Author's Note: My recovery is going surprisingly well. I still don't have full use of it, but it looks likely, and I'm going to try to have the other one done by the end of the year. Thank you for the best wishes.

Gaston approached the witness stand. Elsa glared at him. I hope he knows what he's doing. He should've just let me do this. His teeth shone as he leaned against the stand, his eyes even with the sitting detective's. "So, about that restraint order." The cop's eyes locked on Albert's. "You weren't being entirely truthful with us yesterday, were you?" All right, that's actually pretty good. He'll deny it, but impugning the witness's integrity is probably the best way to go.

"I was completely honest. She had one on him." His eyes narrowed. It wasn't a great look for him. The jury would likely agree.

"So it's your testimony that telling only part of the truth is being completely honest? I don't think your math holds up."

"Objection." Facilier straightened his tie.

Judge Vasilovich glowered at Gaston. "Did you have a question, Mr. Gaston, or were you going to insist on badgering the witness?"

Albert's smile only grew. "Well, Mr. Rourke, since I can see why you'd want to avoid answering that question, were you aware that the restraining order had been rescinded?"

"We didn't feel that was relevant."

"So you were aware. You just neglected to mention this yesterday."

The detective's face grew red, his voice rising. "Now you see here! He was there the entire time, no one else came, and she had a restraining order on him. It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together. The fact that he'd convinced her to get rid of the order just made it all the more clear. It means that it was premeditated."

His smile never faltering, Gaston shifted, looking toward the jury. "So it's your belief that my client never left the house?"

Detective Rourke scoffed. "It's why he was still there."

That shit eating grin somehow managed to grow even larger. "Then why wasn't the murder weapon there? You searched the whole house, at least I'd assume you did, since you're clearly a brilliant detective. So, where's the murder weapon? He couldn't have hidden it anywhere else if he didn't leave."

"Mr. Gaston, give the witness a chance to answer," Vasilovich groaned.

"Well, maybe he did leave."

A look of mock shock finally shoved away that grin. "So you're not sure if he could've left? Or if anyone else could have left before he came?"

"Well, witnesses only put him there."

"But not leaving? When did he arrive?"

"According to the next door neighbor, sometime around five."

"And the time of death?" His voice was slower now, as if he was walking the witness through this very complicated affair.

"Between five and five-thirty."

With a sagely nod, Gaston asked, "And when was the call placed?"

"Five-thirty-four."

He rubbed his chin with his fingers. "So in half an hour, he killed her, left and hid the murder weapon, then returned, with no blood trail, and made it so far away that your searches brought up nothing?"

Rourke closed his eyes, breathing in deeply. I think he actually wants to kill Gaston. I can hardly blame him sometimes. "That does seem unlikely."

"Thank you. Judge Vasilovich, I request that you dismiss this case, with prejudice."

Rolling his eyes, Vasilovich glared down at Gaston. "Denied. Are you finished with the witness?"

"I am. No further questions." He took his seat, teeth flashing at Elsa.

Facilier's snake-like eyes almost glowed as he examined the witness like a particularly delicious mouse left in his cage. "Was there any evidence of anyone else having been there?"

"No."

"No further questions."

Gaston's smile fell back on their mutual prey. "But you can't be certain, can you? You might even say, there's a reasonable doubt?"

"I don't know if I'd go that far."

"But you're not sure."

Rourke sighed. "No. We can't be sure."

"No further questions." Gaston took a sip of water, watching the judge.

"Mr. Rourke, you're dismissed." Vasilovich turned his gaze on the prosecution. "Did you have another witness?"

"The prosecution rests." Facilier bared his teeth, his gaze locked on Elsa's. She shuddered. I don't know why he gets under my skin like that. God, I want to crush him.

It was their turn now. They had a decent array of witnesses. They likely wouldn't bother calling the clerk of courts they'd arranged, since the document had already been effectively removed from the equation. They didn't even need the expert witness they'd arranged for the medical examiner. Facilier must've thought better of it. It was time to undo the damage to Eric's character that the prosecution had so successfully managed. It was most of what their case relied upon at this point. "The prosecution calls Vanessa Delray to the stand," she announced.

A few minutes later, the dark haired woman was sworn in, and Elsa rose, adjusting the sleeves of her dark grey dress, as she made her way to the stand. "So, Ms. Delray, could you describe your relationship to the defendant?"

"He's my boyfriend." Her smile was surprisingly sincere. When Elsa had interviewed her before, she'd seemed to be somehow fake, and Elsa had been rather concerned for just how well she could actually help their case.

"Still?" Wow, no objection. Here I was, ready to make Facilier seem petty. I'd have objected.

"Of course. I know that my man is no killer."

"What did you know of Eric's activities the night of the murder?" An alibi isn't exactly possible when he was there when the cops showed up, but her being aware of their friendship makes everything seem a lot more on the up-and-up.

"He was at Ariel's. They'd been becoming good friends. I was all for it. I just wish I'd known that he would've been dragged into this." Her gaze falls down to her knees, where her hands tightly gripped her black skirt. "She was always such a trouble maker. It only made sense that it would come back and bite her someday."

"Could you elaborate?"

"It's why they broke up in the first place. She just flocked to all these men. I mean she was sleeping with her professor, who knows who else she might have been with. Probably someone violent."

"Do you have any reason to think this?" I can't have it looking like we set this up. She can establish reasonable doubt with this line, but it's so easy to make it look like we're just making some imaginary bogeyman to be our scapegoat.

She pursed her lips, staring back up at Elsa. "I didn't know her that well, but the few times that I hung out with both of them, well, two of those times she did leave with different men. Neither of them seemed that dangerous, but who knows what might be going through their heads, or how many other people she may have been with."

"Are you aware of any who knew where she lived?"

She considered this. She didn't need to, they'd gone over it several times, but it was effective. Elsa was genuinely shocked by how well Vanessa was working as a witness. "There was the one time, that we were picking her up for dinner, and we saw a man pulling out of her driveway. She took a while to get dressed. We missed our reservation, that's how I remember it."

There we go. I shouldn't keep pushing, especially with how well she's selling it, we don't want to look like we're speaking ill of the victim. "Thank you very much, Ms. Delray. No further questions at this time." Elsa made her way back to her seat, glaring daggers at Facilier. She could see the gears turning in that demented brain of his. She was dreading what he might manage to conjure up from its depths.

A soft smile on his lips, Facilier stalked toward his prey. "Ms. Delray, is it your insinuation that one of these gentleman callers could have been the actual murderer?"

She met his gaze, her expression cool, almost serene. "I don't think I could say either way, Mr. Facilier. I know that Eric would never be capable of such a thing. If so many men were walking through her doors, it doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility does it?"

Fuck, I didn't even coach her to say that. His sneer only grew. "Of course. So they killed her, and managed to disappear mere seconds before your boyfriend showed up, before the body was even cold, and he didn't notice a thing?"

She faltered, her gaze falling to Elsa in a silent plea for help. "It's not impossible."

"No one else seems to have heard anything about these suitors."

"I'm sure they just didn't want to speak ill of the dead."

"Of course. That seems far more likely than that you would just say anything to cover for your boyfriend. Perhaps you even know that he's the killer. If that's the case, you may be perjuring yourself. I think I should let you know, that if you reverse your testimony now, it prevents the possibility of being pursued for perjury, and as District Attorney, I promise, if I find any evidence of it, I will pursue charges." A gold tooth shone as he offered her an amiable smile.

I can't object, it would make it look like he's right. She's been doing amazingly so far, she just needs to stick the landing. Ms. Delray's smile returned, and she met Mr. Facilier's. "Go right ahead if you think I'm lying. Everything I've said is the complete truth."

Is he going to press her on that? Facilier inclined his head to the young woman. "Of course. I just wanted to make sure. No further questions, your honor."

Wow. He's been so in control so far. I wasn't expecting that. After his threat didn't work, I guess he just didn't want to make himself look like he was bullying her. He already seems like enough of a dick that alienating the jury is probably his biggest concern in trial. Still, it's our biggest win of the trial, and I will happily take it. "No re-direct." Vasilovich dismissed Vanessa. "At this time, the defense would like to call Phillip Reynard to the stand."

A young brown haired man took the stand, fiddling with his tie the entire time he took his oath, only to wiggle in his chair, glancing all around the room once he was sworn in. He'd been the one who'd held it together so well when they were going through his testimony, of course he'd actually act like this in court.

With a quick wink to Elsa, Albert made his way to the stand. He adjusted the young man's tie, and gave him the look only a disapproving father can manage. Elsa had never seen it before. "This is a court of law, not some game show, stop gawking and look presentable."

Somehow, it had the desired effect. Phillip seemed to calm down, though his eyes never left Gaston's. "Yes, sir."

Elsa watched the jury, barely bothering to pay attention to her co-counsel. A few of the older men and women were nodding approvingly, watching Gaston with an admiration with which Elsa wasn't quite comfortable. The four younger jurors seemed disinterested, with one actually rolling her eyes. The gamble had paid off. Gaining eight and losing four was certainly not going to sink them. "How long have you known the defendant?"

Phillip's eyes widened.

"How long have you known Eric?"

"Oh." He breathed out a sigh of relief, still staring intently at Gaston. "Since we were kids. He's a great guy, watched over me, always stood up for people, he's not what the media is trying to paint him as. Of course, those damn liars are always trying to ruin an honest man like him. Bunch of cocksuckers."

Albert closed his eyes for just a moment to steady himself, and plastered a small smile on his lips. "Try to keep it relevant to the question, the press aren't the ones on trial."

"Well they should be."

Elsa could practically feel the camera behind her zooming in on this loon. She could actually hear Facilier snickering a few feet away. "If you want to help your friend manage to avoid these trumped up charges, then I suggest you focus on the matter at hand."

Is he not going to ask for permission to lead the witness? There's no way that letting him rave is going to help us. "Yes, sir."

"How would you describe Eric?"

He grit his teeth, sucking in air. "He's the best man I've ever ever known."

Gaston nodded approvingly. "Did you know the women he dated?"

The feral look turned into an eager grin. "Yeah, of course. I knew everyone in his life. We were like this." He held up two fingers together. "Vanessa is great, she's a real classy lady, but the broad he was with before. I know it's not nice to talk badly about the dead, so I won't, but the things I could say."

Albert knew he was walking on thin ice. Their witness hadn't been this big of an asshole before. Relying on his testimony could only make them look worse, but he was one of the only cornerstones of their defense. They didn't have a lot going for them. Fortunately, all of the evidence against them was circumstantial. She could see Gaston running the numbers. Was it worth it to ask about Ariel when his testimony would sound so hollow? He must've decided that it wasn't, because he took a step back, and almost perfectly concealing the pain in his voice, announced, "No further questions."

Facilier was going to have a field day with him.

That wicked, bestial grin showed as he approached Mr. Reynard. "My dear man," he cooed, "What was it about Ariel that made you feel so viscerally opposed to her?"

Elsa blinked. What the hell is he doing? If we'd asked, it would've made us look bad, but how is he going to turn it on us when he's the one pushing? "Well I don't like to talk, but she had a bit of a reputation. He never said, but I'm pretty sure Eric left her for cheating, and I know she slept around a lot after." That still actually helps us.

Elsa turned to watch Eric. The muscles behind his face were twitching. She could almost believe that he didn't like hearing Ariel talked about like this. Does he actually care about her?

"Right. Of course. Ms. Delray had said the same thing. It almost sounds like you two were told to say that." How? We didn't let him say it. There's no way Facilier is making this bad of a mistake. No matter how cocky he is, he wouldn't screw himself over like that, he's too good.

Phillip snorted derisively. "You don't need to tell me to say that, I'd have happily told the whole world. She was a skank. It's a good thing she's dead."

Fuck. Elsa somehow managed to resist smashing her head into the table before her, instead taking forceful gulps of water to try to calm herself. Was that his plan? No. There's no way he could've predicted that response.

Facilier's grin disappeared, replaced by a grave expression. "Ms. Neptuna was murdered just a month ago. You don't think it's a bit uncouth to talk about her like that?"

Phillip's smile faltered. "That's why I didn't want to say anything."

He gave a quick nod. "Of course. You and Eric would never talk about women that way. Right?"

"Objection!" Elsa called.

"Overruled." Vasilovich's empathetic eyes turned to Elsa. "You opened the door on this with your previous witness, and this one has already started it. I'll instruct the witness to answer the question."

Phillip glanced up at the judge before responding, "Well, I mean. We just say the truth."

Eric was grinding his teeth next to her.

"What would you say Eric thinks of women?" Maybe he is that cocky. That question is so open, that even with his foot this far down his throat, Phillip should still be able to reply reasonably.

"He loves them." Attaboy. Elsa shuddered. She hated that she was praising the one man creepier than her current best friend.

"Did he love Ariel?" He really is just ad libbing this whole thing, isn't he?

Phillip hesitated, looking toward his lawyers for guidance. They could object. It wouldn't be unreasonable to claim that he couldn't know that, but if he just gave the right answer, then it would undo a good deal of the damage he'd just done. "Objection," Gaston called. Elsa nodded, that was probably the best call. There was no way he would give a good answer.

The judge rolled his head from side to side as he considered this. They didn't need to explain the objection, he knew what he was doing. "I'll sustain it." Is he actually going easy on us after all that?

With a shrug, Facilier slithered back to his seat. Now they just had to decide if a redirect was worth it, or if it was time to move on to Eric. Phillip's done enough damage already. Let's just move on. She shook her head at Gaston. He didn't bother to say anything, their silence was clear.

"The witness is dismissed," Vasilovich announced. "The defense may call their next witness. We may actually be able to finish the trial today."

It was never great hearing the judge imply that he was bored of the case. Elsa called Mr. Clements to the stand. "In your own words, could you tell us what happened on the day of January 20th?"

He took in a deep breath, fingers running through his black hair. He looked almost respectable in that navy blue suit. "I knew Ariel had been having a rough time lately. She hadn't specified anything, but she'd been messaging me a lot, and just seemed like she really needed some comfort."

"The defense would like to introduce exhibit B at this time." Elsa held up a stack of papers that contained the recent text log between the accused and the victim. "Would you read the texts from before you went over to her place?" She hated to interrupt his story, it was far more compelling as a whole, but this evidence was necessary.

"Of course. She said –"

"Could you include the timestamp?"

"Right. At 4:35, she said 'It happened again. Could you come over? My boyfriend is out of town and I just really need to not feel alone.' Two minutes later, I replied 'Sure, I'll be right over.' I actually had to finish up in the bathroom, but you don't just say that to a girl. At 4:52, I said 'I'm a few minutes away. Long light.' At 4:53, she replied 'Cool. See you soon."

"That would match your showing up around five, as the detective established. What happened after you got there?"

The paper crinkled as his hand clenched around it. "I stopped to grab beer. If I hadn't – It was only a couple minutes. I know I was there just a little after five, and she was still warm, if I'd just hurried, I could've saved her." He wiped at his eyes with his balled up first, the paper still crushed within it.

"Take your time." Fuck yes. You can never count on witnesses to cry when they need to, most people are either so wooden on the stand or so anxious that their behavior barely matches what they're talking about.

"I found her on the ground. I tried to perform CPR, they taught it to us on the swim team. I don't know how long I did it for. I couldn't think, I couldn't do anything but keep trying to save her. You're not supposed to stop until you're relieved, but no one was coming." He shuddered, blinking away tears. "I did everything I could. When she wasn't responding, I –" he hesitated, letting out another shaky breath, "I called the police, I know I should've done it before I started, but I just needed to save her. She was my best friend."

Elsa waited to ask her next question, letting his words and behavior sink in. "It must've been hard for you to hear the way Phillip was talking about her."

He nodded before Facilier's objection rang through the room. Good. I didn't want to let him go into too much detail on Phillip's testimony, it would've pulled focus away from the more important part. Just needed to get that out there.

"Thank you. No further questions."

Facilier took his turn, a strangely approving smile on his face as his and Elsa's paths crossed. Ew. I think I've earned his respect. "So let me get this straight. You're saying it took you half an hour from the time you got there and found a dead woman covered in blood before you called the police?

"I was trying to save her." His glare met Facilier's unshakable smile.

"Of course. You're a hero. That's why she had a restraining order against you."

"We had our issues, but we'd moved past that."

"Or so you let her believe."

"Objection," Albert called as he refilled his water.

Facilier gave him a cheerful nod of his head. "Of course, retracted. Now, Mr. Clements, would you explain precisely why she'd put that restraining order on you?"

"We'd had a bad fight."

"You hit her, isn't that right?"

Eric's eyes narrowed. He looked like he very badly wanted to hit the prosecutor. It was far from radiating innocence. "Objection." She knew it was a longshot, but it would at least remove some of the impact. "Inflammatory."

Judge Vasilovich stared down at her, shaking his head slowly. "Mr. Clements has the right to not answer the question, but Mr. Facilier still had the right to ask it."

She ground her teeth as she stared back. This was not great for their case. It didn't prove that he was a killer by a long shot, but it had only been alluded to previously. It was certainly going to prejudice the jury, they just had to do their best to minimize the damage.

"I plead the fifth," he offered. "Is that how I do it?"

Vasilovich nodded. "I will remind the jury that pleading the fifth does not incriminate the defendant." Yeah. If only that were true.

"No further questions."

Elsa considered trying for a redirect, but she didn't want to give Facilier a chance to drive his point home any further. "The defense rests."

"The prosecution rests," Facilier called.

Vasilovich checked his watch. It was getting late and he wanted to finish the trial. "We'll take a five minute recess, then it's time for your closing arguments."

A few people filed out. By the time they'd made it anywhere more private to discuss their plan, they'd have to head back in, so Elsa and Gaston stayed seated. Eric glanced between them as if looking for permission to leave. "We're almost done," Elsa explained.

"Okay." His tone was nervous. He might well be facing prison soon. She could hardly blame him for being concerned.

"Don't worry. We've got this." Taking a sip of her water, she turned to Albert. "You ready?"

"You know I am."

Once court resumed, and everyone was sitting again, Facilier rose, resting his hands on his hips and pushing back his purple jacket. Look at this asshole, thinking he's Atticus Finch. "I know the defense is just doing their job defending this man. He's entitled to it, as we all are. So I must beg you, please don't hold it against my dear, incredibly beautiful colleagues, as they go to bat to exonerate this monster. They know as clearly as you and I do, that he's the killer, they just have to do their best to obfuscate that fact. Don't hold it against them, but don't let them get away with it either. He got to the house at five o'clock, he was covered in her blood, he waited over half an hour to call the police, and she died somewhere between five and five-thirty. Do they really expect us to believe that one of these mysterious paramours, who we have no evidence that they even exist, was just waiting there, with no one noticing them coming or going, and killed her mere seconds before Mr. Clement arrived, then ran off, with the murder weapon, and absconded into the early evening? Does that really seem more likely than the ex-boyfriend she had had a restraining order against killing her and then hiding the evidence before he called the police?" His gaze passed over the jury, his expression as dour as he could make it. Several of them actually shake their heads. "I don't think so either." He made his way back to his seat, crossing his legs at the ankle as he leaned back, admiring Albert as he rose.

I guess no one can resist pinstripes. It was difficult to imagine someone being attracted to Gaston, but she was somewhat impaired in that area. They'd be cute together. They're both awful.

Gaston gesticulated as he talked, his hands never stopping, doing his best to differentiate his appeal from his opponent's. "I suppose that the prosecution has a point. It is quite a big request for you to believe that someone else was there. Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing, since the police didn't look into any other affairs she may have been having. They found a man at the scene, a man who tried to save her life, who called the police in the first place, and decided that their work was done. You know what's an even bigger request? Expecting you to believe that in the half hour he was there, he somehow managed to hide the murder weapon so well, that an entire team of officers bent on proving his guilt couldn't find it. I sure can't believe that. You can question my clients motivation, you can hate him for how he ended things with Ms. Neptunus, but she clearly forgave him, she thought he was better than that, and the prosecution has done nothing to prove otherwise. The only evidence that they have is that he was there. Of course he was there, he called the police. They spent the last month investigating him nonstop, and they found absolutely nothing that wasn't volunteered when they first arrived." He gestured toward their client. "This is a man grieving for a woman he cared deeply for. He's no monster. My opposing counsel loves his theatrics, and he'd like to let you think that we're the ones scraping together the bare bones of a case, but even if that were true, he has even less. The prosecution has offered you nothing. That's not just reasonable doubt, they had over a month and couldn't offer a scrap of evidence that wasn't circumstantial. There's nothing that he provided that should convince anyone that Mr. Clements, that Eric, is a murderer. Don't let him trick you into thinking otherwise." He made his way back to his seat, receiving a wink from Facilier. He visibly shuddered as he sat down. Elsa did her best not to laugh.

As they waited for the jury's verdict, Eric quivered in his chair, his fingers tapping out a random rhythm on the table, as his eyes rapidly flew from Elsa to Albert and back again. "How long does this usually take?"

Both of his lawyers sighed simultaneously. Why do they always ask that? "As long as it needs to," Gaston explained.

"But I'm innocent. They saw that, right? It shouldn't take too long for them to decide that."

Elsa stopped his hand from tapping. It was driving her insane. "They just want to make sure that they're doing their job."

Gaston offered his patented grin. "A lot of times they just want to make it look like they're deliberating. They've probably already decided, but feel like they have to at least stay back there for a bit. I'm sure they know you're not guilty, you just have to wait for them to decide it's been long enough."

That isn't at all likely. "Yeah, Mr. Gaston's right. Don't worry about it."

It seemed to have the desired effect. He reclined, his fidgeting all but halted. "Okay."

Surprisingly, it only took another five minutes. They were called back to the courtroom and Eric resumed his fidgeting as the jury filed in. Elsa supposed she couldn't blame him. His entire future was on the line.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, do you have your verdict?" Vasilovich asked.

"We do, your honor," the foreman replied. A severe looking woman with a tight braid, she was almost the perfect image of a jury foreman. "We find the defendant, Eric Clements –" They always pause there for effect. It's so ridiculous. "Not guilty."

Eric's hug knocked the air out of her. "I can't believe it," he breathed. "Thank you so much." Turning to Albert, he held out his hand. "Thank you too. You weren't lying, you really are the best."

"We both are." He smiled down at Elsa as he took the young man's hand. "We're an unbeatable team."

It had been pretty fun. "Go treat that girl of yours to a night out," she suggested. "I don't know if we could've won without her."

"I will. Thank you again." He ran. He was free.

As Elsa and Gaston grabbed their briefcases and turned to leave, they found Facilier blocking the way. "It was a great game," he offered. "I can't wait for next time. I haven't had this much fun in years."

Elsa managed a smile. "I can't say I've had to face off against anyone as good as you in a long while." Other than Anastasia, it's been years. I was growing stagnant. "I'll make sure to kick your ass again next time."

Albert clapped him on the shoulder. "I'd been dying to have this chance. You live up to your reputation. If you ever get tired of prosecution, there's an opening for you at our firm."

"I have a few openings for you as well. Give me a call if you're ever interested." He handed Gaston his card and blew them a kiss as he sauntered out.

Watching the realization slowly dawn on her friend was priceless. His jaw dropped open as he stared at the card, his eyes going wide. "Wait, did he –"

"You should call him. It's been so long since you had anyone to share your life with."

He tried to close his mouth, but couldn't manage to stop being so agape. A man had asked him out. Years of homophobia warred with his more recent effort at acceptance. Elsa wished she brought popcorn. "But I –"

"Give it a try. You never know." I've been told that enough times. Once by him actually.Wow, Asshole used to be such an asshole.

"I deserved that."

Elsa was almost disappointed to see him collect himself. "So you're gonna call him?"

"Hell no. I am flattered though. It just took some getting used to. I'm managing."

"You sure? He could be your celebrity boyfriend."

He shook his head, leading them back to his car. "Nah, I'm holding out for Ben Affleck."

His joviality had fully returned on the drive. He wouldn't stop going on about how great that trial had been. He almost sounded like he actually did have a crush on Facilier. Come to think of it, he did pocket the card rather than throwing it out.

They'd agreed on drinks, and Elsa wasn't terribly excited to return to her empty home, so they ended up at Gaston's penthouse. The aged single barrel scotch was more than worth the change in environment. "This is amazing."

"As amazing as we were in court."

I set him up for that. "We were pretty great."

"So, feeling better now? Realize that you're not cursed or rusty, and you just had one shitty case?"

She'd actually managed to forget. "Huh. I hadn't thought of it at all. I guess I am over it."

"Good." He threw a lever on his chair, his legs flying up. "What are friends for?"

Elsa pondered that as she sipped at her drink. It was the best scotch she'd ever had, and her collection was hardly lacking. I'm still getting used to even having friends, let alone him being one of them. "I'll still kill you if you ever call me that again."

He groaned, turning to face her. "I just had to test how he'd react. I'm sorry. I promise, it didn't mean anything."

She drained the drink and poured another one, reclining in her own chair. "I know. It's just hard to stop thinking of you that way. You've changed, but I just keep waiting for you to come back around."

He nodded and tossed back his own scotch. "I deserve that. I was an awful boss for a long time, you don't have to forgive me for it, but I really am trying to be better."

"I know." She swirled her drink, staring at the amber liquid. "Let's drop it. You've changed, I accept that, but we're celebrating. Let's drink."

Between the entire bottle of scotch, Albert's homemade cupcakes, and their exhausting day in court, they both passed out around ten. Elsa seemed to be growing a bad habit of blacking out with Gaston when her girlfriend was out of town. It was just better to have Albert's strange company than the loneliness she'd find back home.