I13DT - Scary Lawyer Lady

[Allison Rogers]

Allison was settled back behind her desk, looking no worse for the misadventures of her dinner with Dee. She currently had papers scattered across her desk. All of them were marked up with red ink even though they all looked very official. Even though she wasn't teaching classes just yet, she'd posted office hours and had her door open just in case.

((Open))

[Nailah Weaver]

Nailah sighs heavily and knocks on the door as she steps inside.

"Hey, do you have a moment?"

[Allison Rogers]

Allison's obviously surprised to see Nailah here, but nods, shuffling the papers on her desk back into a single pile. "Sure. Shut the door if you need to."

[Nailah Weaver]

Which she does, leaning against the closed door for a second or two.

"Okay, so we might have a favour to ask you. Sam and me that is. Don't worry, it's a legal thing, lots of boring paperwork and such..."

[Allison Rogers]

"Decided to tie the knot?" She said, setting her own papers aside and getting out something to take notes with.

[Nailah Weaver]

"What? No, that..." she trails off as something just occurs to her. "It's about the girl that was rescued from the Black Air base, Miranda Savage?"

[Allison Rogers]

"The girl from the cafeteria fight? I've met her and filed some guardianship paperwork on her behalf."

[Nailah Weaver]

Nailah sighs. "Yes, the girl from the cafeteria fight. We found her biological parents, so we might have to refile some things."

[Allison Rogers]

"The school's guardianship was only a temporary anyway. We hadn't gotten to permanent guardianship yet. So the biological parents want to assert their rights in regards to Miranda?"

[Nailah Weaver]

"Could you possibly make that sound any drier? Yes, the biological parents want to adopt her guardianship."

[Allison Rogers]

"Hazard of the profession and I'm not quite myself, I apologize. So you want me to fight their request?"

[Nailah Weaver]

"What? No, we want you to push that through and make it official."

[Allison Rogers]

Allison tilted her head as she looked at her and then made a T with her hands. "Okay, hold on, time out. Walk me through this with names, because if her parents are asserting their rights, then all I have to do is tell the court we don't contest it and everything will flow through. Most of the work will be on their lawyer."

[Nailah Weaver]

"Right, which is why we're asking you for a favour. We need a lawyer to make this flow through."

[Allison Rogers]

To Allison's credit, it's only a moment before that puzzle piece clicks into place. "The two of you are the biological parents..." A significant amount of mental swearing occurs, but Allison manages to keep her face business-like.

[Nailah Weaver]

"Don't ask me to explain it, because I'd have to call in the poor sap they send to try and explain it to me and he might just have a heart-attack in your office."

[Allison Rogers]

"I'll need said poor-sap's name anyway. You realize how much of a beast this is going to be, right?"

[Nailah Weaver]

"I'm not sure I do. It's just a same-sex couple adoption, no?"

[Allison Rogers]

"That depends. Who's the mother? Or does that even apply in this case?"

[Nailah Weaver]

She pulls out what little paperwork she has. "This says I am though I'm not entirely sure how they came to that conclusion."

[Allison Rogers]

Allison looked the paperwork over, "Okay. There's a few options. One is simply to assert your rights as the biological parents. That probably entails registering the birth, which will require some court proceedings to present this stuff." She indicated the papers. "We could argue that X-Corp's DNA findings constitute a registration of birth, making you her parents by default. That would be a hell of a precedent to set. However, that makes all of this a matter of public record."

She paused briefly before continuing, "We could also have the two of you adopt her as a foundling, which would be easier if the two of you were civil partners, but that isn't a make or break thing in the UK. That entails social worker visits and several other things to make sure you're fit parents. That's a lot of scrutiny, though I don't know of many courts that would argue with a Headmistress of a private school and a college professor adopting a child."

[Nailah Weaver]

"So we're looking at either fighting to set a precedence or continued scrutiny. And honestly, our credentials aren't going to carry nearly as much weight the moment they realize we're mutants." she says, apparently staring right past Allison and off into the distance. "It's hard to criticize and institution's guardianship but the moment it's not the school but two mutants adopting her that'll open the door for them to scrutinize this entire place under the guise of looking at Sam and me. In the end they'll declare us unfit on basically nothing but us being mutants and Miranda will disappear into the system where Black Air is already waiting for her.."

She seems to snap out of whatever trance she was in and looks at Allison. "We have genetic evidence and Black Air wouldn't dare stepping into the light to challenge this. If we have to set a precedence then so be it."

[Allison Rogers]

"I'll do my best to have the records sealed in Miranda's interest, but that's a roll of the dice based on the judge," she said, scribbling down some notes. "Both of you are asserting your parental responsibility..." It sounded like she was talking to herself a bit. "Definitely need the X-Corp expert..." Then she frowned, "Miranda may need to testify to her experiences. I can try to head that off, but judges have a lot of latitude and if they decide they want to hear it over my objections, there's not a lot I can do. Admittedly, family court judges tend to be more understanding."

[Nailah Weaver]

"I'd prefer not to put her through that but I'm not sure how anybody could rule against her wishes if she tells them what she's been through."

[Allison Rogers]

"I'll want to meet with you and Sam soon to go over the process. Sam also needs to let me know if she wants me to bill the time to the school. And with your okay, I'd like to talk to Miranda as well, but I don't need you present for that."

[Nailah Weaver]

"Of course. And you should probably bill this to me. I assume that'll look better."

[Allison Rogers]

"Let me give it some thought. I could also do this pro bono and donate my time to Miranda. I'll have to think about what would look better."

[Nailah Weaver]

"Thank you. I appreciate you helping us in this."

[Allison Rogers]

"No problem," she said, actually smiling at Nailah. "It's been a bit since I had a good court fight and this one is for a really good cause. I assume Miranda knows about this?"

[Nailah Weaver]

"Yes. Well, she might not be aware of the magnitude of this as far as legal proceedings go, but she shouldn't have to."

[Allison Rogers]

"Well, I'll just tell her that you two are trying to become her parents for legal purposes as well. Not that that will mean much to her I guess, but it's the best way to put it."

[Nailah Weaver]

"She's more than a little sheltered as far as these things go, yes."

[Allison Rogers]

"I just figured she'd want a reason why scary lawyer lady was talking to her."

[Nailah Weaver]

"Don't worry, I'll warn her."

[Allison Rogers]

"Also, Nailah, thanks for bringing this to me." Her tone was sincere as she met Nailah's gaze. "I know we haven't been on the best terms, but I'll do my best on this."

[Nailah Weaver]

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

[Allison Rogers]

"Let me know if you need anything else." Then she teased, "And if you two want to get married and want a prenup, I can handle that too."

[Nailah Weaver]

"One step at a time."