Wicked Brew
by MarySunshine
Warning#1: slight cursing, and some mentions of a criminal case, nothing serious
Warning#2: I'm not native English, so please excuse me if I sound too simple sometimes
Spoilers/Timeline: 'TGW' after season one finale, sometime during season two, not specified, I try to exclude what happens on the show from week to week and go with my own storyline
I borrowed Katherine Mayfair's character from 'Desperate Housewives', because I thought Diane would use a friend here, and I miss Katherine from 'DH'. Katherine and her family lived in Chicago before they moved to Wisteria Lane, this co-incidence is on my side too. I don't intend to use any other characters from 'DH', so it isn't really a cross-over fic.
For those who have seen 'DH' season 4: please try to forget that the same actor played Katherine's ex-husband on 'DH' who plays Kurt McVeigh on 'TGW'. This story is not supposed to be about Katherine and her past, so act like you don't know about that at all.
For those who haven't seen that or any 'DH' seasons: don't worry, I only use some characters of the show, you don't need to know anything about Katherine and her family to be able to enjoy this fic, provided you watch 'TGW' of course.
Disclaimer: the characters of 'TGW' are owned by their creators and CBS. Katherine Mayfair and her family are ownd by their creators and ABC. The characters you don't know are mine.
Chapter One
Diane wasn't late from work on that Monday morning, but when she arrived she already found a team of lawyers - including Alicia, Will and Kalinda - in the conference room. She knew they were discussing the Peterson case. The 35-year-old Doris Peterson was accused of shooting her husband, and since she was a daughter of an important client, they took the case.
Diane looked into the room through the window, and caught Will's eye, who waved. She waved him back and headed towards her office. On her way she picked up a cup of coffee. With the drink in her hand she sat behind her table, opened her calendar and started checking her appointments for the week. She realized her schedule wasn't as packed as it normally was, which would give her plenty of time to work on her latest class-action case.
o-o-o-o-o-o
She already drank her coffee and was buried deep into her papers when she heard a silent knock on her door. She looked up.
"Hey, good morning" said Will smiling.
"Good morning. How is the case going?"
"It's going fine, Alicia is handling it just fine, Kalinda is doing her best with the investigation, but we'll need a ballistics-expert." He was looking her straight in the eye, when he finished the sentence.
"Then you should get one" she answered and bent her head again.
"She is innocent you know, we're quite sure of it, we'd just need someone to conform that from the ballistics point of view."
"And how could I be of help?" she asked looking at him again.
"Don't fool me, Diane. You know what I mean, we need a conformation from Kurt McVeigh."
"Why him?" she asked curiously.
"He is the best."
"I know that," said Diane smiling.
"Then why are you opposing?"
"I'm not opposing, it's just that..I mean, you could have asked him already, why are you waiting for my approval?"
"Because of what happened the last time," he said looking her in the eye.
"What happened?"
"I don't know exactly, but some saw him coming out of the conference-room after the deposition, and he seemed…well he seemed pissed."
"That's what depositions are about, one side is always pissed."
"But you and him…"
"Yes?" asked Diane curiously.
"I mean, I know, I was…"
"Oh, for god's sake, try and finish your sentences," she said almost laughing.
"Are you in a relationship?" asked Will finally, after taking a deep breath.
"I can't confirm that."
"Are we at risk if we ask him to testify as our expert?"
"I'm not sure, but like you said, he is the best. I think you should ask him, I mean if she really is innocent."
"She is."
"Fine. Call him, and let him decide."
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
"Hey, it's our case."
"Right. I'll call him."
He left the room, and Diane was left alone with her thoughts. She hadn't heard from Kurt in a while, and she was not sure how he'll respond to the firm's request. He said he has feelings for her, but how deep those feelings can be. She couldn't think of it right there and then, she decided to concentrate on work instead. She almost started when Will came back.
"He said yes, because he is in town. He said he'll investigate our case and see if she's innocent. But he didn't promise to testify."
"We'll see" said Diane and tried to hide her smile. Even though she was supposed to be angry at Kurt for he was in town and he didn't even call her, but she was happy instead, about that she'll sure see him again, very soon.
o-o-o-o-o-o
An hour later she was less and less unable to concentrate on her work, and was wondering why Kurt hasn't called yet. He must know that Will told her about him taking up their case, and being in town. She was almost thinking of calling him herself, but she resisted. Instead of that she suddenly decided to turn on the tv, to distract her mind for a while.
They were showing a coverage of a wedding that turned out to be a disaster on Saturday. And she almost jumped in her seat when she saw someone familiar on screen.
"Oh my god…Katherine?"
She immediately took her cell and called her number.
"Hallo?" she answered after 2 rings.
"Hey, I've just seen you on tv, what happened?"
"Oh my, news seem to travel fast, don't they?
"I'm glad to hear you're in a good mood...are you all right, really?"
"Yep, it really wasn't such a big deal, I mean no one died or anything. They called the police, but they didn't find evidence against me. And I sure didn't have a motive, I mean why the hell would I put anything into the food, I'm only the caterer, and I get paid."
"I'm relieved...do you need a lawyer? I can send someone there if you want."
"There's no need for that, really. I'm fine, I made sure everyone was ok by the next day. Not that I felt responsible, but still..."
"Yeah, and are they?"
"Are they ok? Of course, this whole getting sick thing just ruined the celebration, and there's a whole amount of food left, by the way, don't you want to come over for lunch?"
"To eat from the poisoned food? No."
"They took samples, and apparently only the soup was poisoned, they didn't find anything toxic in the other courses. What a waste! I mean, if someone had to put that stuff into my food, at least they should have chosen dessert."
"Still I don't feel like eating that stuff, it might bring bad luck to eat from the wedding food after a toxic wedding."
"Toxic wedding?"
"They used that phrase to cover the story on tv."
Diane heard the woman on the other end of the line laughing.
"Did they use my name too? I don't want to be famous for toxic weddings."
"Do you find it funny?"
"Yes. I don't have a reason to be sad, everyone is fine now, and I'm free. I really should get going. I'm meeting the parents of the bride, we finalize the expenses."
"Ok, I just hope they won't wait for you with a gun."
"Very funny. Talk to you later, and in case you changed your mind about lunch…"
"I won't. Bye."
"Fine, I'll eat alone. Bye."
Diane hung up and got back to work, she almost forgot about everything, including lunch.
o-o-o-o-o-o
Some time later her secretary announced that she has a visitor. It was Katherine.
"I'm screwed," she said sitting down in the chair in front of her.
"They had a gun?" asked Diane laughing.
Katherine looked at her angrily.
"I'm sorry."
"Worse."
"What do you mean worse? They used it?"
"Could you stop thinking about that damn gun for a while?"
"Sorry. What happened?"
"They won't pay me."
"What?"
"You heard it. They won't pay me, they think I ruined their only daughter's wedding, and I don't deserve a penny. But I had expenses for god's sake."
"Calm down, you've come to the right place."
"What?"
"It's a law firm" said Diane smiling.
"Yeah, I know, I guess I really need a lawyer now."