Author's Note: Sorry for missing the previous update. I'll try not to do that again. My legal consultant and I were having a hell of a time establishing the facts of this case, and it delayed the chapter substantially.

Anna glared at the man across from her. It was a different detective from the one who had arrested her. She had managed to collect herself a good deal and was no longer the blubbering mess that they had dragged into this interrogation room some five hours ago. "I already told you five times, Elsa had nothing to do with it," she insisted.

The detective only watched her, unmoving and expressionless. "So you expect me to believe that your sister had a false identity and lured him upstairs, without any ulterior motive?"

"Like I keep telling you, she didn't lure him anywhere, he followed her."

"While she was pretending to be a man?"

"Yeah, what can I say, I think he fancied the gents," she sighed, trying to beat the facts into this dolt's malfunctioning brain.

"So you killed him for that?" he asked, jotting some notes down.

"No, I pushed him aside because he was attacking my sister, and he hit his head," she stated, growing tired of the repetition.

"And your sister, the one impersonating a doctor –"

"She is a doctor!" Anna leaned forward over the table, her eyes even with the bored looking man's.

"Then why is she Dr. Thomas Henricksen instead of Dr. Elsa Arendelle?" He inquired, setting the pen down as he met her gaze. "She wouldn't be the first woman doctor, but she wasn't good enough, so she had to lie to get what she wanted. I certainly wouldn't trust her to be my doctor. Is that why she didn't bother to save him? Was it malice or incompetence?"

Anna took a deep breath. She knew he was bating her, trying to get her to slip up. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction. "She was rather unconscious at the time, due to the concussion he gave her."

"Did she have a qualified doctor take a look at her to corroborate that?" He picked up a cup of cold coffee and sipped at it, his expression souring when it hit his tongue.

"No, she didn't, she was fine." Anna tried to stop the words from coming out, but it was too late.

"If she was fine, then why couldn't she save him? It's sounding like this is what she wanted all along. For how long had she been planning to kill him?"

Anna sighed. She was the one that got them in this mess and she'd be damned if she let Elsa take the fall. If she hadn't told Elsa her feelings in the first place, then maybe they would have both had normal lives, and Elsa could have been happy and not facing prison. She could have just sat in silence, she didn't have to ruin everything. "It was me. I'd wanted to kill him. I didn't like the way he looked at my sister, he always had. Elsa had no idea. I killed him, and I forcibly stopped her from helping him. She had nothing to do with any of it."

He blinked and picked up his pen, jotting down a few more notes. "You're willing to make a full confession and sign it?"

Anna swallowed. She knew Elsa would never approve of this, but it was the only way to keep her out of prison. "Yes, of course I am. Just hand over that pen and paper."

He slid it across the table, watching her carefully. She took it and began filling out her confession before reading it aloud. "I, Anna Henriksen, intentionally killed Hans Sutton, against the wishes of Elsa Arendelle."

"You're going to need a few more details than that," he sighed, glancing at the paper.

"I'm sorry, I've never written a confession before, what is it supposed to include?" she grumbled.

He studied her face for a moment, and decided to let it go. "Fine, I guess this is good enough. Come on, I'll take you back to your cell."

Anna stayed rooted to her spot. "I want to talk to my sister."

"That's not going to happen. Now get up."

"Why isn't it going to happen? I just confessed to everything, you don't have any reason to hold her." She glared at the man towering over her, refusing to budge even an inch until he gave in to her demands.

"Would you like the list of charges the DA is leveling against you two? This might keep your sister from going to prison on one charge, but nothing you say is going to change any of the others."

Anna's eyes widened as she gaped up at him, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to comprehend what he'd just said to her. "What are the charges?" she breathed, already suspecting at least two of them. Incest. Crimes against nature. It was still all her fault.

He took the notepad back from her and flipped to an earlier page. "Let's see... Murder, obviously, obtaining a marriage license by false pretenses, perjury, subordination of perjury, obtaining property by false pretenses, incest, and conspiracy to commit all of the above."

Anna forced herself not to collapse into tears again. At least crimes against nature wasn't on the list? "It was my idea, all of it, she had nothing to do with it."

"She had nothing to do with having sex with her own sister, marrying under a false name – to said sister, or using said false name to establish a career and life while signing documents that claimed that was her name and that she was a man, including ones with the United States government? How do you figure?"

"I signed her name on everything, I got her the fake ID, I got myself the fake ID, I registered her for college, and I registered her for selective service. Would that cover everything?"

He glanced down at his notepad before turning to a blank page and handing it back to her. "You'll have to sign another confession."

"Gladly." She began filling out a new confession, reiterating what she had just claimed. "Now can I see my sister?"

He sighed, glancing up at the ceiling. "I'll see what I can do."

Elsa glowered at the man who had arrested her. He had introduced himself as Detective Murphy after he listed off their various charges. "So let me get this straight," he sighed. "You're saying that it was all your idea?" He rubbed at his temples while he studied her confession.

"Of course it was," Elsa groaned, sounding more frustrated with the man than she seemed upset with the situation. "I'm her older sister. What are the chances that she would be the one responsible? I took advantage of her trust in me and turned it into something more, because that was what I wanted." She hoped desperately that she was lying. "I then killed a man for trying to hurt me, and fled with her to start a new life. I even procured a fake ID for her so that she could pretend to be my husband this time."

He scribbled some notes in his notepad. "So, what? She just went along with everything? Why?"

"Because she basically worshiped me. I seemed to have my whole life together and she had no idea what she was doing. I was strong, composed, intelligent, and made it look like I could do anything. She wanted to be like me, and I twisted that worship into lust, I made her think she was in love with me. She didn't do anything wrong, except for what I made her do."

A knock sounded on the door to the interrogation room, and the detective got up to answer it. Elsa didn't recognize the man that he was talking to, but they left her alone in the room so that they could discuss whatever it was that was so urgent. Elsa pulled Murphy's notebook to her and looked through what he'd written down. She hadn't made a single mistake. Everything lined up with her story perfectly. What might Anna have said? Why would she even ask – Anna was doing the same thing she was doing, trying to take all of the responsibility so that she could go free. Elsa just had to be more convincing.

She flipped back through the notes, looking for anything she may have overlooked. There was nothing in the notebook from before the arrest. Either he hadn't been involved in the investigation until that point, or he'd used a different book. She had been hoping that there would have been some clue as to what slip-up had done them in. She couldn't figure it out. There was no reason that they should have been found, let alone so easily. She had thought she hadn't missed anything.

Burying her face in her hands, she tried to hold back tears. She couldn't risk looking too emotional. If she was going to sell this story, she had to sound like the cold manipulative monster that would do something like that to her own sister. She had to be the exact person her nightmares had depicted her as when they'd first gotten together. She knew it wasn't true, but she'd never been quite able to shake the fear. She took a deep breath and held it in for a moment – she'd work with that, embrace those fears, and invalidate anything Anna might have said. She had only manipulated her into taking the blame – but then why would she be trying to take it herself now? She stared at the clock on the far wall, as the seconds ticked by without any explanation coming to her.

The door opened again, and the other detective walked in. Perhaps they were trying to switch things up, see if he could get something new out of her? "Ms. Arendelle?" he asked, his voice sounding strangely soothing, not like the accusatory tone of the previous detective.

"Yes," she answered slowly, still racking her mind for a solution to her dilemma.

"Your sister would like to speak with you." He explained, waving his hand as if to indicate for her to follow him. This didn't make any sense. What had Anna said? Why would they believe her? She shouldn't follow him, but she needed to see Anna; this could be the last time they ever see each other, and she had to take advantage of it.

She rose and followed after the detective. "Is she okay?" Her voice quavered. What if that was why they wanted her to see Anna? What if she had been hurt, or if she was threatening suicide? Maybe her expectations about the interrogation had been wrong, and Anna had broken under the pressure.

Detective Murphy was outside the room smoking a cigarette with a steaming cup of coffee in his other hand. He nodded at her as she passed. That was not a good sign.

Elsa soon found herself in another interrogation room, where Anna sat at an ugly steel table exactly like the one she had just left. The detective indicated for her to take a seat opposite her sister and sat down in another metallic folding chair in the corner of the room, watching them. This didn't make any sense. "Anna?" she began.

Anna blinked back tears, "It's okay, Elsa. I told them everything. They know you had nothing to do with it. I'm not going to take you down with me." There's no way they'd believe her, this had to be some sort of trap. They were hoping that they'd give themselves away. That explained everything.

"Anna, you don't have to lie," Elsa smiled, hardening her gaze. "I told them the truth. They know that I convinced you to do all of this, and that I killed Hans. I've done too much to you already, you deserve a chance at a normal life, and not the twisted delusions of normalcy that I've forced you into." Now they both knew what the other had said; if Anna didn't break character, then this wouldn't hurt them. She stared into her sister's teal eyes, willing with every fiber of her being for the younger woman to understand her.

Anna's mouth began to open, but she quickly closed it and caught her sister's gaze. She understood. They'd both said too much for there to be any chance that the other would be released, but if they kept their stories straight then they could obfuscate things, complicating the case and making their conviction just the slightest bit less guaranteed. It likely wouldn't save them, but it might at least help get a decent plea deal. "That's ridiculous," Anna sighed, shaking her head at the absurdity of Elsa's statement before meeting Elsa's gaze again, her eyes silently communicating her love. "It was all me. I killed him, and I won't let you suffer for my actions."

Elsa released the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. "Anna, don't lie to the police, that will just make things more complicated. You don't have to take the blame anymore, you know it was all me."

The detective rose from his chair. "Alright, enough, I was letting you say goodbye before one of you went to prison, but clearly you're not actually willing to work with us. I'm taking you back to your cells."

Anna watched as Elsa was led into her cell and the door was locked, then she was led a few dozen feet away to her own cell. They were so close, but just out of reach. The door swung shut behind her, and she settled onto an uncomfortable bunk. She couldn't recall the last time she slept without Elsa. She wasn't sure she'd even be able to. She stared at the wall where several notches and initials were carved and wondered what had been used to carve them. She didn't have anything that she could use. They'd left her in her clothes, but taken everything else.

Elsa lay in a similar bunk, watching the bottom of the bed above her. They both had the cells to themselves, since there weren't many women prisoners. Normally they would likely have been able to share, but considering their charges, she was hardly surprised that they had been separated. The metal bunk reflected her sorry state back at her; it was difficult to discern much, but she could tell that she was utterly disheveled. She wished that she had the energy to care. Instead, all of her thoughts rested uncomfortably on the future, on their trial, and on what they could possibly do.

In the morning, Detective Murphy awoke Anna with a tray of what could charitably be described as food. She met his grey eyes as she took the tray. "After you eat, you can call your lawyer," he stated while she was still trying to formulate her thoughts. That was it! She had known there was something she had to do and now she just figured out how to go about it.

"We don't have a lawyer," she admitted.

"Do you know anyone who would be willing to hire one for you?" He sounded almost concerned. Not quite there, but beyond ambivalent.

She racked her brain. There was only one number she could think to call, and she knew it wouldn't go well. She hated herself for even thinking it, but it wasn't like she could try calling Caroline or Kristoff, that would be insane. Even Rapunzel wasn't an option. This was their only hope. She nodded, and attempted to eat the rancid mush before her.

A few minutes later, with as much of the concoction in her stomach as she could manage, Anna followed the detective to a pay phone. He handed her a nickel and she began to dial the number that she hadn't called in so many years. She hoped it was still the same – and that they were still alive. Her breath caught while she heard it ringing. What could she even say?

"Hello?" a familiar voice answered on the fourth ring.

"Mama?" Anna sobbed, tears falling freely. She couldn't believe it was really her. It had been so long. Now she just needed to figure out what she could possibly tell her.

"Anna?" Iduna's voice cracked and Anna heard muffled sobs over the line. "Is that really you?"

"Yes, Mama." She tried and failed to pull herself together, almost bawling as she answered. "We – we got in some trouble Mama. The police have all of our money and we need a lawyer. I swear we didn't do what they're accusing us of – at least not the big thing – please help us. I know we didn't exactly leave things on good terms, but we don't have anywhere else to turn."

The crying intensified, and it was a long moment before Anna could make out any more words. "Of course, Anna. I already know what happened. I'll make sure that you have a lawyer. Give your sister my love, okay?"

Anna nodded, before realizing that her mother couldn't see her. "I will, Mama, I promise. Tell Papa I'm sorry."

All she received by way of a response was more loud sobs. Murphy tapped her on the shoulder and indicated that she needed to wrap things up.

"I love you, Mama. Please have the lawyer hurry!"

The call disconnected before Iduna could say anything back. Anna turned to the detective. "Back to my cell?"

"Back to your cell," he agreed, leading the way.

When they passed Elsa's cell, Anna ran to the door before her escort could say anything. "Elsa, I called Mama, she said she'd get us a lawyer, and that she loves you!" She was forcibly dragged back to her cell as she heard Elsa break down in tears, joining the new family tradition of crying in lieu of an actual answer. Anna felt her own eyes begin to well up with tears again as she found herself back in her cell. As the door slammed shut behind her, she collapsed into her bed, happy that she had at least accomplished something to help them, and that she had finally heard her mother's voice again. She had been convinced that she never would.

Elsa watched as Anna was dragged away, tears filling her eyes as her mind raced. Could Anna have really meant that? Would their mother really help them after they had gone so long without a word? Could she even face her again after that last time? She stared into her distorted reflection, not daring to wish that it could be so. They had made their choice. They had left the rest of their family behind. Besides, there was no way that their father would allow it.

The first meeting with their lawyer had been too much of a shock for the girls to even remember. Their mother had really come through; they weren't completely alone in this fight. They told him everything, the entire story from the beginning. He either had the world's best poker face, or he was completely unphased by their tale – perhaps Iduna had already told him. He informed the girls that they had a case, but it wasn't a strong one, and that he would do everything he could to help them.

The second meeting was far less eventful. They practiced their direct and cross examinations, went over their affidavits, and went over every minute detail a few dozen times to make sure that there were no possible surprises. Both girls were disappointed to see that Iduna still hadn't joined him. They wanted to see her, to talk to her, to hug her, to be held by her, and to have her tell them that everything would be okay. Neither sister had had the nerve to try calling her again, and she hadn't tried to visit at any point.

Before either of the Arendelle sisters knew it, the day of the trial had arrived. They sat next to their lawyer, a Mr. Marshall, at a table in a large chamber. They had both been allowed a change of clothes to look their best for the trial, and were wearing conservative but flattering dresses. On the other side of the room, the prosecution glowered at them through a pair of thick spectacles. From what Marshall had told them, the prosecutor wanted to make an example of them, as a lesson for anyone else with such twisted desires. Just when they were beginning to again be overwhelmed by the prospect before them, a familiar voice pulled Elsa and Anna back to reality.

They turned around, and saw Iduna in the crowd. She was sitting a mere ten feet away, smiling at them as encouragingly as she could through her own mask of concern. It was enough to calm their nerves, and allow them to focus on the trial.

The judge called everyone's attention with a quick crash of his gavel. "This is only a preliminary examination," he explained to the small cavalcade of onlookers. "The purpose of this examination is to establish whether or not a crime was committed, and if so, whether or not the defendant was involved in committing that crime. Mr. Weselton, may we have your opening statements?"

The short man adjusted his tie and rose, barely meeting the height of the attorney seated next to the sisters. He slowly approached the center of the courtroom. "The night of April 30th, 1952 was an ordinary one in Durango, Colorado. Several couples were attending a party at the residence of one Thomas Henriksen, a man who has since been revealed to actually be an Elsa Arendelle. It will be attested that, over the course of the night, the victim, Hans Sutton, drank an inordinate amount of alcohol and was in such a state that even a small woman could have overpowered him." He cleared his throat, glancing up at the judge to see how his words were impacting him before continuing.

"We will go on to prove that the only people with him at the time of the murder, were the accused, Elsa and Anna Arendelle. We shall also demonstrate that over the course of the decade-long deception that led to this poor man's murder, the two engaged in a number of other criminal activities across at least five different states. From establishing false identities in Pennsylvania, marrying in North Carolina under false pretenses by using one of those false identities so that they could pretend to be a normal couple, committing perjury on federal documents by signing draft papers under that same false identity in Maryland, using Ms. Arendelle's – that is to say the blonde one's – falsely obtained medical license to procure property in Colorado, to even using a different false identity for further crimes in Texas, where the law finally caught up to them. This is ignoring the most heinous of all of their crimes – excepting perhaps the murder – the incest that they had been committing throughout all of these deeds.

"The two women seated before you are not the blushing innocent damsels in distress that they may appear at a glance. They are calculating, depraved monsters who have been on a crime spree across this country for over a decade. There is no doubt that anyone capable of committing all of these heinous acts is capable of so much more, up to and including the murder that finally brought them to justice. They deny no part of it! They are sick, twisted creatures, and deserve the utmost punishment for their despicable deeds." He slammed his foot down on the floor with the last word, his toupee moving slightly on his head.

The judge fixed him with a stare. "Need I remind you that we are not here to establish a sentence, only whether or not we can move forward with this trial? It is far too early to request any penalty for them, now take your seat and let their attorney speak."

Mr. Marshall stood, towering over the sitting audience as his gaze came even with the judge's. "Mr. Mason, your honor," he began, his deep bass echoing through the chamber, "I must insist upon the ridiculousness of these charges. I'm certain that my opposing counsel," he glowered down at the little man who was barely out of his arm's reach, "will attempt to use my clients' conflicting confessions, which were obtained under duress, in an attempt to prove the criminal intent of their acts, but you know as well as I do how unreliable such confessions can be.

"Then, they intend to prove murder. There is no evidence of premeditation, and yet they haven't even attempted a manslaughter charge. Even in his own opening remarks, Mr. Weselton showed that if they were in fact responsible for Mr. Sutton's death, it was done so out of desperation to avoid having their disguise seen through. His own words don't match his charges. Let alone the actual reality of the situation, as even the deceased's wife explained in her affidavit, that would reflect that his killing would have most likely been in self defense.

"Then the state – or would it be states in this situation?" He chuckled faintly at his own joke. "Has tacked on all of these charges that are miles away from their typical purview, to attempt to make my clients look like criminal masterminds, instead of the frightened and desperate women that they actually are. They charged them with incest! The crime requires 'carnal intercourse.' There isn't a legal precedent in the country that would say that two women could engage in carnal intercourse. Surely you don't intend to undo a century of precedent by reinterpreting one of our oldest laws.

And they have the nerve to accuse Thomas Henriksen of obtaining property by false pretenses? What false pretenses would these be? The eight years of school she had to attend to obtain her medical degree? The year-long internship where she was one of the best doctors at a prestigious Colorado hospital? The prosecution claims that because she wasn't using her legal name that she somehow didn't earn her degree, ignoring decades of legal tradition that have stated that you can change your name simply by using a different one for long enough. My client may be a woman, but there have been female doctors for years. She changed her name. There's no crime against that.

"By the same grounds, they attempt to charge her with obtaining a marriage by false pretenses. I contend that such a crime would be impossible. Marriage is between a man and a woman. As Thomas is a woman, the marriage was never a legal ceremony to begin with. They're welcome to invalidate it, that doesn't make it a crime.

"So all that they have left is their claims of a murder that defies the very definition of murder, and the idea that she committed perjury when she showed up for the draft. All she did was sign her name on a paper, if even that. It's her name and she was only responding to her summons, one that I'm sure she was very confused by. It is not my client's fault that a trained army doctor couldn't manage to tell her sex after she stripped for him. Perhaps the army ought to do an audit on their own doctors operating without a license, it seems like Dr. Henriksen would be far better suited to the job.

"Not a single one of their charges holds water. Certainly not the conspiracy to commit the crimes that they didn't commit in the first place, which was such a weak charge that the prosecution hasn't even bothered to mention it. There is no reason for this case to reach trial. The prosecution's case is as fake as its hair. I move that you dismiss this case with prejudice." He smiled at his opposition as he returned to his seat and sipped at his glass of water.

Judge Mason examined the two men. "Mr. Marshall, you raise several valid points, and you're welcome to continue making them as the preliminary examination continues, but you have not offered me substantial cause to dismiss this case. Mr. Weselton, you may call your first witness."

The prosecutor glowered at the defense attorney before his gaze fell on Elsa and Anna. His lips curled into a smirk as he announced the name of the man who had cost them everything. "Of course your honor. The prosecution calls Mr. Agnarr Arendelle to the stand."