Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed :) I couldn't believe the response. Here is chapter 2 :)

Leah Barnes could think of many words she'd use in real life to describe Will Savage, but the word that came to mind at the moment was nutcase. She glanced down once again at the case notes and then at his bird nest of hair. Her Dad had told her about Will, how the man had manipulated his brother's girlfriend into marriage and then murdered her. She could feel no sympathy for him at all, but she didn't let it show on her face. Leah nervously smoothed down her skirt once more, trying to ignore Will's eyes upon her.

'You remind me of someone I used to know.' said Will, his eyes fixed on her face.

Leah disguised a snort into a cough. 'You probably knew my mother when she lived in the village.'

'No,' said Will coldly. 'Her name was Ash and she had beautiful long hair just like yours.'

'Did you murder her too?' asked Leah innocently, refusing to let him unnerve her.

'No.' said Will.

'I'm surprised.' she replied.

Jim let out a false laugh. 'Leah always loves to joke around, don't you Leah?'

'Oh yes, I love jokes.' said Leah coldly. She'd seen men like Will before; men who liked to exert control over women and it made her feel sick to the stomach. She wasn't about to let him win some sick twisted power play.

'Well,' said Jim picking up his folders. 'That'll be all today. I'll arrange another meeting soon to further discuss your Appeal. I'll pass onto Dirk that you're doing well.'

Leah stood up too and went to follow Jim out of the room.

'Leah?' said Will, he looked at her hungrily. 'Is my brother Dodger married? Does he have kids?'

Leah turned and surveyed him with her blue eyes. 'Oh yes, he's happily married. They have three kids and he never mentions you.' she followed Jim out of the room just in time to hear Will's shout of angry protest.

She followed Jim out to the car park the two not saying a word until they reached the confines of his car.

'You shouldn't have done that Leah.' said Jim, trying his best to sound angry but failing.

Leah crossed her arms. 'He was antagonising me. You saw the way he was trying to exert dominance over me just because I'm a woman.'

Jim rolled his eyes. 'You didn't have to be such a hothead about it. You're going to be a lawyer Leah; you're going to meet men like him all the time. You can't let your personal feelings show through your professional mask.'

Leah tried not to smirk as she thought what her Dad's advice would be in this situation, she was sure he would have told her to punch Will in the face. 'I understand.'

'Right.' said Jim, putting a hand in his thinning hair. 'I think I should take you home now. I don't think its right you should help me oversee the Brady case when you can't even control your emotions around someone as pathetic as Will Savage.'

Leah raised an eyebrow. 'Does Will's father know you think he's pathetic?'

Jim looked flabbergasted for a moment. 'Well, err...I...'

'I've got some of my Dad's homemade cookies in my bag. It would be a shame if they went to waste; he's made enough for you too.' Leah tried to make her face the picture of innocence. There was no way she was going home and missing the chance to meet Brendan Brady.

'Fine!' said Jim, finally giving up the argument. 'But you'll have to wait outside while I'm talking to Brendan. You'll be really bored.'

Leah smirked at him. 'I'm sure I'll find something to do that'll keep me occupied.'

Water Proof Ink

Leah sat outside the room where Jim and Brendan were talking. She felt an angry pang of annoyance and kicked the table in front of her in frustration. The guard sitting at the desk raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't say a word. It just wasn't fair, a few hours the name Brendan Brady meant nothing to her and now it was the key to unlocking the mystery surrounding her father's breakdown. After finding out Brendan used to be some type of step-father to her and Lucas, Jim had refused to tell her anything else.

All Leah needed was five minutes with the man and then maybe it would all make sense. Her father was broken, but Jim was keeping her away from the man who might have the power to fix him. Jim's phone which had been handed in behind the desk started to ring, with its annoying ring tone that signalled it was his wife ringing. She let out a sigh and picked it up off the desk, ignoring the dirty look the man behind the desk gave her.

'Hi, Jim's phone.' said Leah.

'Oh thank god.' said Carmel McGinn's voice on the other end of the phone. 'It's Leah, isn't it? Could you please go and get Jim, it's urgent. Our Porsha has fallen out of a tree.'

Leah tried not to smile. 'Of course I can, won't be a minute.' she practically skipped to the door that Jim was sat behind with Brendan Brady. She knocked once before pushing it open.

Both Jim and Brendan looked up as she entered the room. Leah caught herself looking straight at Brendan; he wasn't as in good as condition of her Dad. He just looked so old, nothing like the young man with a moustache of her memories. She hopelessly looked around the room as if by some chance the real Brendan Brady would appear.

Brendan caught Leah staring at him and his lips twisted with confusion. The two looked at each other and Leah felt as if time was frozen. She was like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming car and couldn't escape his intense blue eyes. He was different from how she'd remembered and imagined his to be. He looked haggard, his brown hair laced with grey was messy and a shaggy beard covered most of his face. It was only the blue eyes that were the same, held the same burning fire. She could understand why her Dad found this man attractive, he was Ste Hay's polar opposite. Where her Dad's skin was golden -Brendan's was milky white, Brendan was tall and well built - Ste was quite scrawny and skinny, Ste's eyes held sadness - Brendan's held anger. She was now in no doubt that this was the man who held her Dad's heart.

'Sorry Brendan, I didn't realise you two would be meeting today.' said Jim quickly. 'This is my intern...' he paused looking at Leah for an answer.

'Louise.' she quickly finished Jim's sentence. 'My name is Louise.'

Jim raised an eyebrow, but didn't challenge her statement. 'Is there something you needed?'

Leah swallowed hard and finally drew her eyes away from the man who felt so familiar. 'Carmel's on the phone, she said it's an emergency. Apparently your daughter Porsha has fallen out of a tree.'

Jim scraped his chair back. 'Not again! Excuse me for a second Brendan.' he disappeared out of the room, leaving the two alone together.

Leah stepped forward, tentatively taking the chair that Jim had vacated. Brendan wasn't a threat to her; he was handcuffed firmly to the table. She was surprised that not one part of her was frightened of this man who had supposedly murdered five people.

'Hi.' said Leah nervously, causing Brendan to look up from the table he'd been staring a hole into.

'What's a little girl like you doing in a place like this?' asked Brendan, his voice husky from obvious under use.

'I'm not a little girl!' said Leah angrily, folding her arms across her chest. 'I'm nineteen and I'm Jim's intern.'

'Well to me you look like Alice who has just fell down the rabbit hole; lost and trying to clamber your way out. A prison is no place for someone like you.' said Brendan softly.

Leah stubbornly jutted out her chin. 'Is it because I'm a woman? Because the opinion that I can't do this job because I'm a woman is starting to get very boring.'

'It's nothing to do with what gender you are. You have innocence in your eyes and I wouldn't want you to loose it. It's only when it's taken from you that you desperately want it back.' answered Brendan.

'Is that what happened to you?' asked Leah boldly, her blue eyes meeting his.

Brendan looked almost amused for a second. 'You're not like the others, you're not afraid of me.'

'Should I be?' asked Leah.

'I murdered my Da and four others in cold blood, what makes you think I wouldn't do the same to you given half the chance?' Brendan leaned back in his chair, with a winning expression on his face.

Leah didn't know what made the next few words come out of her mouth, but she knew they were true as soon as she said them. 'Because I don't believe you would.'

Jim walked back into the room, causing Leah and Brendan to break eye contact. Brendan for a moment looked slightly unnerved, but he covered it up with an expression of complete indifference.

'I've got to get back to Hollyoaks, Carmel is doing her nut. We'll continue this another day and I really want you to think about what I've said to you Brendan. You could be a free man by the end of the month if you'd just listen to me.' said Jim.

'I've lost everything James.' answered Brendan coolly. 'What difference does another seven years make? Besides where else would I find such interesting company and a prime location like this again?'

Leah picked up some of Jim's folders and held them tightly to her chest. She resisted the urge to shout at him and ask why didn't her father feature in any of his plans. Didn't he realise what a mess he'd left behind? Maybe Brendan Brady belonged in a prison cell after all.

'You coming...Louise?' asked Jim.

'See you again Alice.' said Brendan, trying to figure out where he'd seen the girl before.

'You can count on it.' said Leah. She took one last look at Brendan and walked out of the room without looking back.

Water Proof Ink

'Are you happy now?' asked Jim, trying his best to keep his concentration on the road.

'Not really.' answered Leah. She was in fact quite disappointed; Brendan Brady was not who she'd expected it; she'd got it all wrong. He couldn't possibly be the man from her childhood and the one her father couldn't move on from. Brendan Brady was so cold and indifferent, Leah already didn't like him. She's gone searching for answers and only found more questions. 'Did you ever see Brendan and my Dad together?'

Jim looked thoughtful for a moment. 'A few times I guess, they always seemed to be arguing by that point.'

Leah frowned and glanced down at her chipped finger nails. 'What were they arguing about?'

'It's complicated.' answered Jim, shoving a sweet into his mouth. 'There was a man called Kevin Foster and he falsely accused Brendan of Sexual Assault. It took its toll on their relationship from what I saw and I guess they never had a chance to fix it, what with Brendan murdering Seamus soon after.'

Leah bit her lip. 'Why do you think he murdered Seamus?'

'Ah!' said Jim. 'Now that is something I'd love to know the answer to! Brendan still refuses to tell me why he did it.'

'Maybe he's just a monster.' she said angrily. But deep down a part of her didn't believe it, the same part of her that strangely believed that he wouldn't hurt her or anyone else.

'Things are always a lot more complicated than that.' said Jim. 'You, your Dad and Lucas obviously used to love him; he can't be all bad. He's actually quite an intelligent man when you get to know him, even if he does come off as a little scary at first.'

Leah made a non-committal noise, trying to make sense of everything in her head.

'Do you want dropping at home?' asked Jim, as they reached the outskirts of Hollyoaks village.

'No.' answered Leah; she couldn't really deal with facing her Dad at the minute. 'Just drop me in the village.'

Water Proof Ink

Five hours later Leah Barnes had drunk nearly a bottle full of vodka, with a little bit of coca cola thrown in of course. She kept going over and over the image of Brendan Brady handcuffed to the table in the prison. She didn't understand, couldn't understand. Why had her Dad loved him so much? Why didn't Brendan love her Dad enough to walk away and not murder Seamus Brady that night so long ago? Why was it her Dad seemed to be the only one who had suffered? She grabbed the glass in her hand and downed the rest of it. At some point she'd ended up in The Loft. She started to sway a little on the bar stall she was sitting on.

'Are you alright?' asked a man next to her.

Leah glanced at him and immediately noticed how good looking he was. He had big familiar blue eyes and messy brown hair. 'No.' she answered truthfully. the man was too good looking for his own good.

'Oh.' said the man. 'Want to talk about it?'

If Leah wasn't drunk, she would have realised what an unusual question this was for a complete stranger to ask. 'I met my Dad's old boyfriend today, haven't seen him in years. Funny thing is I didn't like him very much; he just made me dead angry and confused. So I'm drinking to forget. I don't want to think about any of it any more.'

The man looked thoughtful for a second. 'Why did it upset you so much?'

Leah bit her lip. 'He broke my Dad's heart and it's been broken ever since, I just want him to be happy but I don't think he can be properly any more. He left him, us, our family and he doesn't seem one bit sorry for it.'

'I know the feeling.' said the man softly.

Leah looked into his familiar blue eyes and smiled. She leant forward before common sense could stop her and kissed the man passionately on the lips. The man immediately wrapped his arms around her and they locked lips like they were the only two people in the world.