Standard disclaimers: Universes and characters belong to their respective creators and corporations, not me. (hey, we use this so much it could be an Internet acronym - UACBTTRCACNM - hmm, needs work)

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2 - Savannah

Jocelyn Brooks McCoy Treadway breezed into the Savannah offices of Crane, Shore and Associates, her pet lawyer in tow. She was sleek, good-looking, and well dressed. Elaine hated her on sight. What had McCoy been thinking, to marry this iceberg disguised as a human being? Oh yes, got married while still in med school. Sleep deprivation explained so many poor decisions.

Jocelyn came to a dead stop at the reception desk. The young man at the desk was tall, built like a football player (in fact, he had been on the second string for the Savannah Tigers team last fall) - and wearing a dress much like the one Jocelyn was wearing. Jocelyn's face was priceless to behold. Elaine was so happy that they had paid for an agent to follow Jocelyn, and did not begrudge the rush fee to the clothing fabricator for the item. What did Denny call this in his inimitable twentieth century slang? Oh yes, 'mind screw'. Elaine smiled insincerely and showed them to a conference room.

"I'm a busy woman, Ms. Shore. You indicated that this was a matter of some importance. Please be brief," Jocelyn drawled as she sat down. She seemed to have recovered well. Good, thought Elaine. This wouldn't be half as much fun if Jocelyn folded right away.

"Ah, to the point. Very well. I'm representing Dr. Leonard McCoy. You may remember him? Your ex? You have been using every trick in the book to interfere with his visitation rights. This will stop immediately. As a matter of fact, while he is stationed on Earth, he is to have unlimited access to Joanna."

"Quite impossible. Dear Leonard is such a workaholic, always being called away to a patient. He can't watch a small child." Her voice was poisoned honey.

"Star Fleet has the best child care facilities on the planet. And, of course, we could call up the number of times you have left Joanna in child care while you and your new husband traveled here, there, and everywhere."

"You can try," she said. "But by the time it works through the courts, Leonard will be out in space again. So it hardly seems worth your time to even start." Jocelyn sounded very sure of herself.

"So, you have no interest in being gracious to a crew-member of the Enterprise. The ship that saved the planet, not to mention the rest of the Federation?"

"It was that Vulcan and that very good looking young man that saved the planet. I'm sure Leonard had nothing to do with it." Elaine had to hand it to Jocelyn; she had never seen anyone who could politely sneer with such panache.

"Ah, I rather thought you would take that position. Since you do not seem inclined to do the right thing, we will have to do this the hard way. We know about your relationship with Judge Lollard, and can prove it. The judge was not as discreet as he should have been, and neither were you."

Jocelyn sat back, a smug smile on her face. "Even if that were true, which, by the way I am not admitting, it doesn't matter in the least," she drawled.

"Because?" said Elaine.

"I know Leonard. He's too much of a gentleman to drag this out in open court." Jocelyn snorted. "He is such a throw-back. He should be out looking for the Grail, or hunting orcs, or some such."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," said Elaine.

"Yeah, well try living with it," retorted Jocelyn. "Gets old mighty damned fast, let me tell you."

"Be that as it may. I am no gentleman," said Elaine, cool threat in her voice.

"You can't go against your client' s wishes, as ridiculous as they are," said Jocelyn,

"But that's the beauty of it. I don't have to. The dishonorable judge has made a number of rather peculiar rulings over the years. Most of them seem to be connected to his rather broad tastes." Jocelyn started at that. Elaine allowed herself a small smile before continuing.

"Do you really think you are the only person who has persuaded the judge to your way of thinking by, uh-hem, extracurricular means? Female, male, Human, off-worlder - the man is as adventurous as he is dishonest. And, once you know what to look for, all provable We've already contacted some other dissatisfied parents, and they were very interested in Lollard's version of ex parte meetings. We'll be able to have a general review done of all of his cases, including yours" Jocelyn was fuming now.

"And, if that isn't incentive enough" continued Elaine, "there are your dear, sweet friends who swore up and down in open court that Dr. McCoy had said and done horrible things to you. Pity his last lawyer didn't bother to subpoena your friends' travel records. Some of them were off-world when they claimed to have been witnessing the events in question. I wonder how many of them will back you up now that we can hang perjury charges over them, hmm? And I imagine that would not help husband number two's political ambitions any, now would it? It wouldn't be going against my client's wishes, strictly speaking. We'd be going after your friends, not you."

Jocelyn's face had turned stark white. Her lawyer was making little ineffectual noises, which the women in the room easily ignored. Elaine shoved a datapad at Jocelyn.

"You'll find the new settlement and custody agreements there. I'll leave while you discuss it with your attorney. I think you'll find it is more than fair, all considering." Elaine managed to keep her face professional until she closed the door behind her. Denny was waiting for her.

"Well?"

"I'm ninety-five percent sure she'll fold. She has too much to lose."

Denny grinned at her. "Was I right, or was I right?"

Elaine smiled back at him. "Yes, you were right. It was fun, very fun indeed."

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Well, still not as snarky as I wanted, but I guess it will do.

Perhaps unfair to ex-Mrs. McCoy (really, I like McCoy, but I have the feeling he isn't the easiest person in the galaxy to live with), but for the purposes of this story, she has to be the Wicked Witch of the Southeast. So there.

The third and final chapter is about 2/3 done. Barring weather/work/home appliance disasters, it should (!) be out soon. Thank you for your support.