Sweet Temptation

Charles was anxious; he'd never testified in court before and didn't want to mess up. He took a deep breath and wiped his sweaty palms on the legs of his trousers. He took a moment to mentally run through the set up Erik had explained to him so thoroughly. They'd even practiced a time or two just to keep him from freezing up on the stand. He didn't think he would, but apparently Erik had seen it happen a time or two.

He glanced out of the corner of his eye at Nina who was bouncing in place, looking adorable in green plaid dress with a matching headband, white stockings and patent leather Mary Jane's. She felt his eyes on her and looked up at him with a bright smile. "I'm so excited!"

"I can tell," he chuckled, "but try to calm down a bit okay? Save that energy for the park later."

She wrinkled her nose at him distrustfully, "It's too cold for the park, papa says." She referenced the several inches of snowfall they'd had overnight and Erik's worry about her health since she'd been sick the previous week.

"I'm sure we can go for a little while as long as you wear your coat."

"Okay!" she grinned and went back to bouncing, looking around at all the busy people passing by like they were the most fascinating thing she'd ever seen.

At that moment, Erik stepped out of the conference room he'd entered half an hour before. "Sorry that took so long," he said, crouching in front of Nina to straighten her head band and pinch her on the cheek. Charles could tell he was nervous, but didn't know why. Certainly not about their court appearance today, he'd been excited about that and no wonder; he was a shark in the courtroom. Seeing him in prosecutor mode during their practice sessions had been a rather unexpected turn on that Charles intended to relive again and again.

Just then, a tall, black woman in a gray suit dress and low heels that had her towering over nearly everyone in sight stepped out of the conference room and looked them over with a soft smile. She was hands down one of the most beautiful women Charles had ever seen, but her defining feature was her full head of pure white hair that fell down her shoulders in soft waves. "Aren't you going to introduce me, Erik?" she asked in a slightly accented, modulated tone.

"Of course," he stood up and gestured between them all. "Ororo Munroe, this is Charles Xavier and my daughter, Nina."

She smiled like a queen bestowing favors upon her subjects, "It's lovely to meet you, Charles. And you Nina." She shook his hand and stooped to do the same with Nina who was suddenly struck shy in Ororo's commanding presence.

Charles was impressed, if her courtroom manner was anything like this, it was no wonder she won so many cases. It was hard to imagine her being wrong about anything.

"And you," he said warmly.

"Say hello, little bit," Erik coached Nina gently.

She blushed and mumbled, "HelloMissusOroromonrow."

Ororo looked charmed, "well, this has been lovely but I have other meetings to get to. I'll see you soon Erik, Charles. Miss. Lehnsherr," she winked at Nina and strode off through the teeming crowd.

Erik smirked at the dumbstruck look on their faces, "I'm sure it won't surprise you to learn that she put herself through law school by working as a fashion model years ago."

"Not at all," Charles agreed, happy to have met their lawyer, and feeling far more confident now that he had.

"Ready?" Erik asked; an excited gleam in his eyes.

"Of course," Charles said uncertainly.

"I'm ready, Papa," Nina chimed in, nerves forgotten as their time drew near.

"Alright, let's go," he led the way through the huge building with a spring in his step. It was his time to shine.

~~

For a moment, everything froze, or so it seemed to Charles, then he was grabbing Nina and rushing out of the room. Everything had started well, all according to plan. He had taken the stand and testified to the events of the afternoon he found Nina crying outside his house. Though nervous, his natural charm had seen him through his testimony and the few questions that Erik and Jessica Vale's attorney asked him.

He'd been more than relieved to exit the witness stand and relinquish his place to Nina. She won the gruff voiced Judge Howlett over immediately when she clambered up onto the seat and perched on her knees so she could speak into the small microphone.

Erik had smiled at her lovingly and adjusted the height so she could actually sit and still be heard.

"Now Miss Nina, do you understand that this is a court of law?" the judge asked sternly, though Charles could tell he was trying not to smile when she started nodding her head vigorously before he finished speaking.

"Yes sir," she chirped brightly.

"And do you know the difference between the truth and a lie?"

More nods, "yes sir."

"And what is the difference?" he asked indulgently.

"A lie is a story you make up and the truth is what happened," she said confidently.

He made a big show of looking impressed, "Very good, Miss Nina. Now, in your own words. Take your time. Tell me what happened the last time Ms. Vale dropped you off at home."

She took a deep breath and slowly worked her way through the details, only becoming side tracked a time or two. She did great; Charles was so proud he felt like he was going to burst. He couldn't imagine how Erik felt, watching his little princess do so well for herself.

"Thank you Miss Nina. You may be excused," the judge said warmly when she was done. She stood to go when Ms. Frost, Jessica's lawyer, protested. "Permission to cross examine the witness?" she asked sharply.

Nina looked startled and uncertain; she sank back into her chair with wide eyes.

Howlett frowned, "Permission denied. Mr. Lehnsherr, please escort Miss Lehnsherr off the stand."

Erik tried to wipe the scowl off his face as he did just that. Damn Frost, always pushing her luck.

"You did great, sweetheart," he said as he lead her to the small door that separated the court floor from the seating gallery. "Go sit with Charles; we'll be done here soon, okay?"

"Okay Papa, good luck," she whispered back, momentary fear forgotten.

"Thank you, little bit."

She hurried to Charles' side and leaned against his arm, watching the proceedings with great interest. Erik could only imagine show and tell on Monday.

He took a moment to compose himself and straightened his tie fastidiously before calling Jessica to the stand. It was surreal to see her looking so unchanged since their last encounter. so much had happened in the intervening weeks but she was the same ordinary, petite, woman with wide brown eyes and thick black hair cut into a fashionable bob. Once upon a time he had trusted her with his most precious person and she had betrayed that trust. He took a deep breath and began.

He started by walking her through that day-twice, though of course he'd read her statement. There were minor inconsistencies he could exploit, but he wanted something better.

It was just a feeling he had, but his former employee was hiding something and he would get to the bottom of it.

"So, what time was the concert set to start?" he asked again, she had always faltered on that answer and this time was no exception.

"Ah..."

"Objection, badgering the witness!" Frost called out.

"Overruled," the judge said, clearly having picked up on the hesitation as well.

"7" she said nervously.

"And why did you have to leave so early to get there? Where was the concert held?"

She swallowed thickly, "The amphitheater."

Erik grinned, Jessica flinched. "That's only 20 minutes from my house with no traffic. Why did you need to leave mid afternoon to get there?"

She glanced around nervously, fidgeting with her bracelet for a long while.

"Answer the question Ms. Vale," the judge ordered.

"Ah...I needed to go home and change. And meet up with my boyfriend before going," she said sounding stiff and rehearsed.

Erik swallowed his rage at the thought of her abandoning his angel over something so trivial "And how long did that take?"

"I-I don't know?" she asked softly, looking at the floor intently.

His heart raced, this was it. The lie she'd worked so hard to conceal all this time. It was amazing this had even gone to trial, especially with that shark Frost representing her. She was big bucks for such a small time deal.

"Move to have that stricken from the record," Frost said tensely.

"Denied," Howlett snapped.

"What really happened that day Miss Vale? That your times keep changing? That you have no evidence that you're even a fan of the bands playing that night, no evidence that you even attended the show? No coworkers, no friends, no boyfriend to corroborate your story?"

She looked up at him with bright, frightened eyes. Then glanced at her lawyer and gave a miniscule shake of her head.

Then she dropped all pretense.

"I thought I was doing the right thing," she said so softly he could barely hear her.

"Speak up, Miss Vale." The judge said sharply.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, I thought I was doing the right thing! I-I left Nina there to be...picked up," she sniffled, brown eyes filling with tears. "I never meant for anything to happen to her. She was supposed to be there for just a few minutes before they arrived. I'm sorry Mr. Lehnsherr!" she burst into tears. "This was never supposed to happen! The bailiff handed her a box of tissues and she was given a minute to compose herself."

Permission to approach the bench!" Frost leapt to her feet.

"Denied, return to your seat Ms. Frost," the judge warned her off. She perched on the edge of her seat, a deep frown painted on her face.

Erik's head was spinning at her words. He'd been expecting a tearful confession of selfish neglect, but not this.

He glanced at shocked Charles and gave him a grim look. The other man nodded and quickly bundled Nina up and had her out the door in a matter of moments.

"When you're ready," Howlett said gently to the sniffling defendant.

"They were so kind and, and they just wanted to see their granddaughter. And Mr. Lehnsherr was always so stern and cold. I just thought, what's the harm? I mean, the house was always perfect and Nina is the best! Such a sweet girl, well behaved and well cared for! And they were her grandparents! I knew they had nothing to worry about but they didn't believe me. They were so scared for her."

She wiped her face and took a shuddering breath before looking up at Erik with frightened eye "They said you were abusing her emotionally. That you-you'd done the same to your wife and maybe even killed her..." she faded out slowly. "I never got the whole story. I was worried and wanted to help but without evidence there was nothing to go on. This was never supposed to happen! I didn't want to risk my job, my life but I wanted to help."

"So you cooked up a plan to leave Nina alone and have her grandparents pick her up?" Erik said softly.

She nodded miserably.

"Answer the question Ms. Vale," the judge said balefully.

"Yes. We-Mrs. Eisenhardt and me-came up with a way for me to help without getting in trouble. So it would look like a-a miscommunication. And they would get to see that Nina was okay and if she wasn't they'd know what to do," she finished feebly.

Erik felt light headed at this news. They'd come so close to disaster. If not for Charles...

"You mentioned both grandparents?" he asked sharply, needing to hear the rest.

"Yes, I met with both of them, they told me about Nina and Magda." She was silent for a moment before continuing. "When they got to the house and Nina wasn't there they were so mad! They called me and-well they were completely different than before. They accused me of tricking them and I was just scared that something had actually happened to Nina! So I called you and you threatened to take me to court!" she wailed breaking out into fresh sobs.

"Request a recess!" Frost called, looking more worried by the second. The judge nodded to her and waved her back into her seat.

They waited for her to calm down to sniffles once more, even getting her a drink of water. "Do you need a recess?" Howlett asked solicitously, but she gave her lawyer a nervous glance and shook her head. "No, I'd rather get this over with."

He frowned and shot her attorney a displeased look, noting how she seemed afraid of the other woman "Then please continue."

She took a deep breath, "So they made me swear to keep it a secret, they said I'd end up in prison if I said anything! Then I got fired and you filed to bring me in! I was questioned by the cops, but..." she glanced at her lawyer again looking terrified. The back of Erik's neck prickled and he turned to look at Frost who was thin lipped and livid.

"How are you able to afford private counsel on a former nanny's salary? Or have you found another job?" he asked calmly.

She shook her head, "No, they pulled my license; I can't get another job with kids. I told the Eisenhardt's that I was going to surrender myself for questioning and Ms. Frost showed up and took over from there," she finished in a whisper. "Please, I'm so sorry. This has gone too far, I never meant for any of this to happen. I thought it would all work out. They were so sure it would all work out," she gave a helpless shrug.

"Nothing further," Erik said softly, mind rushing ahead to what this all meant.

"Does the defense have any questions for the witness?"

"None your honor," Frost said through gritted teeth.

The trial wrapped up with Jessica being ordered to pay a$5,000 fine and do 1,000 hours of community service. Erik took jail time off the table in exchange for her future testimony should the need ever arise. She burst into another round of grateful tears that Erik barely registered with the storm going on in his mind.

He needed to find Charles and Nina, but first he had to call Ororo. With Jessica's testimony on record, they might just be free.

~~

"Where is Papa?" Nina asked anxiously, "what was Jessica talking about?"

"I don't know," Charles answered honestly. "But your Papa will be here soon and he'll explain everything then."

She frowned and dipped her chin sadly. He knelt to look her in the eye, "Hey, everything is going to be okay. I promise. You did great up there."

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, "Yeah?"

"Yeah! You were great."

"Then why did we have to leave?" she asked uncertainly.

He puffed out his cheeks and tried to think of what to say. He settled on, "they needed to talk about grown up things."

"They why couldn't you stay?"

"I'd rather spend time with you," he said truthfully. "I'm not a fan of suits and offices."

She nodded like that made perfect sense. He wondered what that said about him.

"Come on, let's get bundled up and make tracks in the snow," he said, shaking out her coat to help her pull it on.

"Okay," she said eagerly, clearly tired of being cooped up inside over the course of her illness and recovery. Charles could only hope that Erik was done soon. As much as he tried to downplay it for Nina, what little they'd heard was a game changer and he was desperate to know what was going on behind that closed door.

He clasped her tiny, gloved hand in his and led the way out of the building, sending Erik a quick text to let him know where they were heading.

Hopefully this was the beginning of the end of this mess, he imagined their lives without the fear and it looked good. He squeezed Nina's hand and made a wish for their future to be bright and carefree.