A/N: This if for jittahbug on Tumblr who wanted a story about Diane, Kurt, and Will going on a trip together. I may have gotten a little carried away. Also, I needed another fandom like I needed a hole in the head. This is all blueheronz' fault.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Caught up in Circles
The elevator door closes, transporting law partners Will Gardner and Diane Lockhart, along with a gaggle of suitcases, briefcases, and laptop bags, to the lobby of their building, where outside a car waits to ferry them to the airport.
"Will, I don't know. I still don't think it's a good idea for both of us to be gone right now," Diane cautions, and not for the first time that day.
Her partner reaches out and briefly grasps her arm in reassurance. "We need this guy, Diane, and he wants both of us there. We don't have a choice if we want his business. And after losing so many clients to Cary and Alicia, we need his business."
"I know, I know." She hefts her laptop bag over her shoulder and picks up her briefcase, as Will collects his own bags. "But leaving David and Julius here alone with things so unstable? It's just asking for trouble."
"It's only for a couple of days. Do you really think those two can get along well enough to start a revolution in that short amount of time?"
Diane laughs. "I admit it's unlikely, but haven't we had enough nasty surprises lately?"
"I know. Look, we'll go to DC; we'll take care of this situation. We'll get Spencer's signature on the dotted line. Then, I'll come back and make sure the inmates don't take over the asylum and you and Kurt can leave for your honeymoon. It'll be fine. Trust me."
"Famous last words," Diane sighs, passing her bags to the driver who loads them into the truck of his Town Car.
"So where are you two crazy kids off to, anyway?" Will asks, opening the car door for her.
She shakes her head as she slides into the backseat. "I don't know; he won't tell me. I'm a little scared, Will."
Will laughs. "You picked him, lady." He closes the door and walks around to the other side of the car.
She smiles to herself. "I did."
Kurt, with no pressing business in Chicago that morning, had gone to check on the farm and was to meet them at the airport before their flight. She sees him before he does her, in line for coffee, talking to a young woman of the type that always seems to flock to him, not that Diane can blame them, really. She's dressed in leather and jeans, her hair in a messy ponytail, and when she laughs flirtatiously, Kurt appears vaguely puzzled.
"My husband," she says, more to herself than Will, who isn't listening in any case. "Making friends wherever he goes." She raises a hand to attract his attention. When he spots her, he heads immediately in her direction, young woman forgotten along with the coffee. Diane almost feels sorry for her.
They greet each other with a chaste peck, though there's nothing chaste about the look her gives her when he pulls back. She feels it down to her toes.
Will looks up from his iPhone then, and the two men exchange greetings, Will's casual, Kurt's strained, though no one but Diane would ever know it. Kurt has not quite forgiven Will for his part the recent attempt to force her from the firm. She's explained she wasn't exactly blameless in the situation, and he'll even admit his distaste for the other man isn't entirely logical, but there you have it. He's comfortable in his bias. While she loves him for it, she hopes this trip will serve to smooth things over, because frankly, she has enough stress in her life without the two most important people in it being at odds. Truth be told, the current armistice between her and Will is shaky enough all on its own.
They complete the minutia of checking in and security and such, and board their flight with a minimum of frustration. Will, having booked his flight separately, is seated in a different section, leaving Kurt and Diane a couple of hours of relative privacy. He picks her hand up from her lap as they begin their ascent. Kissing it, he folds it between his own two hands and drops them to his lap. Closing his eyes, he rests his head against the back of the seat.
"Sooo…" she begins, and he opens his eyes to look at her. "Care to tell me now where we're going?"
"DC?" he suggests, giving her the crooked smile she first fell in love with almost four years ago.
"Ha. After that."
He shrugs. "Not sure yet."
He's pulling her leg…she thinks. It's still hard for her to tell sometimes.
"It was difficult to pack," she tells him. "I didn't know if I needed a ball gown, or my hip waders."
"You have hip waders?"
"No. You see my difficulty."
"I'm sure whatever you brought will be fine. If not, you'll shop." He shrugs again.
"Win-win," she says.
"Exactly." He squeezes her hand and closes his eyes again, clearly done with the subject.
She shakes her head, pulls a brief from her bag and begins to read.
Their hotel suite is lovely with its king-size bed and fresh flowers and its immense window with a panoramic view of the city. It's dark by the time they arrive and the night shines in, casting coloured lights and shadows on the walls and ceiling.
Kurt flicks on the lights and takes their suitcases to the bedroom, while Diane sets her purse and laptop on the desk in the sitting area and goes to freshen up. Something about plane rides always makes her want to shower, but she settles for washing her hands and brushing her hair.
"Dinner?" Kurt suggests the when she emerges from the hotel bathroom. He's half sitting, half lying on the couch, room service menu in hand.
She walks over to join him, nudging his arm until he puts it around her shoulders. "Let's go out, Kurt. Or at least to the restaurant downstairs. Oh come on," she adds at his look of supreme disinterest. "Please? For me?"
"All right, all right," he says. "Fine. We'll eat downstairs. Your partner joining us?"
"No, I don't think so. He said something about a date."
Kurt laughs shortly, but makes no comment on the geographical oddities of Will's social life.
She starts to get up, but he holds on to her arm. "Come here a second."
"I am here."
"No. Here." He pulls her closer, wrapping his free arm around her and pulling until she's cuddled against his chest. "I love you, you know."
"I know. I love you too." She lifts her head and kisses him softly. "But I'm still making you eat in public. Come on."
The elevator opens as soon as she presses the button and they enter hand in hand. She'd managed to not only convince Kurt to get up and join her out in the world of other people, but she'd even convinced him to trade his usual jeans and plaid shirt for a nice suit. The fact that he brought one at all bodes well, in her mind, for whatever he's planning for their honeymoon.
"Wait, hold the elevator, please," someone calls as Diane presses the button for the lobby. A grey-haired man of about sixty wearing an unbuttoned overcoat, his blue striped tie askew, jogs down the hall as Kurt sticks his hand between the elevator doors to keep them open.
"Thanks, buddy," he says as he enters the elevator. "I'm late for…Diane?"
He's staring at her, mouth slightly agape in shock. It actually takes her a moment to place him. Looking back, she can't believe it, but it does.
"Mitch. Hello," she says at last.
She sounds calm enough. She probably looks calm enough. But she grips Kurt's hand like the world is spinning off its axis.
Maybe it is.