Annalise was going through a client file when she was interrupted by the noise; some sort of scuffle going on in the hallway outside of her office. "I swear to God if it's Frank and Laurel again…" She thought to herself, as she got up from her desk to see what the commotion was all about.

She opened the door to find a furious looking Bonnie, her hand tightly gripped around the bicep of an equally furious Rebecca Sutter.

"She showed up saying she had to see you. I told her you were busy, but this one really doesn't take no for an answer." Bonnie tightened her hold on Rebecca's arm. Rebecca winced, but didn't dare say anything. Bonnie Winterbottom was a lot faster, and stronger than Rebecca had assumed.

Annalise crossed her arms. "Thanks, Bonnie. I'll deal with Miss Sutter from here."

Bonnie looked surprised, but released her grasp on Rebecca upon Annalise's head nod.

"Jesus," Rebecca groaned, rubbing her newly freed forearm. Bonnie hid a tiny smirk.

"My office, Miss Sutter," Annalise ushered Rebecca through the door and shut it behind her.

"I figured I might see you before the end of the week," Annalise started. Rebecca sat down in the same uncomfortable chair where her boyfriend sat just a day prior.

"Yeah, well thanks for telling blondie," Rebecca fired back, still rubbing her arm as she sat in the chair.

"Always a charmer," Annalise thought to herself once again. As she eyed down the young woman, she couldn't help but wonder what Wes saw in her, a mystery Annalise had been trying to solve since the first day she met the former juvenile delinquent in her holding cell. Sure, without the horrid lip and nose piercings she was pretty- as far as street urchins went- but the world was full of pretty girls who weren't quite as…problematic…as Rebecca Sutter.

"I take it your boyfriend doesn't know you're here?" Annalise questioned.

The look Rebecca gave her in response suggested that this was a fairly safe assumption.

"If you're here to talk about the offer I discussed with Mr. Gibbins yesterday, make it fast. I'm a very busy woman," Annalise eyed the files stacked on her desk.

Rebecca hadn't exactly planned what she was going to say, she now realized that maybe the whole idea of her ever making a good attorney was laughable.

"Look, if it's about Wes or I turning on you or going to the police over Sam, I swear to you, it will never happen," she blurted out.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Miss Sutter."

"The job offer. It's to control him, isn't it? To keep an eye on me and Wes so we'll never tell the real story?"

As much as Annalise disliked the girl, she was sure that Rebecca Sutter had the right attitude to make a half-decent lawyer someday. Someday Miss Sutter might be able to challenge a DA or two in court, but for now, the petulant 23-year-old would be no challenge to Annalise Keating.

"Well of course my offer has that added security, it would be remiss of me not to protect my own interests in a deal, wouldn't it?"

Rebecca was caught off guard by Annalise's response; she hadn't expected Annalise to confirm her suspicions so willingly.

"But it would be equally remiss of me to invite someone into my firm, which I built from the ground, if I didn't think that they were capable and could bring something important to my practice. I don't give out permanent job offers on a whim, as I'm sure you understand."

"What about Michaela, Conor, and Laurel?" Rebecca brought up, and almost instantly wished she hadn't. "Wes mentioned you were meeting with them too."

"Political stuff." Annalise now opened one of the files on her desk and began to scroll through it, as if Rebecca's presence was boring her. "Of course, Miss Castillo is a special case because she's fucking my paralegal…"

Annalise looked up at Rebecca, and the two shared a smirk over this. Annalise knew she'd have to gain the girl's trust for the duration of their conversation.

"Anyway, the point is that Mr. Gibbins is someone special. But I don't have to tell you that."

As Annalise had shown Wes, and was now about to show his –lovely- girlfriend, she knew exactly what to say to get what she wanted, both in and out of the courtroom.

"I'm surprised you haven't brought up the second clause of the deal, Miss Sutter," Annalise eyed Rebecca, who stared down at the floor.

"It doesn't matter what happens to me. As long as he's safe," her voice was dull, she wasn't acting like the fiery, combative young woman Annalise was expecting.

"That's bullshit, Rebecca. Look at me."

Rebecca slowly lifted her head up. She always had a sad, almost beaten down look to her, no matter how she tried to hide it behind her 'I don't give a fuck attitude.' Annalise almost sympathized with the girl, even though she not so secretly referred to Rebecca as 'the terrorist.' The only time Rebecca ever genuinely gave any signs of contentment was when Wes was around.

"We'd both know I was lying if I sat here and tried to tell you the world gave a shit about you. You're just another flunkie, chewed up and spit out by the system."

The lack of expression on Rebecca's face signified to Annalise that she wasn't saying anything the young woman hadn't considered on her own.

Annalise continued. "But Mr. Gibbins cares about you, he always has. Whether anyone else understands why or not. Honestly, I don't think there are many people that understand what a charming law student with a promising future could possibly see in a juvenile delinquent street rat. I don't think you even understand why he loves you, because you don't even like yourself."

Rebecca looked resentful. Annalise knew she'd struck a nerve in the girl, but kept going anyway.

"To be even more honest with you, I myself don't understand what Mr. Gibbins sees in you; you've been nothing but a pain in my ass ever since he convinced me to take your case." Annalise tried to share a lighthearted, joking, smile with Rebecca, but Rebecca wasn't biting this time.

"Relax, Miss Sutter, this isn't your trial." Thankfully, the charges against Rebecca had been dropped before her case ever went to trial- even now, Annalise wasn't confident that she would have been able to convince an entire jury to like the young woman. Though Annalise had to admit, her devotion to Wes was humanizing.

"I don't know what Wes sees in you, and I may never know. What I do know is that you're smart, wise beyond your years even, and tough. Life hasn't been kind to you Miss Sutter, but that's no excuse to sit and feel sorry for yourself. This is a chance for you to take what's yours. What I'm offering you is a chance to make something of yourself, so you can see in yourself what Wes sees in you. So you know you have more self worth than being some preppy law student's main squeeze."

This time Rebecca actually gave a faint smile, but it quickly faded, overshadowed by the rest of her thoughts.

"It's his choice, whether he wants to work for you or not," Rebecca spoke almost as if she were trying to convince herself of this.

"We both know that's not true."

Rebecca's eyes slowly met Annalise again. The look Annalise was giving her made her uncomfortable, like they now shared a secret that Rebecca didn't fully understand.

"I have to get to a class," she muttered, grabbing her knapsack from the floor beside her feet.

Annalise just nodded, while Rebecca stood up and made her way to the door

"Think about what I said, Miss Sutter." Annalise reminded Rebecca as she left the office, shutting the door behind her.

"I'll see myself out, no need for an escort" Rebecca called out to Bonnie in the library as she made her way down the hallway towards the front door.

4