Note: Some of the dialogue in the post-fainting scene is taken from the shooting script for the episode, which is available on the BBC website.
Martha stood staring out over the bridge. The phone in her pocket was ringing but she didn't even look to see who it was. There was nobody she wanted to talk to right now.
After eighteen years at Shoe Lane, her life there was over. And she had been forced out by the one person who'd been at her side all this time.
She hadn't even been able to make a speech. After all that had happened over the past few weeks, her increasing disillusionment over the criminal justice system, Sean being sent to prison for something he hadn't done and being betrayed by Clive more than she had thought possible, all she wanted was to be at home. She'd looked at Clive and Harriet sitting together, the perfect team, ready to turn her home into a prosecution-only set and suddenly she couldn't fight anymore.
After hearing Clive and Harriet together in her office, she'd left Billy and gone straight to the nearest bathroom to be sick. She was surprised by how much it hurt. She'd been expecting it for a while. If it hadn't been Harriet, it would have been Nicola or somebody else. She knew exactly what Clive was like. It was why she'd brushed off his flirting when they were pupils. It was why she'd pushed him away after that night in Nottingham. Still, there was a difference between knowing something, expecting something and actually hearing it.
Pushing the images out of her mind, she pulled her phone out of her coat. She had three missed calls from Clive. Then she heard "Miss!" and turned to see Billy struggling from across the road, Jake at his side.
"I love you, Martha Costello."
Clive's face is sincere. Smiling for the first time since she lost her appeal, she takes his hand and leads him to the empty courtroom. After a few non-sequiturs about their favourite music, she throws caution to the wind. She kisses him fiercely, quickly growing more passionate as she flings her arms around him. He lets her take the lead, returning the kisses at a steady pace as she pushes off his jacket. He holds her tightly against him as she drinks in the kisses like air. She pauses momentarily to look at him.
He smiles at her and in that moment he looks less like Clive Reader, QC and more like the 23-year-old boy she first met nearly twenty years ago. This is beginning to feel like a surreal dream. She closes her eyes-
Clive had been walking around for nearly an hour looking for Martha. He felt irrationally irritated. Why did she have to do a disappearing act just as he had been made Head of Chambers? This was supposed to be his big moment. After all these years in Martha's shadow, he'd finally been recognised as being just as talented. He shrugged off the nagging sense of guilt that was gnawing at him. He'd tried to make it work with Martha. He'd told her how he felt, put himself on the line. And not only had she still kept him at arm's length, she'd gone all dewey-eyed over her psychopath ex, the woman beater and probable murderer. Was he supposed to keep waiting for her to change her mind? Was he meant to sacrifice his career for hers?
His phone rang and he quickly pulled it out of his pocket. He looked down expecting to see Martha's name, but it was Harriet calling. His heart sinking with disappointment, he slid to answer. "Hello?"
"Where are you?" Harriet practically shouted.
"I'm still looking for Martha."
"She's a big girl Clive, she can take care of herself."
"No, she wouldn't just go off like this without saying anything. I just want to check she's alright."
"You've just been made Head of Chambers. I've got solicitors coming over from the CPS wanting to talk to you. Martha probably just wants to make you look bad-"
"She wouldn't do that."
Harriet made an angry hissing noise. "Call me back when you've got your priorities sorted, Clive." She rang off.
Martha sits with her back against the wall of the courtroom, Clive's arm around her shoulders. "I fainted."
"You swooned," Clive corrects helpfully.
"That's not even a word anymore."
"In my arms. Just as I was about to kiss you. Full-on Barbara Cartland." Clive chuckles.
"I hate you," Martha mutters.
He kisses her forehead. "Can you stand?"
"I think so." He helps her to her feet. They leave the courtroom with Clive's arm still supporting Martha. Her clothes are dishevelled and so are his. God knows what people will think they've been doing.
"Alright?" Clive murmurs as they reach the end of the corridor.
She smiles up at him. "You go, your moment."
Martha sat alone in the hospital. Being here brought back memories of when she had last come here by ambulance, when she was having the miscarriage. She felt just as lost as she had then, more so even. At least then she'd had Billy and Clive.
It had been quick. That's what the doctors had told her. Billy hadn't suffered at the end. Jake had gone back to Chambers to tell everyone what had happened. Billy had been his uncle. It was only right that he broke the news to the rest of Billy's family. "Are you going to be alright, Miss?"
Miss. It was a word that she most associated with Billy. "Of course I am."
Her phone was ringing again. She looked at it numbly. Clive's name flashed up on the screen and this time she answered.