Guilty.
Grell sat alone in the empty, unfeeling hallway of the courthouse, the fateful verdict on constant replay in her mind.
Why did Angelina do that?
She buried her face in her palms, but not making a sound.
Footsteps were heard in the distance.
Grell lifted her head, but immediately turned away.
William stopped to point at the bench, "May I sit down?"
Still looking away, Grell moved slightly to the edge.
"I take that as a yes." he sat next to her, hands on his lap, "You doing okay?"
"I'm fine." Grell grumbled, "You don't have to be here to pity me."
William rolled his eyes, "Don't be ridiculous, Grell."
"Am I wrong? You must be delighted to see this result. Don't waste your talent, go grab a crystal ball and start a new career!" she finger-combed her hair bitterly, "You love being right, and now you are."
William sighed, "I wish I wasn't."
Grell turned to face him, obviously confused by his response.
"I don't get off seeing you fail, Grell." William leaned back against the chilling marble wall behind them, "As a matter of fact, I hate it. The reason I said those things to you was to avoid a situation like this. I guess the message didn't really get through, but it doesn't matter now..." he paused to gaze at Grell, who again hid her face from him. His heart ached seeing her like this, but he didn't know how to tell her. "But you know she did it, right?"
Grell sneered, "Of course, I do."
"Yet you want her to walk out of here free."
"She's my client. I do whatever I can." Grell bit her lips in frustration, "If only she didn't…"
"Grell, that's her decision, you couldn't have known."
"I had the perfect argument!" Grell raised her voice, "Yes, her alibi was flawed but they also lacked decisive evidence to put her in the crime scene!"
"When in doubt, favor the accused." William whispered to himself.
"If only she didn't flip her own testimony! We agreed on everything! Had she kept her mouth shut and did what she was told, she'd be a free woman now!"
"It was her decision to confess, not yours. There is nothing you can do."
"She promised me!" Grell shivered when she realized that her voice was cracking, and she quickly folded her arms around herself to hide the embarrassment, "I guess you would tell me to not trust a serial killer in the first place."
"She's your client, you are supposed to have some sort of trust in each other… Had she not suddenly confessed to all the murders, you might have got her off at least some of the charges." he put a hand on her shoulder, "They used her nephew to break her. You can't compete with that. She may be a cold-blooded murderer, but she's still a vulnerable human being. You did your best."
Grell stared up at him, unsure of what she just heard, "How long have you been here?"
"The whole time you were in court."
"Was Ronnie also here?"
"Yes, I told him to come."
Grell groaned in dismay, "Why did you do that? He'd think I'm such a failure."
"He shouldn't be expecting a perfect record from anyone. Again, it's not your fault. He will understand."
"My client decided to dump me for people who did everything they could to put her in jail. No, I'm not a failure, I'm just pathetic as hell." she shook her head, "I can't believe she betrayed me."
"You became really attached to her, didn't you?" William asked, "She grew on you, and now you are angry at the result because she didn't fulfill her promise." he leaned forward to look at her in the eye, "You didn't become her barrister until the last minute, did she approach you, or did you volunteer to be her lawyer?"
Grell backed away defensively, "Stop interrogating me like I'm a suspect! If you want to find fault in me so you can feel good about yourself, wait till another day."
William froze for a moment, then looked down at his shoes, "I'm not very good at letting you understand my true intentions, am I?"
"You never were." Grell answered dryly.
Great, this conversation is going nowhere. William thought, and then his phone beeped. "You have been neglecting your calls, now they are nagging me." he handed his phone over to show Grell the texts from their colleagues, "How should I answer them?"
"Tell them I'm fine… I'll call them later."
William sent the texts and rose from the bench, "Let's get you home, Grell Sutcliff. It's getting late and you can't sit here forever."
Grell blinked at him skeptically, "Why are you suddenly so attentive?"
"I'm not. I'll just get a cab and take you home."
And the next moment, Grell was sitting at the back of a cab, looking out of the window as London's nightlights flashed before her eyes. William sat quietly by her side but neither spoke. There was nothing to talk about anyway.
The cab pulled up outside Grell's apartment, and William was dragged out into the cold by a surprising invitation.
"Why don't you come inside for a drink, Will?"
"We have to work tomorrow, Grell-"
"It's just a drink, won't take you long."
For some reason, William couldn't find a way to turn her down, although he knew the "won't take you long" part was definitely a lie.
They clinked glasses, and the wine swirled down William's throat, stinging his esophagus in a rather pleasant way. It was a freezing night, after all. He thought he could use some warmth.
"It's so strange." Grell lied on the couch in her pink night gown, eyes on the ceiling and an empty glass in her hand, "I screwed up a case, you made a lame attempt to cheer me up, only offending me more, and somehow I still want you to stay with me for the night. I'm such a masochist."
"Honestly, I can always leave if you want."
"You are missing the point, William." Grell put down her glass and sat up, "Why are you even here? You don't have to be."
William did not prepare an answer for that, "Is my presence bothering you?"
"Your presence always bothers me." Grell chuckled as she shielded her eyes with the back of her hand, cheeks flushing red from the alcohol, "But in a good way." she reached out an arm to pull him down to the couch with her, "Do you want to stay though? I don't want you to get stuck here sulking… Although I can never tell when you are not sulking." feeling a bit tipsy, she bumped her forehead against his shoulder.
William didn't move as she slowly clung onto his shoulders, "Are you drunk?"
Grell shook her head.
"You must be exhausted."
"I'm okay."
"I shouldn't keep you out of bed, Grell." he nudged her off his shoulders, "You need to rest."
"Can't you stay a little longer though?" she asked softly, "I don't want to be alone."
William hesitated, "You sure that's what you want?"
"Of course." she laid a hand on his before pecking his cheek, "Can you? Even just for a little longer?"
William gave in as he swept the redhead in his arms and carried her to the bedroom. "I'll stay until you've fallen asleep." and a part of him regretted saying that when he tucked her in.
"What a gentleman." Grell yawned, a hand still pulling at William's sleeve, "Come lie down with me, Will."
"You said it wouldn't take long."
"Well, how could you tell whether I have fallen asleep if you weren't lying down here with me?"
Good point. And William was secretly pleased that she made a compelling argument. Plus, it's not like he has never done it before anyway. So he lied down on the sheets facing up, hoping Grell wouldn't hear his accelerating heartbeat.
Grell buried half of her face under the sheets as she turned sideways to look at her seemingly reluctant bedmate, "I know I made you feel like you've done a terrible job, but I'm glad you stayed."
"It's okay. Just go to sleep."
She giggled, "You're bossy." before creeping closer to rest her head against his shoulder and drifting off to sleep.
T.B.C.
