She wanted to lose herself, to lose her vulnerability to a coarse shell. All of her life she had been so soft and passive. Habits are hard to change, but personalities are even more challenging. She needed to scrape her soul along the sidewalk, and coat it in an armor of calluses. Chicago was the perfect escape.

Leela Tahiri was always a sharp girl - but it was simply common sense which brought her specifically to Peter Florrick's office. All she needed was a corrupt government official who would do anything she wanted in exchange for the one thing he wanted. Streams of hot air leaving her mouth were visible in the cold weather. Leela waited by the entrance to the State's Attorney building, leaning nonchalantly against the outside wall. Every morning Peter would walk past Leela. Sometimes he would nod his head politely, and other times he would be too deep in conversation to notice her.

After the 8th day of a friendly nod, Leela figured her passive, shadow-like presence was not achieving anything. She had to step it up a notch if she wanted Peter's alliance. The next morning, she made her move. Leela looked at Peter as he approached the doors, sporting a newly purchased pair of leather boots. Her skirt was pulled just a little farther up her waste than normal.

I dare you to talk to me.

She looked away and smiled as Peter stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes trailing her body. His voice was gruff when he finally spoke.

"I've seen you around before."

A moment passed before Leela looked back to Peter's face. A single nod. A breathy "Yeah..." answered Peter before she pushed off the wall and walked away like a pro in those boots. Aloof. She had read it once in a magazine. It seemed to be true as she could feel his eyes follow her.

The next day, Leela didn't show up. The money she had stolen from her burning home was running out (maybe the purchase of the boots was unnecessary - maybe not) and she couldn't live in the motel for much longer. Job hunting replaced her daily visits to the S.A.'s office. After two days, however, Leela remembered that no legitimate job would hire her with the identity of a dead, Canadian woman. So back to Peter she turned, with more vigor and resolve than ever.

Lust is a funny thing. It gives control freely - even if no one recognizes it. During her two-day hiatus, Peter was unable to stop thinking of Leela. Leela was worried Peter had forgotten about her.

His face visibly contorted in to predatory pleasure when he saw the pair of boots with an equally appealing body waiting for him once again."Where've you been?" He mused under his breath as he stopped in front of her.

"Maybe you should know my name before you ask that." A gloved hand escaped from her crisp pocket, and shook a much larger hand.

"Kalinda" She smiled slightly and dropped his hand.

It was the first time she had ever said the name aloud. She loved the way it sounded in the cold, Chicago air. It was powerful and independent, the incarnate of her new life. She also loved the way both her names ended in an "a" regardless of how sentimental and irrational that was. Hiding her smile with a face of superiority, she stepped to the left allowing Peter the option to enter his building. An option he didn't take.

Peter shoved his hands into the pockets of his black trench coat and bounced on the balls of his feet. Leela knew this was one of those moments her whole future depended on. He was on the edge, and all he needed was a little shove.

"It's cold out here..." She muttered barely audible, and she fiddled with the black scarf she had conveniently placed to cover her bare cleavage, and flashed just the smallest bit of dark skin. Her exposed flesh pulled at Peter's eyes, a magnetic force he couldn't resist.

"Kalinda, would you like to join me inside for a warm...cup of coffee?" Peter asked, the corners of his mouth curling. What a snake charmer this new Kalinda figure was.

After a silent ride up the elevator shared with two young lawyers who made no attempt to hide the pleasure they found in Leela's appearance, Peter finally led her to his office. Peter closed the door behind him and sauntered to sit behind his desk.

At some point Leela stopped existing and lost control to this new being. Kalinda emerged from the recesses of imagination, past conception, past development. Kalinda was not thrown into the world like a raw defenseless baby, but rather erupted into the world as a snarling tiger escaped from its cage. A tiger which caused naked fear in the eyes of everyone it faced - even the tiger's keeper.

Kalinda's eyes grew more beast-like the closer she stalked to Peter, who sat staring, unaware of the transformation he had just witnessed. His mind was preoccupied forming a single picture of unabashed selfishness. She stopped on the opposite side of the desk Peter sat behind, and tapped her fingernails on the edge. He looked at Kalinda, expecting her to say something. The tiger needed to confirm her dominance. She knew the silent lack of progression would be agonizing for Peter. She looked at him from across the desk, and drew out the pause as long as she could.

Then she took a step and whispered, "I...need something from you, Peter."

She walked towards him, boot heels clicking powerfully against the ground. Despite her smaller stature, Kalinda looked down at Peter as he sat in his desk chair. He had caught the innuendo. The only change of expression Kalinda allowed to flash across her face was a raised eyebrow as Peter chuckled. He leaned back in his chair and brought a large hand to his eyes, rubbing them in both frustration and slight embarrassment. Of course a woman like this wouldn't throw herself at him for pure pleasure.

"What can I do for you, Kalinda?"

Kalinda leaned forward, hands on each the chair's armrests and brought her lips mere centimeters from his. This was it – the climax of today's performance. She could taste his breath as she sucked in deeply, the fire in her eyes engulfing his. They hadn't even touched yet, but she had him at her every whim. She wanted to know she could do this without touching him once.

"I need a job. Here"

Peter laughed again, each exhalation hitting Kalinda's face as she continued to stare into his eyes."Give me your resume. I'll see what I can do."

Kalinda sighed, cool minty breath expanding in a single gust across Peter's whole face, before she rolled her eyes and removed her face from his.

"Then I will, likewise, see what I can do about this….situation...we have here"

She had reached the door to leave Peter's office, hand twisting the doorknob before Peter spoke again.

"Wait. Come back tomorrow and I might have something set up for you."

Kalinda looked over her shoulder, eyes burning into Peter's before she left.

As soon as the door to Peter's office clicked behind her, Leela returned. It was as if she had just regained consciousness. A sudden rush of blood to her head made her feel dizzy. Quickly, she entered the elevator, which was thankfully empty. A sanctuary from the beast she had just become – the protector of Leela.

She couldn't understand it, this struggle - not between good and evil, but different shades of grays - that was being fought inside her. It was exactly what she needed to become to protect herself. To ensure the past would never repeat. But it scared her. Leela had seen the wedding ring on his finger, days ago. But Kalinda didn't care. And that scared her.

Leela walked for hours until she finally entered a dark, crowded bar. No more fruity drinks. Tequila. It seemed to be a drink fitting of the Tiger.

She was suffering a terrible hangover from all the tequila. or she was influenced by her nervous adrenalin, or maybe a deadly mixture of both. One thing was for certain – Leela did not want to get out of bed. Not because the cheap motel had the most comfortable bed, or the room was the perfect temperature (because that was a long distance from the truth). Leela wanted to hide in bed because she dreaded the thought of seeing Peter.

Over the course of the night, she had convinced herself that she had fucked it all up. Peter was going to think of her as a needy whore. That was the impression she gave anyway, wasn't it?

But she had spent many mornings feeling so much less than that. At least now she was free, independent. So she swung her legs out from under the covers into the freezing motel air, and got dressed.

Leela was leaning against Peter's desk, toying with the open manila files. One had a scrawled note on the margin about an affair between parent and teacher. On top of that was a sticky note with a woman's handwriting. It said something about kids. Peter's kids.

She crossed her legs tight as she sat on top of his desk, as Peter walked towards her and bent his head even with hers. Just before he could plant a hungry kiss on her dark lips, she whispered, "I need one more thing from you." Then she leaned forward and traced her tongue along his bottom lip. Leela's repulsion was overcome with Kalinda's determination as she lifted her eyes to look at his. Kalinda had him firmly in her grasp now. Any doubt was gone.

Faces still brushing against each other, Peter's breathy response contained only one word.

"What?"

Kalinda leaned back placing her hands behind her on his desk, and licking her own lips. "Mmh. The job is great Peter."

He had noticed her ability to manipulate people even as she was doing it to him. Peter placed her as an apprentice investigator. It was very little money and she would be working under someone, but it was a job none the less.

Biting her bottom lip, Kalinda continued. "But I need…" she leaned forward again, into Peter's mouth and whispered again, "I need an identity." The words blew straight into Peter's gaping mouth as they shared each other's air.

This time Peter pulled back, putting his hands on her shoulders and an arms length of distance between them. "A what?"

Kalinda rolled her eyes. Actually, she rolled her whole head with annoyance and repeated, "An identity. Right now I don't legally exist."

She knew Peter was intrigued, instead of appalled, when a smirk spread across his face. God, he was so readable.

"So I get you a job, and then an identity, and then…"

Kalinda hopped off the desk and walked towards the office doors.

"A job first, because I need it and you know I won't run away. You will see me every day." She toyed with the hem of her skirt. "Until I get an identity. After you give me what I need, you can ask me for a favor. Any favor."

As she turned and walked out of the office, Leela winced. She had just laid all her cards out on the table. And it was unnecessary – he was going to do it anyway. She could tell by the look on his face. Back down the elevator Leela went, once again, wondering if she had damaged the plan. This new Kalinda figure was going to take some time to perfect. But she would get there.

After a few weeks of working after hours with Peter, Kalinda Sharma finally existed. Kalinda Sharma. She was no longer a beast, wandering aimlessly through Leela's life. Leela Tahiri was dead. Not by fire, but by the hands of Peter Florrick and Kalinda Sharma.

Kalinda walked in only her boots on the carpeted ground of the nicest hotel she had ever been in. The dim golden light played chase across Kalinda's naked skin, making her shine like a trophy. Her dark eyes looked at Peter, and she regretted the first act she would commit with her new identity would be fucking this man. But this was her new life, and this was something that Kalinda Sharma just did.

Never once did she say thank you. Instead, she pushed him back onto the bed, and sat on his lap, straddling his middle-aged body. She let him run his massive hands along her things, squeeze her breasts. Kalinda unbuckled his pants and dropped them around his ankles. She rolled her hips slightly, making herself completely available. He grunted roughly like an animal when she let him slip inside her. She let him roll on top of her, and hold her wrists above her head as he slid against her tiny body. She even allowed an occasional gasp cross her lips as he thrust into her.

Peter's sex face was reminiscent of a gargoyle. That was all Kalinda really thought of as Peter filled her – I'm getting fucked by a gargoyle. At first it was funny, and a little squeal of a laugh escaped as Peter pushed in once again, his face contorting into a different ghastly shape. Then she went numb.

Kalinda Sharma, the tiger who fucked without love.