Glimpses: A Collection
by: raileht

Summary: A collection of short stories, some from a prompts we have in our board, some from a series I'm doing for fun. It depends—I'm picking through them, some I'll post here, some I won't.

Disclaimer: The ones you don't know are mine, the ones you do aren't.
Rating: T, to be safe
Spoilers/Timeline: it's pretty all over the place.

Warning: Bad writing…bad scenes…a few bad stuff. Don't know. I just write 'em. Some may even seem AU, some a little…er, impossible. It's basically just a bunch of crap put together, okay? They tumble into my mind, I write them and...well, it's up to you if you like them or not.

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Two
(from a prompt with the keyword as "Empty")

Empty

At a little over one in the morning, a woman stood by a large window, arms wrapped around herself, pensive green eyes observing the city below her. On the street, there were still a few late night stragglers, most probably heading for home from what could have been a long day. For them, their day must have been ending, for her, well, she was simply done.

There was nobody left at the office, save for the graveyard shift guards and the night janitor and, as usual, she was used to it. Late nights had always been a specialty of hers. The peace helped her work better, faster and with more efficiency than being constantly interrupted in her office in the day time.

But, then again, tonight was an altogether different matter.

There were no folders left open on her desk, no papers waiting to be signed, no case files waiting to be read. In fact, there was nothing on her desk. No pen, no paper, no clip and, most definitely, no sign of work done or waiting to be finished.

She turned away from the window, eyes scanning the room, taking in the bareness, rebuilding everything in her mind's eye, placing things back where they used to be, if only just in her mind. If it could be that easy, if somehow, she could just put it all back with one glance, she would.

But no, that was not to be. Not for her, not when she'd already made her choice.

She'd made her choice a long time ago. The end just took it's time to get here, bring her here, if only for the last time. Yes, the very last time.

"It won't be the same without you."

She wasn't surprise to hear his voice, to find out he was still in after all.

"Of course not," she said simply.

"I'm…"

"Please, don't," she shook her head, turning back to the window though this time, she directed her eyes to the mild outline of his reflection on the glass, not too far from her own. "Spare me."

"This wasn't supposed to happen…not this."

"And yet, here we are," she said evenly, expertly concealing the bitterness she still felt towards him.

She was bitter, yes, she was. In fact, she was angry—very angry, but she wouldn't show him. She wouldn't show anyone. Why should she give them that satisfaction, after everything?

They'd taken enough.

"When I…" he stepped into the room, hands in his pockets if only to hide the way they were shaking now. "When I made that deal…I didn't…this was not supposed to happen."

She nodded, "Again. Here we are."

"Diane…"

She shook her head, "Don't, Will."

"If I'd known—"

"You did," she said, this time letting a sneer slowly curl her lips. "In the back of your mind, you knew this could happen. You knew, Will."

"I didn't—"

"You lied to my face," she said, though her voice remained passive. "Not once, not twice…over and over, you lied. For months…" she stopped, "It doesn't matter now. What's done is done."

Will swallowed, his throat suddenly feeling dry, "I thought it would be best for the firm."

"And it was," she nodded, "You did it, Will…you saved your firm."

"But—"

"I was the casualty, yes," she nodded, "Not that it matters. It's just business after all, isn't it?"

"When Derrick—"

She shook her head, "It's done, Will. It's over."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" she asked, challenging him, "Do you even know what you're sorry for?"

"For…" he began, only to stop, unable to decide just where to start.

Diane smirked, "I thought so."

With one last look at the city, she moved away from the window, grabbing her purse and her coat that she'd left draped on what used to be her chair. She brushed past him, making sure they wouldn't touch and headed out without looking back.

Will stayed, unable to follow, knowing it was indeed too late.

Diane stopped, in the middle of the hall, looking at his office, still glowing bright with his lights left on then turned towards hers, where the lights had been turned off. From where she stood, she could see him standing where she'd left him, in her now empty office, in the darkness.

She tore her eyes away from him, shaking her head slightly as she walked away, turning her back on him and heading towards the elevators. For once, she was heading out as simply a person, not a partner, not someone's boss there, not even someone's mentor.

Diane would have that, but not there, not anymore. She had another place now, another home and this time, it would be her own, shared with people she could truly trust, people who shared her views and wouldn't let something like this be done to her. No, she would be in control and she would be surrounded by handpicked people, people who wouldn't betray her the moment they got the chance.

There was trust, where she was going and, just for that, Diane knew she was going to be okay.

So she stepped into the elevator, pressing the button for the doors to close and, for one last time, catching glimpse of the new shiny label mounted on the wall right across the hall.

Bond & Gardner

Diane swallowed slightly, blinking a few times and pulled out a small card from her pocket, staring at it and, again, familiarizing herself with the new words printed on them. She was still burning them into her mind.

Lockhart & Associates

With an end, there was a new beginning.