The parking outside Oaken's was a nightmare, and there was an actual line inside for once. This was why Elsa always went at ten, but she'd agreed to meet Tiana before work. What is this about, anyway? I'm sure she's not trying to win me back, and things weren't even that weird when she came to pick up her stuff, just kind of sad.

Rather than wasting her time trying to figure it out, Elsa hurried inside. Tiana was already waiting for her and gave a little wave when she opened the door. There was hot chocolate and a chocolate croissant across from her, that was not a good sign. Having me meet her at my favorite coffee shop with my comfort food. What happened?

"Hey, Tiana." Elsa set her purse on the seat and slid in, taking a sip of the cocoa. If she was going to need it, there was no reason to wait.

"Good morning, Elsa. I'm sorry about all of this."

"All of this being?"

She sighed, pulling off a piece of an uneaten croissant and leaving it on her napkin. "I'm really worried that Anastasia is planning something."

Elsa swallowed, suddenly grateful for the chocolate. That explained it. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know exactly." Pulling her phone out of her pants' pocket, Tiana tapped a few icons and slid it across the table. "Take a look."

Well, fuck. It was worse than she'd expected. Sent at 2:13 AM, 2:14, 2:16, 2:17, and 2:30: 'Fine, maybe you and Belle don't care, you can both run off on me.

'I don't know how the hell you can defend that shit. It's fucking disgusting. She raised her. But to you it's just some hot thing to masturbate to. You're just as bad as those sickos. I thought of anyone, at least you would understand.

'You insisted that I just wait, that it wasn't really a big deal, and that I'd see that. Well it's been months and it is a big deal. You want me to just sit on my ass after that incestuous bitch stole all of my clients and my girlfriend? Someone has to do something about her. Since you won't come forward, even though it'd be so easy for you, they already want your story, someone has to.

'She took everything from me and she is going to pay.'

"Well, that's lovely." Elsa shoved the phone away from her, barely able to look at the device as the hot chocolate fought to come back up.

"I don't know what she's planning. I've tried to stay friends with her to convince her that she needed to just let things go, that you were consenting adults, that you didn't steal Belle from her, but maybe I only made it worse. Then, when I just couldn't put up with her rants, she finally snapped. I don't know. It seems like everything I tried to do to help only hurt."

Elsa squeezed her hand, doing her best to keep from hurling on her. "It's not your fault. You couldn't change her mind because she's just dead set on being a monster, like she so loves to be. At least most of the time when she was attacking me, I deserved it. If she's really planning on going public though, I'm not the only one it will hurt – not that she gives a damn."

Tiana nodded. "I don't know what she's planning on doing. I don't think she has any proof; you might be able to just deny it."

"It all depends on what she does." Elsa took a deep breath, inhaling the chocolatey steam. This was bad, but it could always be worse. "She wanted you to do it, so maybe she's planning on going to those same tabloids that printed every rumor about you. Plenty of them weren't true, and they all blew over. Maybe you're right. I'll just have to deny it and eventually it'll go away." Rather than feeling any calmer, Elsa found her eyes tearing up and her breathing speeding up. Great. I'm hyperventilating, that helps so much.

"Take a sip of your drink."

She tried, but only ended up coughing it onto the placemat, narrowly avoiding staining her dress. "This could ruin Anna."

"It could ruin you!"

Glancing around the room, Elsa was convinced that everyone was watching them. They all seemed to just be staring at their phones and waiting for their coffee, but that wouldn't last. If they just heard the news, they'd all love to come and jeer. "Did I make a mistake? Should I not have done this? I –" with a few napkins from the table, she did her best to mop up her tears, "Should I have just told her that I couldn't do it? Should I have just ignored that there was something there? Was I just encouraging some sick –"

Tiana's hand shot across the table, clasping hers again. "You didn't do anything wrong. I really do think you two are great for each other. I'm sad that I didn't get to be part of your new life, but you still mean the world to me, and I just want the two of you to be happy; you deserve to be happy. Anna wants this, and so do you, clearly. Which I totally called, by the way."

"You were just projecting your fantasies onto her."

"Then how was it true?" She offered a playful smirk, and for a moment, Elsa was having fun with her, bantering and snarking, but reality came crashing back in before she could really enjoy it.

"Fine, you were right. But what do I do?"

"I bet I could hire a hitman."

"I'm serious, Tiana. I'm not having her killed."

"Suit yourself."

Elsa slumped in the booth and took another sip of her drink. She could just taste metal, the chocolate-flavor barely even touched her tongue. "Has she said anything about what she's planning? Do you think it's just a tabloid? What should I be expecting? I have to prepare – to figure out my response."

Tiana shook her head. "No. She'd only said that I should go public, that I should talk to some reporters about why we broke up. I never did."

"Thanks." Elsa took another look around the room. People were glancing up from time to time, but she was starting to realize that it was likely a lot more 'Oh my god, a celebrity,' and not 'Did you hear the scandal they're whispering about? It's just sick.'

"You're my best friend, Elsa, and I genuinely hope that we can be in each other's lives again."

Finally the tears weren't because of what was about to happen. She nodded. "We can. We both needed some time, but if you're sure that's something you want, then I'd like it too."

"Any chance I can at least watch?"

It was so hard to be annoyed at her for that. When they were together, it was upsetting, but now all she could do was laugh. "You'd have to ask Anna."

"I think I could convince her."

A smile tugged at Elsa's lips. "Yeah, you probably could."

"Well then, maybe I'll just have to try sometime soon. That could be fun."

With a shrug, Elsa replied, "Yeah, maybe."

"Elsa, please, you don't have to worry. Whatever it is, we can sort it out. You're prepared now, and I'll try to stop her."

"Just leave her alone. If she's pulling something, then I highly doubt you're going to talk her out of it. I appreciate it, but you don't need her in your life. Clearly you can't manage to change her mind – no one can – and there's just no reason to put yourself through that." Anya really is just the worst friend. To everyone, not just to me. That's nice to finally see, I always thought I was the bad one. Though, I suppose I always was.

"Are you sure you don't want me to go talk to her? Maybe we could go together and convince her to stop this. You've been best friends for a decade, there's no way she'd be able to look you in the eyes and follow through with whatever she's planning."

"She can. And I think seeing me would only make things worse."

"So what, you're just going to accept whatever she decides to do?"

"No, I'm going to see about getting a restraining order on her, and then I'm going to write up a few documents so I can immediately respond if she tries to pull anything legally. Maybe I'll even see about filing a police report for harassment, though you'd probably have to be the one to do that, she's mostly been leaving me alone."

"Sure, I can do that. Are you sure you want to have that stuff aired in public?"

She had a point. It could be sealed, but it would be risky, and there was always a chance of leaks, assuming they were even willing to keep it secret in the first place. "I'll just draft up the paperwork and then see what I need to respond to. I'm really hoping I'm not going to have to try to claim she's slandering me, though I suppose at that point I'd have a pretty good harassment claim."

"Is there anything I can do?"

Elsa blew out a harsh breath, it was almost a laugh, the whole thing was just so ridiculous. "I don't know. Grab your chef knives and make sure she doesn't try to break in and kill us?"

"I would never waste those on her, I could damage them, that's what my handgun's for."

"I still have no idea how you managed to get one in New York."

"Easy. I'm rich and famous. In the US, that works even if you're black."

"Praise capitalism," she groaned.

"I still think you should get one too. Especially if you're going to have a psycho ex coming after you."

"I'd rather not end up hurting myself, thanks. Besides, I've had to defend a few crazies who ended up shooting someone else when they were trying to defend themselves. I can't use a gun and I don't have the time to train."

"Right, you didn't grow up in New Orleans."

"Not everyone in New Orleans has a gun."

"Enough did that I'd rather know how to use one."

Elsa sighed. They hadn't had this conversation in years. "Well, since you have it, if something does happen –"

"Not even Anya's that crazy."

Sniffing, Elsa wiped away more tears. "I hope you're right."

"Come on, she was talking about going public, not murder. You're just going to the worst case scenario."

"Yeah, ruining my life is so much better than taking it."

"You'd still have Anna."

I would still have Anna. And nothing else. "Thanks for breakfast, I'm going to go start up those preparatory countersuits and then try to bury myself in work."

"Always my favorite way to handle things." It certainly was. "Take care of yourself, Elsa. Please."

"I will."

"I could come by later, bring dinner for you two. If you think that'd be okay. I just want to make sure you're all right."

"Sure. That'd be fine. Though, the house has expanded a bit. I've let both Belle and Nani stay with us, and of course there's Olaf and Lilo."

"And you said you didn't want kids."

Elsa almost choked on her hot chocolate.

"Sorry. I'll make something big. Maybe gumbo – oh, no, I've got it, I needed to refresh my jambalaya skills anyway. I have an episode on it soon. I'll make that, and some plain cornbread, and head over around seven."

"That sounds great. I'll see you then." Elsa grabbed her purse, along with the two chocolate items. "I have missed your cooking."

"And me?" She sounded so hurt – so fragile.

"And you."

Tiana's smile was broken by tears, but she wiped them away, and by the time she turned back it was only a slightly pained smile. "I've missed you too. I promise I'm not trying to pull anything –"

"I know. It's just good to still have you in my life." She pulled Tiana into a hug, eliciting a surprised squeak. "I really do have to get going, but thank you."

"Anytime."

When Elsa arrived at the office, having forgotten to grab her morning coffee while she was there, she waved hello to Mia – who was on the phone – and headed to her office. On the way, she passed a conference room that was full of partners. She double checked on her phone, but she hadn't received any email about a partners meeting. After all of the Anya news, there was no way that was a good sign.

Elsa tried her best to focus on her work. She had several cases going to trial soon, a deposition that she should be preparing for the next day, and two massive case files to sift through, as well as the motions she'd wanted to prepare in response to Anya, but she found that no matter what she did, she kept looking toward that conference room. Her pen tapped on her desk as she re-read the same line for the dozenth time, not able to make heads nor tails of it. She wasn't even sure she'd still have a job in a few minutes, it made it all seem rather pointless.

They can't just fire me. I'm a partner, they'd have to buy me out, and there'd have to be a pretty compelling reason to get rid of one of their biggest earners – granted, they could probably justify this as violating the morality clause, not that it explicitly forbid incest. God, I hate that word. She blew out a shaky breath, forcing herself not to cry. She wouldn't show weakness here, she couldn't. Did she really just come forward and tell them? I should've expected this. I've had two months to prepare, and I just buried my head in the sand. I'm not sure what I could've set up, but if I'd at least tried, then maybe – there was a sharp pop as her pen snapped in half, the tip flying past her head, almost hitting her. Apparently, she'd stopped tapping it and was just pushing it into the desk as she lost herself to her fears. Great, that was a gift from Albert.

"Okay, I need to calm down." After a few deep inhales and exhales, she stared at the file again. She had to just pretend everything was fine. It was too late to prepare responses, she'd have to wait until she had any actionable info. Until then, she'd brush up on the Hernandez case.

After rereading that same line another few dozen times, a quiet rap came on her office door. She didn't want to turn around and see who it was, she wasn't ready. As badly as Elsa needed to find out what was happening, finally hearing it just seemed so much worse than staying in the dark. She could just pretend that she hadn't lost everything. I was supposed to become a name partner. How the hell am I going to do that now?

The knock came again.

"Come in," she called, her voice breaking as she refused to turn around, tears welling up in her eyes. She wiped at them, blinking fiercely. She couldn't show weakness. She wouldn't.

"Elsie." Gaston's voice was scarcely more than a whisper. This wasn't good news.

"I know." I don't want to hear anymore. I'll just pack up and leave. I can't have this conversation. There's nothing to fight, I'm too damaging to the firm, I'm a toxic asset and I need to be removed. There's nothing I can do.

"You do?"

Finally turning around, she met his gaze. His eyes were red and puffy as well, and he looked exhausted. How long had that meeting been going on for? "Tiana called me. I don't know what she said exactly, but I know Anya was planning something. I assume she must have contacted de Ville."

"She did."

"I take it it didn't go well."

He shook his head.

"Should I expect a police escort out of here or am I going to be able to walk out?"

A wry chuckle fell, sounding more pained than humored. "It didn't go quite that badly. Anya told them everything, but Belle and I fought for you, and so did Carol and Robert actually."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He only just got out of rehab, hopefully this doesn't send him back in. But, we all know how valuable you are – and how important you are to me."

"And me," Belle chimed in from the hallway.

"Is everyone out there?"

"No."

Gaston snorted. "It's just her. I wanted to talk to you first."

"We really tried, Elsa. You're not throwing me out are you? Not that that's my first priority or anything – I'm absolutely more concerned about you."

"I'm not throwing you out. I know you fought for me."

"We did, Elsa." Albert swallowed, staring down at the floor. "They're willing to give you a pretty impressive buyout. More than standard, because as I insisted, and may have threatened them having to do the same for me, you've contributed far more than is standard."

"I've been an equity partner for less than a year."

"That actually didn't even come up." He flashed a cocky smile before returning to his somber expression. "1.5 million, and you can walk out of here with your head held high."

"I don't care about the money, I care about my name."

"I know."

Gulping, Elsa's eyes widened. Fuck. "Who all knows? Has word gotten to my clients? What about Sinclair? Is Anna losing her job too?"

"We haven't told anyone yet."

Yet. She knew how to respond. This was doable. It was going to hurt, and there'd likely be enough rumors over her departure that finding another job like this would be almost impossible, but she could keep Anna safe. And Nani for that matter. "I want an NDA."

"Elsa, we can't –"

"I'll lower the amount. I don't care. And Anastasia has to sign it too. Belle," she called.

The little brunette walked in, looking absolutely pitiful and completely at odds with her bright pink dress. "Yes?" She was terrified, all but cowering from the woman she no doubt expected to yell at her.

"I'm not mad at you, I already told you. You said that Anastasia was an attorney of record on that car company she stole, right?"

"Well, I stole it back, and she only billed a couple hours on it."

"Doesn't matter. It's still enough to show that she violated her contract. Now, I'm sure they'll want to come after her for that, but if I'm willing to knock my payment down to one million, in exchange for her being relieved of any penalties so long as she signs a non-disclosure agreement – after all, we already have the client back, it's not like we're hurting – and for them to all sign one as well, I think they'll be amenable."

Gaston chewed on his lip, staring out the window at the city before them. I'm going to miss that view. "I may need to twist some arms, make a few other deals, but I think we can manage that. You're sure you're willing to give up that much?"

"I'm already well-off, and I'm still getting plenty, I'm not overly concerned. I just need to know that no matter how much the rumor's out there, no one can confirm it."

"At least without doing a DNA test," Belle added wryly.

"Well, let's avoid that. So, can you manage that? If I'm giving up my partnership here, and likely going to have a hell of a time finding a new one, I'd like to at least know that my name isn't permanently tarnished so I might be able to still find something I can do."

"You'll be able to find another partnership," Gaston insisted.

"Right. Because that reference letter will be so winning."

"I'll write it."

She shrugged. "I appreciate that, and maybe it'll be enough, but I'm sure Anya's already getting word out. We can limit it, and we can try to control the narrative the best we can, but it doesn't stop my reputation from being damaged. I just want to limit the damage, I've accepted that I can't prevent it."

"Okay. Then I'll go tell them." He started to leave, but turned back, staring down at his best friend. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Adrenaline's pumping right now. I'll let you know how I'm feeling when we have this all settled. I just need to know that I can keep Anna safe, and the quicker we get that NDA signed, the sooner I don't have to worry about who else she's telling."

"You're right. I'll go take care of that. Come on, Belle."

She stared at him. "But I was gonna stay with Elsa."

"It'll be a lot more convincing with two of us."

"Oh for fuck's sake," Elsa groaned. "I'll tell them myself."

No one talked over the explanation as she went over it all again. A few of the old white men looked offended, angry, outraged, and other various emotions that Elsa was used to seeing on people like them, but de Ville looked impressed, and she was the one that mattered here. "So, you're willing to save us a healthy bit of money to save your name."

"For just 500 grand?" one of the men complained. "That's nothing. We need to make sure that she can't work in this town. The depraved –"

"Five hundred grand, and that favor you owe me," Gaston said, cutting off his bigoted spiel.

"It's not worth it."

"Oh? Well then, maybe I should call in all my favors. I've done a lot for you over the years. I think you should just quit. You're not really the image we want here."

He snarled. "What?"

"Oh, come on, John." He's another John? How many do we have? "You owe me so much. You're not willing to let me cash in one of them for a simple signature, so clearly this is the only way."

"Oh fine, you fucking asshole. I'll sign it. I'm sure people will find out anyway."

Carol arched an eyebrow. "Any other objections?"

"This mean I can get out of that favor I owe you?"

"Sure, why not."

A murmur ran through the room. No one seemed too happy with the idea, but they weren't fighting anymore, just arguing over what all they could get out of it.

"Clock's ticking," Elsa said. "If you can't get Anastasia to sign as well by the end of the day, then there's no deal."

"Don't bullshit me," the other John said. "There's no way you'd just pass on this buyout, it's a damn gift."

"I might just take my chances."

He narrowed his eyes, doing his best to stare her down, but Elsa held her ground, and she was far better at this game. "Someone call the bitch."

"I probably shouldn't be here for that," Elsa said. "I tend to bring out the worst in her. So, I'll be in my office. Let me know when you're ready for my buyout. I expect to see all of the signatures. We have a fax machine, she can get it over."

Elsa decided to enjoy the view one last time. All those years striving for this office, and she had no problem with giving it up to save Anna. Not that I had much of a choice. I suppose I could've fought, or insisted that I wasn't dating her, or even called it all off. If I actually broke up with her, there's no way they could've proven anything, and on just a bitter ex's word, who had already broken a contract with this firm, it's doubtful they'd have done anything. Funny, it didn't even occur to me. I really do love her. I should've just tried denying, but oh well, it's too late now.

It took precisely forty-three minutes. Elsa had checked the time just after that meeting, and it was now 10:57. Belle walked into her office, not bothering to knock. Or maybe she had and Elsa simply hadn't heard it. "We've got the signatures. You have your NDA." She sounded hoarse, like she'd been crying this whole time.

Elsa spun in her leather chair, to see the tear-rimmed eyes of her friend. "Thank you."

"Is there really no other way? Can't you just sue us, and maybe you can keep your job?"

"Yeah, 'cause that's a brilliant idea. They'll definitely want to keep me around after I sue them."

"Then something else," she sobbed.

"It's okay. I'll figure things out. I'll have more than enough money in the bank, and worst case scenario I'm sure a legal clinic would love to have me. Maybe I could even make five figures." She chuckled. "I'll be all right."

"Elsa –"

"Belle, I'll be okay. I'll see you at home, you don't have to worry about me. Just let me sign the paperwork and give me my check. I just –" she sniffled, tears welling up all over again. "Please. I don't want to cry again. Just let me do this and be done. Can we not make some big thing of it?"

"I'll tell Mr. Gaston."

"What?"

"He wanted to throw you a going away party."

"That's a terrible idea. They'd want to know why I was leaving."

"That's what I told him." She gave a dry laugh, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

"Tell him I'll see him later. I just – I don't want to see anyone right now. I'll hand everything in in a minute, I just –" She turned to look out of her window again. All that time. All gone.

"All right." Elsa heard something being set on the table behind her. "I'm so sorry."

"Tell him he can come to dinner. There's gonna be jambalaya."

"What?"

"Just tell him. Please." She couldn't explain anything more without losing her voice and dissolving into a bundle of sobs and tears. Elsa needed to keep what dignity she had left. This was her office, it was her domain. This was supposed to be where she ruled, where she was the intimidating ice queen that opposing counsel and witnesses feared. She wouldn't let them see her cry.

"Okay. We'll see you then. It's been a pleasure working with you, Elsa." A snort sounded, and Elsa could just picture the pitiful look on Belle's face. "I'm going to miss this."

"I will too," she breathed.

Belle left her to her thoughts and her paperwork. So much for the Hernandez case. Not like she was making any progress anyway. Elsa took a few more minutes, collecting herself, and savoring the sight, feel, sounds, and smells of her office one last time, before it was all gone. Then she read through the impressive contract – de Ville's work no doubt, neither Gaston nor Phillip could do this kind of work, and there was no way they'd trust it to a non-name partner – and signed on each of the dotted lines. Well, they were solid, but that's not an expression.

She checked her makeup in a small mirror that had been in her desk drawer, blotted her eyes, and fixed herself up the best she could, then piled what she had into a box – that someone had helpfully brought by, no way to tell if it was a friend or an enemy – and walked out, her head held out high as she handed the papers over to Carol. To her surprise, the managing partner pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry this had to happen. I really expected you to be the reason we finally had another woman's name up there."

"That means a lot." Letting out a shaky breath, Elsa barely managed to keep the waterworks from starting up again. "I wish you only the best."

"And you as well. I'll write you a glowing recommendation, now that I don't have any duty to spill that secret."

"That NDA's already paying for itself."

"It was a good plan, and you sold it well." She offered Elsa the warmest smile she'd ever seen on the woman. "You're a hell of a lawyer, and you'll find someplace else. I'm just sorry it couldn't be here."

It would've been so much easier if she could be angry at de Ville, but it was just a matter of practicality. They couldn't keep her on knowing what they did, and the NDA didn't settle things, the other partners would've flipped out if she didn't leave. At least, this way, they were able to part on good terms.

Elsa said goodbye, unable to bring herself to offer anymore, and walked through the staring crowd of associates, not bothering to say anything to any of them. Mia deserved an explanation, even if it would have to be a lie, but she didn't have it in her to give one. The elevator door closed before her, finally stopping the nosy attorneys' stares, and she shoved the box into the back seat and sat in her car. She wanted to cry, to scream, to do anything, but she wouldn't stay in the parking garage, there was too big a chance of a coworker – former coworker showing up and asking questions. So, she drove home.

As she opened the door to her nice big house in Queens, Elsa felt alone for the first time in months. Anna, Belle, and Nani were all at work, and Lilo and Olaf were at school. Lilo almost didn't manage to get in, but Olaf's public school had accepted her at the last minute, despite how close to the start of the school year it had been. At this point, even the little maniac's chaos would've been welcome.

It would've been better than coming home to an empty house, like she had so many times before for the past eight years. It had taken so long for her to realize how much the loneliness got to her, but today of all days, it was overwhelming. She needed comfort, a friend – she needed her partner, but she couldn't ask her to come home for this. She'd just saved Anna's job, she wouldn't have her call out.

So she grabbed some scotch and some chocolate ice cream and collapsed onto the couch. At least she'd finally be able to catch up on those shows she'd been missing.