that?"

"I'm pretty sure I said it first," Albert said. "She was just agreeing with me."

His lips pulled back, making him look like a rabid animal in an ugly suit. "Well, back in my day –"

"For fuck's sake, John, I'm older than you. Just shut up before you make any more of a fool of yourself."

Carol fixed the two of them with a glare.

The lopsided grin that Albert gave her would've likely gone a lot worse if he wasn't on her side. "Of course, you all have a vote," Carol said, "but I'd remind you all, the money she brings in goes in your pockets. She won't even have equity for a couple years, assuming we decide we still want her then. She's brought in half a billion dollars in clients this week. If you think you can all turn away that kind of money, just because you think there are some dues she hasn't paid, then I think you owe it to your partners to explain why you're taking money out of our pockets."

No one seemed to have any argument against that.

Elsa sipped her coffee, enjoying the silence. It was so rare in this room.

Belle's confirmation passed unanimously. She was going to be thrilled.

Elsa didn't manage to catch her until the end of the day, when she'd promised to give her a ride back home. "Hey, Elsa," Belle breathed, leaning against the side of the BMW, resting her elbows on her knees as she caught her breath. "I've been all over the city this week."

"The cab fare must've been ludicrous."

She chuckled, flashing a bright, but tired smile. "Kind of, yeah, but my landlady is really reasonable."

"I think reasonable would still include charging you."

"Well, if you need to, I'm fine with it. I don't want to put you out."

"It's okay, Belle. I'm just teasing you."

"I'm serious, though. I know how big of an imposition this must be." She looked like she'd be bouncing about in a panic if she had the energy, instead she only attempted to meet Elsa's eyes before dropping her head again.

Elsa pulled her into a hug, finding that she had to support the exhausted attorney's weight. "I don't mind. It's nice having you there."

"Hmm…" she murmured.

"Did you fall asleep?"

Belle shook her head.

Fuck it, I'll tell her the news when we get home. Elsa helped her into the back seat, where she promptly fell over and passed out. That must've been one hell of a week, it'd explain why Elsa had barely seen her, despite living with her.

She grabbed some burgers on the way home, to give Belle a bit more time to nap, and to make sure that they wouldn't have to cook. She'd still barely used the ovens. It had started with her not wanting to use them because they reminded her of Tiana, but at this point it was mostly just laziness.

When they arrived home, Belle sat bolt upright and snatched the bag from Elsa's hand. "I'm starving."

"I think Olaf's food is in that bag too. Don't eat it or he'll never forgive you."

She bit into a burger with far too many toppings, and far too large, to have been Olaf's. "Mmm. This is the best thing to happen to me all day."

"Have you not eaten?"

"Haven't had the time."

"Well," Elsa smirked, "I think you're going to change your mind about it being the best thing."

"Why?" She lifted up the bun. "Did they put mayonnaise on it?"

Rolling her eyes, Elsa gestured inside. "I'll tell you in the house."

"Oh, is it about you and Anna?"

"No. I – what would the news even be?"

"I dunno, that you two are getting married, 'cause that would definitely beat this burger."

"No, although that reminds me, as far as everyone else knows, we are married, and that's why we have the same last name, so try to keep that under wraps."

"Of course, Sensei." She tossed a playful salute. "I would never dream of letting that slip. I can keep a secret, Elsa. You can trust me."

"I know I can. This isn't about me." She pushed Belle through the door and heard quiet explosions from Olaf's bedroom. "Anna?" she called.

"Coming!" her voice trailed down from the upstairs bathroom. A couple minutes later, the little redhead was before them. "Welcome home, you two. Everything go okay?"

Belle blinked and peered up at Elsa through tired eyes. "Wait, was today –"

"The day we confirmed our newest partner? Yeah."

Her eyes widened, the sleep vanishing from them as her jaw dropped. "You mean it? I'm – Really?"

"Yes!"

"Holy shit!" She pulled the two of them into a rib-crushing hug. "This is the best news ever!"

"Told you."

The burger was still pretty good too, though. Even Olaf seemed to enjoy his.

"I'm sure my lovely, esteemed colleague on the other side of the bench will tell you a wonderful story." Facilier smirked out over the jury, in the snakeish way that only he could. "Something about how Officer Wilde is a hero, who was only trying to put away a guilty man, and how he recanted afterward, so how could there be any harm? But I assure you, no matter how she twists it, there is harm. Every time a member of our police force, the very people who we entrust with our safety, decides that they don't need to respect the law, harm is done.

"They pledge an oath to protect and to serve the people of this great city. Instead of doing so, Officer Wilde decided that he could play judge and jury. He decided that it didn't matter what the evidence said, he had the power to decide who was guilty, and he wanted to use it. This could've happened to any of us, and we can not allow those who would do so to get away with it.

"Officer Wilde thinks that he can flout the very system he serves. Then, rather than owning up to it, he tried to throw the blame on my office. I intend to prove that he knew full-well he was lying, and continued to do so until long after he could've recanted. Because he decided to ignore the rules, a guilty man went free, and the little trust we still have for our fine men in uniform was shattered all the further. I hope you're as disgusted as I am, and that you won't let him get away with it."

That sounded more like a closing than an opening. It's like this trial is just a show. Elsa took a sip of water before sliding back in her chair. She didn't stand, she stayed watching her opposing counsel for a long moment. She did feel for his side, and if she had her choice, he'd win, but she'd give her client the vigorous defense he was entitled to, and if Facilier was going to be so matter of fact, then she'd be the one to be the showman.

"I'm sorry." She finally pulled her eyes away, standing as her gaze traveled across each member of the jury. "I'm simply not used to my opposing counsel offering my complete defense. I don't suppose this means I've already won?" She smiled at the snake and received only a serious glare for her trouble. It was a risky move, trivializing something like this, but she'd always wanted to have the chance to beat Facilier at his own game, and it was hard to find a lower risk trial in which to attempt it.

"He doesn't dispute that my client corrected his statement. It was later, yes, but there's no rule against that. He even did it before there was any sentencing. You can hate Mr. Wilde for what he did, in fact, I encourage you to. He's clearly shown that he's a disgrace to his badge, and that's why he's had it taken away. We're not here for that, we're not here to establish that we think that he's the worst excuse for a police officer that the city has seen in at least a week, or that we really wouldn't mind if someone else tried his game and accused him of murder. But, this isn't that trial. This is a trial for perjury, and he retracted his statement. So there's no perjury to try him for."

Elsa took her seat again, her grin all the larger as she met the increasingly surly district attorney's glare. Was that it? What was I even worried about? Mia smiled up at her and she gave her a quick nod before returning to weighing the opposition.

"The prosecution may call their first witness," came the bored voice of Judge Maleficent, stirring Elsa from her thoughts. I still can't believe he's calling my client as his first witness. He's cocky enough that he's going to let me cross examine my own client. Now if only that confidence wasn't completely justified in this case.

"Would Mr. Nick Wilde come to the stand."

"It's officer," he muttered, rising from his seat.

"No it isn't."

He was promptly sworn in and the surly redhead glared out at the district attorney. When he'd been deposed a couple days earlier, Nick couldn't keep his mouth shut. If he hadn't already made the case for Facilier in his claims after the last trial, then that would've likely done it. I always get the dumb ones. But hey, at least he learned how to shut up.

"Now, Mr. Wilde," he savored the word, making no show to hide the joy he found at Wilde's unemployment, "Would you explain to the jury what brought you here?"

"I'd remind you that you're under oath. Not that that's ever stopped you."

"Objection!" For fuck's sake, Facilier.

The judge rolled her eyes. "Sustained."

Nick flipped the prosecutor off, smiling the most pointlessly self-satisfied shit-eating grin that Elsa had seen off of Facilier. How about you don't give him evidence that you're a hostile witness?

"You still have to answer the question," Facilier pointed out.

Wilde turned to the judge for confirmation. You're an experienced witness and testifying to your history as it, don't act like an idiot.

"Just ask it again," she sighed, holding her head in her hand and looking like she was already done with this trial that was only just beginning.

"Mr. Wilde, would you explain what brought you here?" Oh. God damn it. He's just giving him enough rope to hang himself, isn't he? I'll just look petty objecting again, especially when he's giving my client such an easy question, it'd be like admitting that he can't be trusted on the stand. Though, in all fairness, he can't.

Nick looked to Elsa for help. The fuck do you want from me? She nodded, gesturing for him to go on before the judge had to intervene again. "I drove here." Okay, maybe he's not that experienced. Or he thinks playing dumb will somehow work. Mia covered her chuckle by choking on a sip of water.

"And as amazed as I am that you were let out on bail, that's not quite what I meant. But, if you'd rather, permission to treat the witness as hostile?" There we go. Hell, with him, that may actually be better for me. "He did flip me off," he reminded the jury – and the judge by sheer happenstance.

"Oh, very well." She waved her hand, leaning back in her chair, her finger pressed to her temple, a long manicured nail threatening to draw blood.

Facilier's snakeish grin bore down on the prey before him. "You were a witness for the prosecution in a previous case. Isn't that correct?"

"Yeah." He sounded skeptical, his eyes darting about the room.

"And you lied, under oath, and blamed assistant DA, Mr. Pan."

"Yes?"

"Yes, that's correct. And then you came forward and retracted your statement – wait, no, I'm sorry, you didn't do that. You waited until the trial was over and Pan was about to be disbarred, then you only agreed to admit that you were lying if that beautiful woman over there would represent you."

"I don't know if I'd call her beautiful."

"Really not relevant to my point, but also wrong. Answer the question."

"Yes?"

"Great. No further questions." Facilier sashayed back to his seat, beaming broadly at Elsa. "Your witness."

"You take the next one," Elsa whispered as she stood. Well, I think he recovered from his weak opening statement pretty well. "Naturally," she said loud enough for Facilier to hear as she strode up, her hand on her hip, feeling the knit fabric of her jade dress. "So, Mr. Wilde, you did in fact retract your statement, did you not?"

"Of course, I did. I wasn't going to just let them –"

"A 'yes' will do." What I wouldn't give for Kuzco right now.

"Yes."

"And no one else was in any way punished for your actions?"

He blinked, a smile slowly spreading across his face. It wasn't a good look for the jury, but if there was a chance it meant he wouldn't say something stupid, then she was all for it. "Of course not. As soon as I found out that an innocent person was about to be punished for my actions, I came forward and retracted my statement, even though I knew it would land me here."

It was something. It wasn't enough and it wasn't honest, but it was a hell of a lot better than she had a minute ago. "No further questions."

Facilier rose his hand, all but hopping out of his chair. "Oo! Oo! I have a question. I want to redirect!"

"Sit your ass down and you can have your redirect. But if you disrespect my courtroom like that again, then I'll hold you in contempt."

Elsa could already hear his 'your handcuffs or mine?' quip. It was growing a little old.

"I'm sorry, that was so hot I almost forgot my questions. But I think I remember them now."

"Mr. Facilier," she snarled.

He smirked back. "So, Mr. Wilde, you say that you retracted your statement as soon as you found out you had hurt an innocent person. Is that excluding the man that you were framing in the first place?"

"He wasn't innocent."

"Well, because of your actions, he is. If you're so confident in his guilt, then how does it feel that you're the one who put him back on the street?" The playfulness and flirtation was gone from his voice and his face. He looked positively pissed. If he was like this all the time, then I wouldn't dread going up against him, I'd actually enjoy it.

"Objection!"

"Withdrawn. You say you did this even though you knew that it would 'land you here.' You were already facing prison, and you clung to your lie, despite it being of no help to you, and a great deal of harm to a fantastic attorney. Didn't you?"

"Well, I –"

"Didn't you?"

"Objection! As nice as it is to see you take something seriously for once, don't badger your own damn witness."

Maleficent gave a throaty laugh. "Sustained."

"No further questions."

As shaky as her case had been to start with, he'd pretty thoroughly dismantled it. It would be fascinating to see what damage he could do if he normally played like this.

"Well, I think I'm done here," Facilier muttered. "The prosecution rests."

As bad of an idea as that normally would be, with his position as strong as it was, he was effectively cutting Elsa off from all of her defensive options. She only had one witness she could still call, and it was far from a compelling argument. "The defense calls ADA Peter Pan to the stand."

Anger flashed on Facilier's face for a moment before a mirthful grin replaced it. "I like this. This is fun. I call your client, you call the victim, and you even play by my rules. It's like we've switched roles, and I love it. You'd be an amazing DA."

"The pay's too low."

Maleficent chuckled. "Both of you shut up or I'm holding you in contempt." The irritation was gone from her voice and the threat sounded as playful as the banter before it.

Nick glowered at Elsa from his seat beside her. Hey, just because you're miserable doesn't mean I have to be.

After a brief recess, Peter was sworn in and ready for testimony. This would be risky as all hell, and Elsa found herself on the edge of her seat and near to chewing her nails. Not that that had ever been one of her vices. As Mia stood, a gentle smile on her face, Elsa had to bite her tongue. She trusted Mia, far more than she'd trusted any other associate she'd worked with, but letting someone else run her case had never been one of her strong suits.

She's got this. Besides, I don't mind losing if it means this asshole suffers. She downed her glass of water, pouring another cup with shaky hands. Don't talk like that. Mia is an amazing attorney – granted, that's in part because I trained her, but that should only make this easier on my ego. I want to let her do this, and I want to enjoy a fun trial with her. Why was it so much easier with Gaston?

Rather than considering if there may have been internalized misogyny there, or if she simply trusted him more because he was a far more experienced attorney than even her, let alone Mia (though she suspected the latter was the reason), Elsa focused on Mia's direct. She wanted to be there for her friend, and to finally see her up close and personal in the courtroom. This was the moment she'd been training her for.

"Mr. Pan." Mia looked far friendlier than anyone else she'd ever seen questioning a witness – herself included. It was a drastic change from Facilier and Albert, or even Pan's more oafish manner. I said I was gonna be better about that, didn't I? "What happened when you were called before the bar?"

"Well, you just get right to it, don't you? I've been trying that more myself lately." He gave her a feeble smile – the kid always had stage fright, Elsa could vividly recall him on the verge of a panic attack the first time he had to give a practice opening statement.

Mia's smile softened, growing more sympathetic rather than simply friendly – Elsa wasn't sure she even had separate expressions for those two. She didn't say a word, she simply exuded a presence that told the world, and more importantly him, 'Take all the time you need, but do try to answer my question.'

"When I was about to be disbarred – which was because of him –" he added. It wasn't a bad point for them, it just beat Facilier to putting more emphasis on it. "He came forward and admitted that the whole thing had been his idea. While I definitely haven't forgiven him, if he hadn't have come forward," he wiped at his eyes. It was a good thing that Mia was the one up there, Elsa's predatory grin would've been terrible optics. "I don't know what I would've done. This is all I've wanted to do – I mean being a lawyer. It runs in my family and it means the world to me. Because he came forward, I didn't lose that."

Fuck. Mia coached him WELL. I can't believe he went along with that. She sighed as a terrible idea crossed her mind. If Nick said that he would back out of his statement again if Pan didn't do this, and I find out – well, he shouldn't let me find out.

"You were the lawyer on that case, would you say that you or the defendant had any further consequences of my clients lie?" I wouldn't have said lie, but phrasing it as 'any further' is smart. Facilier digging that question back up can look petty, and it cuts off the relevant timeframe to after anything bad had happened.

He shook his head. "No. In fact, I'd say that the defendant – the one in my case – benefited a good deal from it."

Fuck.

The regret was palpable on Mia's face, she'd thought that question through so well, likely even rehearsed it, and yet she'd missed this possibility. Pan had likely just said 'no' before, but as willing as he was to help them, it didn't mean he was on their side, losing that sure conviction likely stung.

Pan looked just as sorrowful. So, it hadn't been planned. "I mean –"

Mia shook her head.

"But he didn't hurt anyone. He came forward with the truth, and because of that I can still practice, and the defendant didn't – well, I guess that's actually because he was caught."

He's become a halfway decent lawyer, but I'm gonna have to remember to never grab Pan as a witness again.

The chuckle from Facilier's table – Elsa refused to look over and confirm that it was him – did very little to make her feel any better.

"No further questions at this time," Mia muttered, running back to the table, her eyes wide and terrified. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"It's not your fault. You asked a great question, Pan fucked up." Come to think of it, that thing I always make fun of him for was as an expert witness in mock trial too. God damn he is a terrible witness.

"But –"

"You didn't do anything wrong." Elsa could scarcely believe she was saying it. Blaming her sounded so much better than just accepting that they were going to lose to chance – chance and having basically zero case to argue in the first place.

"Maybe you should handle the closing. The jury probably trusts you more given that you've been the one to handle everything else – and better – and asked more than two questions."

"You didn't want to end up digging your own grave." Any further. "You should do the closing arguments. Don't worry. You'll be fine."

"The fuck are you two talking about?" Nick asked, glaring between the two of them. "That fucker screwed me and after I – the bastard." He did, didn't he?

Mia replied, "Hey, we're doing all that we can. There's not a lot to be said for your defense." She sounded substantially calmer. Perhaps having Elsa's faith in her helped her have that faith in herself. Well, I'm happy to do that for her.

Facilier tapped a slow beat on the table with his knuckles. "I don't have a lot to ask. So, that guy lost you a case that should've been a sure thing, letting a guilty man walk free?"

"Objection," Elsa called, rolling her eyes at the fucking balls on that dickbag. I need to come up with new insults just to properly describe him.

"Sustained."

"Letting a man who you believe to be guilty walk free? Happy?"

"That's correct," Pan replied.

"Cool." He sucked on his teeth and made some smacking sounds with his lips. As much as he was playing it up, he had a point. He'd pretty thoroughly won. "So, wanna grab dinner with me sometime?"

Peter looked increasingly uncomfortable. "Um, you're my boss." His eyes were going everywhere but the DA. Wait, is Pan not straight? My gaydar never fails, I call bullshit.

"Fine, we'll just have to wait for when I'm taken down by a massive scandal. No further questions. Can we just go ahead and give our closings? I have to go vent on Twitter about being rejected."

Elsa hated herself for laughing at that joke.

"Sure, of course we can," Maleficent said, sounding caring, nice, suspicious. "After the defense rests and then after a recess so I can powder my nose."

"Nature calls, got ya."

"Do you really want me to hold you in contempt over a pee joke? You can do better."

Sinking into his chair, Facilier nodded in agreement, his mind visibly racing in search of a better stunt to pull.

Elsa and Mia turned to each other. They didn't have anyone else they could call. Facilier hadn't made enough points for them to debunk and the one point they'd made, had screwed them. They just had to hope they had one hell of a closing. No pressure, Mia.

When a far less irritable Maleficent returned from the recess, the courtroom was called to order, and the closings began.

Facilier stood in the center of the floor, eyeing the few meager members of the crowd, – including the defendant's wife – the jury, the judge, and the defense, giving the last one a playful wink. "Perjury is a terrible crime, but despite the damage it does to the system that we all rely on to keep us safe, most of us treat it as little more than a game." That's something coming from him. "When that violation comes from the very people we trust to keep us safe, using that system, then it is – " he snorted, "'particularly heinous,' to steal a phrase. It's overlooked, because it's so common, but as district attorney, I intend to have zero tolerance for it. When our police officers can just make things up to put people behind bars – well, they need to be taught that they're wrong. Otherwise, the entire system breaks down, and that only benefits criminals – criminals like Mr. Wilde here.

"Because he decided that he wanted to guarantee a conviction, what should have been a sure thing was lost. A man who may well have murdered his wife is out there to kill again, and we have Mr. Wilde to thank for it. You have the power to make sure that he doesn't get away with it. Use it."

He blew out a deep breath as he strode back to the table. This case seemed to be really getting to him, he looked genuinely enraged. Elsa found herself staring after him, wondering just what had made this particular issue such a sore spot for him.

She was so distracted that she almost rose up for her response, only for Mia to beat her to it. Right, I'm letting her handle this. She's got this. She'll do fine. Well, as fine as someone can do in a sure loss.

Mia swallowed, looking almost as dour as the opposition had. Elsa could swear she saw tears in her eyes. "Perjury does absolutely destroy our system. I can't argue with his point." Elsa cocked her head. Interesting start. "And the one thing that ensures that perjury will continue to destroy our system, is to remove any incentive to tell the truth. If even correcting your lies isn't enough anymore, then there's no reason for the truth to ever come out. Not only would Mr. Pan have been disbarred if people couldn't correct their statements, but who knows how many more false convictions there would have been?

"People will lie. It's an inescapable truth of our world and of the system that Mr. Facilier and I care so much about. But to insist that someone who has already corrected himself – and who has prevented anyone from being hurt by his actions – it's not just unfair, it's a betrayal of justice." Maybe a little too much, and we probably shouldn't bring up how many people he hasn't hurt when he freed a murderer. "If you imprison this man, you're telling the world that anyone who lies, better keep lying. That's not a lesson we should teach anyone. Show them instead that coming forward with the truth is enough. That's all I can ask of you."

As she took her seat again, she allowed her pride to show for only a moment. It wasn't perfect, but it may have been just the hell of a closing they needed. They'd just had to wait and find out.

The wait wasn't long, which Wilde seemed to take as bad news. Within only five minutes the jury had come back out, ready to reveal their verdict. His nails dug into the table as he waited, unblinking, staring at the foreman.

"What say you?" Judge Maleficent asked.

Elsa found herself holding her breath. She loathed this man, but she loathed her opponent almost as much, and would love to wipe his perpetual smirk off his face. "We find the defendant, Nick Wilde, guilty."

Well, that was that. Elsa blew out a breath. Oh well. He sucked anyway. "What? No," Nick muttered.

After sentencing, he was escorted away in handcuffs. He'd have a long five years to think about the virtue of honesty. He'd have a lot of alone time though, there was no way they'd put a cop in gen pop. Elsa and Mia had Irish coffees to mourn their loss and toast their first case together. It certainly could've gone worse. At least it'd been fun.