Title: Two Girls, One Elevator
Author: schwarmerei1
Fandom/Pairing: The Good Wife, Alicia/Kalinda
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1400
Warning: Implied Abuse
Summary: This started as comment fic in response to a request from unecinephile "PLEASE LET KALINDA BE IN THE ELEVATOR PLEASE LET KALINDA BE IN THE ELEVATOR", and then she wasn't and my dreams were crushed :("
Spoilers: Through episode 4.03 "Two Girls, One Code"
Author's Note: Thanks to hotladykisses for giving this a look and making some suggestions.
For the purposes of this you will have to ignore the fact that at the time Alicia was scrambling for the privacy of the lift, Kalinda was hanging out at home looking hot in her racer back top and messy ponytail drinking from the sink faucet. (Notice I did not mention omelette preparation. Oops! My bad...)
Kalinda was focused on her cell as she made her way towards the Lockhart Gardner reception area and the elevators. Noting the down arrow was illuminated and the doors were sliding shut, she increased her pace and just made it inside. Unexpectedly she was face-to-face with Alicia, but only for an instant.
Kalinda only had a second to discern the distress on Alicia's face before the other woman pivoted away and leant her face against the timber veneer. Kalinda had no idea what had just taken place, she always took notice of what was on Alicia's plate at work, what was coming up in her cases and there was nothing that she knew about that could explain such a public loss of control. So whatever this was had to be both unexpected and personal.
Kalinda turned quickly to look at the buttons. Alicia had seemingly jabbed at them randomly because the "3" was the only one illuminated and Kalinda couldn't imagine that an entire floor of Structural Engineers was Alicia's intended destination. Kalinda pushed "P2" where her SUV was parked and took up guard at the doors.
They slid open at level 12. "No." Said Kalinda decisively and pushed the button to close the doors. It happened again at the ground floor and she had to physically block the blustering man from getting past her.
The doors opened once more - there was no one on the other side. Kalinda took Alicia's hand in hers and said gently "Come with me." Then pulled Alicia in the direction of her car.
Alicia's façade crumbled after a few steps with the firm reassurance of Kalinda's smaller fingers around hers. She no longer needed to hold it together and get somewhere else because Kalinda would do it for her. Eli might have been the one with the title 'Crisis Manager' but Alicia knew that Kalinda was the one who would appear and actually do something. Tears started and her steps faltered. Kalinda slowed and switched the hand holding Alicia's to wrapping supportively around her waist.
"I've got you. We've only got to get to my car, okay?"
Alicia managed to nod and keep walking.
Kalinda put her in the passenger seat and then took up her own. Originally she'd thought that just getting Alicia here would be private enough, but they were in full view of anyone leaving the elevators and Alicia crying in her car would be notable enough to attract further interest.
Kalinda turned the key. Alicia looked too diffident to buckle her seatbelt so Kalinda leaned across her to grab the strap and secure the buckle. "Sorry." She apologised as she realised she was pushing at Alicia's hip to do so.
"S'okay." Was all Alicia could manage.
"Is there anywhere you need to be at the moment? I'll call and cancel for you." Kalinda scanned the traffic as she exited the parking garage.
"Not for a while." Alicia shook her head miserably.
Kalinda's mind quickly sifted through options for somewhere nearby where they would be unlikely to run into anyone that knew them, she rounded the next block and descended into the carpark of a large shopping mall. She drove to the quieter lower level and parked in the far corner away from the stream of shoppers.
"Want to tell me what's happened?"
"Eli...he told me there's a reporter who is going to publish that I had an affair with Will." Alicia's voice was bleak.
"Based on what?" Kalinda looked quizzical, and that was the good thing about Kalinda, straight to interrogating the puzzle at hand.
"He said this reporter has a hotel receipt, or a copy of one, something like that..." Alicia was having trouble recalling exactly what Eli had said.
"Did Will pay for the hotel room?"
"Yes." In her confusion, Alicia couldn't see what that counted for.
"So what does that prove? Will got a hotel room, nothing else."
Alicia blinked, she hadn't thought of that. Apparently neither had Eli. She was beginning to feel quite surreal, it was so odd to be talking to Kalinda about this so matter-of-factly just minutes after she'd felt like her world was collapsing. They'd talked a lot about Will before, but never during or after. Alicia was grateful she hadn't heard judgement in Eli's voice, but it wasn't like talking to Kalinda. Kalinda was different.
"So there must be something else as well then. Are you sure, well not you I guess, is Eli sure she's actually going after you and Will?" Kalinda couldn't see how this added up.
"That's what he said. I don't know..."
"Do you know what date the receipt was from?"
"Eli said September 30th 2011." The steady stream of questions and Kalinda's lack of panic was reassuring.
"So, how good's your memory? Does the date fit?"
And Alicia can hear just a tiny bit of sly implication from Kalinda, good enough for you to remember the actual dates? She actually laughed a little despite herself. "No, I don't remember if that was a day we were together."
"Do you know which hotel she has the receipt from?"
"It must have been The Fairmont, downtown."
"Any others it could be?"
Alicia shook her head.
"I can do something with that one, I know the head of security. If someone leaked surveillance video or there was an incident, a rumour, he ought to know."
"Anyone you don't know?" Alicia's eyebrows are raised. "Should I be giving you a fifty to cover the cost of drinks?"
Kalinda snorted a little. "No, that contact is good for life. His brother's business was being lent on in a protection racket I worked on busting, back when I was at the State's Attorney. No drinks necessary."
Alicia smiled and they sat in silence for a moment.
"This isn't adding up to me." Kalinda pondered. "But I'll look into it. Will should see if he has any record of it too."
"Thanks." Alicia said, hoping Kalinda would hear how much she meant it. She was looking a little emotional again, panic had been replaced by some reassurance, and now she was back to thinking too hard.
"It's my pleasure. So, let's sit for a few minutes and you tell me when you're good to head back to work, okay?"
"Thanks for having my back, Kalinda."
"Always." And Kalinda's smile as she looked at Alicia was much less hesitant than it would have been a few months ago, but she knew she wouldn't ever be able to tell Alicia just how much she had her back, what she would risk for her. Alicia never asked for it.
Alicia reached over to take Kalinda's hand in her own. "I'm glad you're my friend."
Part of Kalinda wanted to be glib and say 'yep, better than having me as an enemy' but most of her was fighting to stop the first hint of tears prickling her eyes, so she just squeezed Alicia's hand in reply and felt the soft silk of Alicia's suit and the warmth of her lap under their joined hands. Thankfully Alicia was gazing forward, working on calming herself enough to face the workplace again, and didn't see the expression on Kalinda's face.
And then Kalinda was really glad for Alicia's distraction because the desire to lean and be supported back was almost overwhelming. To tell Alicia just how bad it was at the moment, how frightened she was, how great the risk of losing herself again to the vile abyss of Nick. But how do you tell the person you love 'I do things that would revolt you, if you knew you wouldn't hold my hand' and also that her life could be in danger because you're the sort of person who married a psychopath? So Kalinda just held Alicia's hand and tried harder not to cry than the woman seated next to her was.