Chapter 12
She's awoken the next day, early, to her cell phone ringing. She glances over and sees that it's only 7:30 AM. Who would possibly be calling her this early? The number is unknown but local, so she answers. She clears her throat but it's still a groggy 'hello' when she speaks.
"Ms. Castillo?" the female voice on the other end starts.
"Yes?" she starts to sit up, realizing this is more of a professional call.
"This is Officer Michaels," the person on the other line explains. "I'm sorry to call so early."
Laurel's awake now, concern filling her. "Is everything okay with Frank?" she asks. Why else would she be calling?
"He's fine," Officer Michaels calms. "He wants to see his lawyer this morning."
Laurel can hear the smile in those words but her mind is still in a fog, half asleep, and so she doesn't make the connection. "I don't understand."
"Laurel," she says informally. "Whatever you said worked. He told the warden this morning that he'd like to change his representation back to you. He'd like a meeting with you as soon as possible."
"He did?" she asks, unbelieving that something is going right for her.
"He did…" she confirms. "So, what time would you like to meet with him? We have space available at nine o'clock."
Laurel's up now, moving around the small hotel room and grabbing what she's going to need to quickly get ready. She's already thinking through everything she's going to need to do today, so much so that she nearly forgets to reply. She quickly does. "Yes, nine is perfect. I'll be there." She lets out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, a smile pulling at her lips. "Thank you."
"I'll add you to the list," Officer Michaels replies, voice all business again before she ends the call.
When Laurel arrives at the jail, she's a ball of nerves. She somehow got through to Frank but she hopes that she can keep him on the right track. He's going to need to trust her and follow her lead. She knows that he doesn't want to be here. Who would? But they're going to have to be aggressive; he can't keep wavering. She can't either.
She's back in a meeting room, and it allows her to take a breath. He's not going to turn her away today, won't come in here telling her to leave.
When he is let into the room a few minutes later, he's looking down at his feet. Contrite. Once the door closes behind him, she can't help but move towards him. She's on autopilot when her arms wrap around his shoulders, pulling him to her. It's completely unprofessional but she doesn't care about that. It's not like they've ever been professional with each other. He's here, and they are back on the right path. He stiffens slightly but soon relaxes, leaning into her, and she takes it in.
"Don't do that again," she tells him, her voice firm.
She hears his smile. "I won't."
When she pulls away, she gives him an encouraging smile and moves back to the table. "We should get started. We have a lot to go through."
He nods and walks over to the table. She thinks she sees some relief in his eyes that she's just moving forward, not yelling at him for everything he's put her through these last few days. He's been scared though and not for himself. She can't judge him for that, can't be angry that he's trying to protect her.
Despite her not mentioning it, Frank doesn't let it lie between them.
"I'm sorry," he tells her. "I didn't… I didn't want you to pay for this, for helping me."
"I know," Laurel responds softly with a nod. "It's okay, Frank. I know how she can be. It's not just you she's been working… And it almost worked, you know?"
He gives her a confused look, and so she continues. "Annalise cornered me at the courthouse after you dropped me. I was talking to the DA, trying to make sure he'd hold to his end of the deal if I could get you back on track, and when I was walking into the bathroom, she was right behind me."
She lets him absorb that information. He's smart; he has to know that Annalise wasn't just going to go after him.
"She threatened me, much in the way I expect she threatened you. She told me that she could put me there that night, that you and I were working together to frame her. That I shot her, was trying to kill her."
He sucks in a breath. "Laurel—"
"No," she says before he can continue. "We can't second-guess what we're doing anymore. This is what we're doing Frank, and we're not going to let Annalise get away with this, get away with everything she's done. She told me that you almost stood up to her, when she came to visit you, but that she knew exactly what to say to get you to turn away from me. Don't let her have that power anymore."
"It wasn't just Annalise," he says then, breaking into her story.
Now it's her turn to be confused. "What are you talking about?"
He looks down at his cuffed hands, embarrassment clear. "I hate this." He gestures with his hands, holding them up between them as an example. "I hate that you're seeing me like this. That you have to come here and fight for me to get out of jail. And I didn't want you to have to do this. I didn't want to be the one bringing you down."
"Frank—"
"I've never felt like I was good enough for you. I know I'm not," he corrects. She's surprised by the words. He never acted that way; instead, he always tried to get her to see the real Frank, and she liked him. "But I've never been in handcuffs and an orange jumpsuit either," he continues. "At least I wasn't in jail, you know? I was trying to better myself, and I used to think that maybe I could be a better man for you. That one day I could somehow make up for it all. But instead, I ended up here."
She feels her heart constricting, and she tries to think of something to say. She doesn't know what though because, in a way, he's right. He's not the man she should have wanted to love her. But in spite of that she did. She did want him to love her, and she did love him. For some reason, he was the only person she wanted, despite the sickening things he did. When it's clear that she doesn't have anything to say to that, he fills the silence.
"And, yes, I am afraid that Annalise will go after you, that she will do to you what she did to me, and that I'll be responsible for ruining your future, your life."
She can't silent at that. "You're not ruining my life, Frank. I hate seeing you in here too but it's not because I think you're not good enough, that I'm lowering myself somehow by helping you. I'm here because I don't think you belong here. I should, maybe. We can go round and round about all the things you've done and how this is a fitting punishment. But that's not what I feel. And if I were to say that to you, I'd have to take a look at myself, at Wes and Bonnie, Michaela, Connor, and Asher. Because if I think that this is where you belong, then I have to say the same about the rest of us. We all deserve jail for what we did. But we all did what we did because of her. In some way, it all comes back to her."
And she wants him to have the life and freedom he helped her obtain. She knows that he's not what they say he is. But he needs someone to believe in him, needs someone to give him the chance to prove that.
"You have to be with me, Frank. If we're united on this, we can stop Annalise from coming after me, from going after the others."
"The others?" he asks.
"Yeah, she threatened the rest of the group. And, honestly, it was almost enough for me to back away, to let the chips fall where they may," she explains. "I don't want to be responsible for that."
"Then maybe we should stop right now," he says, and for once, she can tell he doesn't actually want to stop. He's worried about her. He doesn't want her to make a decision she'll regret.
She shakes her head. "You told me that night in your apartment that she was bluffing, that they were empty threats," she reminds him.
"She wasn't this desperate," he points out. He's right. It's all different this time. She doesn't have people around her to protect her anymore. Frank's not there to fix the evidence, Bonnie's loyalty is questionable, the Keating Five are long gone, and she doesn't know where Nate is these days. Annalise doesn't have as many options.
She's quiet for several moments, and Frank sighs. When she looks up at him, she sees the worry in his eyes. "You were right, though," he tells her.
"I was?" She doesn't know what he means.
"Yeah, you told me that she can't hurt you if I do this. If we go to the DA, lay out our concerns about what Annalise might do and the protections we need before agreeing to the deal, then we can do our best to cover those bases. We have to get everything out of this deal that we can," he reasons. And she can see just how "in" he is. Something has changed in him. Maybe it was her persistence, maybe it was him realizing that she was his best chance, or maybe it was something else. Either way, he's ready to fight Annalise.
"I thought it was my job to figure these things out," she finally says with a wry smile.
He shrugs slightly before smirking. "We always made a good team," he tells her.
"Yeah… we did." They share a smile before Laurel, turns away to take a notebook out of her bag.
"Well then, we should talk about our terms and what we need from our meeting with the DA before I'm kicked out. I'm not sure how much time they're going to give us. They aren't exactly happy with me after yesterday." She laughs softly.
Frank gives her a smile, watching her a moment before he nods in agreement. "Let's get started."
o0O0o0O0o0O0o
Denver sounds more than relieved to get Laurel's call explaining that Frank is ready to meet as soon as possible. Unfortunately, he's in court for most of the day, and so it's not until the next day – Friday – that they are all in his office ready to deal.
"Now, Laurel and I have already discussed the basics of this deal but before we get into the details, I need to know that you're committed to this, Frank. Once we start this process, there's no turning back."
Frank looks like he's about to say something but Laurel jumps in, taking control of the conversation.
"We have some concerns to discuss, some terms that need to be met but assuming you agree to those… yes, my client will sign the agreement."
Denver smiles at her and nods. "I'm sure we can come to an agreement on those points. What are your concerns?" he asks.
"Annalise," she says simply. "She's threatened to involve other people who have nothing to do with this, threatened to take Frank down even more, and we need to know that whatever she says next isn't going to be taken at face value."
He looks at her for a long moment, and she thinks he's weighing everything, that maybe he's curious about what else Annalise could say about Frank or the others, but then he shakes his head and when he speaks, she realizes that she didn't know just how much he's been working on this.
"If Frank is going to sign, I guess I can tell you now that Frank is not the only person involved in this deal."
Laurel looks over to Frank and both of their faces convey their confusion.
"I already have two witnesses who have submitted signed affidavits," he discloses. "Two people who were closely involved with Annalise during the Hapstall case and other cases around that time. Both of them were aware of Frank's involvement, both of them noted that Annalise orchestrated the whole thing and that Frank would do anything he was asked, spent years working for a manipulative woman who, quote, 'all but owned him.'" He finishes by glancing down at his files, reading the words of one of his sources.
Laurel glances over at Frank, who's looking down at his hands. It's clear that he's embarrassed by that. But it's true, and it's what they need to use to get him out of this.
"You didn't tell me any of this before," Laurel interrupts.
"If I told you, then you would have known that I had hard evidence of Frank's actual involvement in the kidnapping and drugging of Catherine Hapstall, that he's been involved in numerous cover-ups, guilty of obstructing justice on several occasions, and who knows what else."
"I don't understand… if you have all of this evidence against Frank, why are you offering this deal, why did you arrest him on trumped up charges? I already thought you were going after him; I was already working to get him a deal. How does hiding this help that?"
"Because I needed him to think I only had what Annalise gave me. These other two sources are largely circumstantial. And if I am going to take down Annalise for obstructing justice, for covering up the scene of a murder, I needed someone with first-hand experience, someone who committed these crimes at her orders," he explains, "and making Frank think that it was just Annalise turning on him was the best way to get him to turn on her."
They all let that sink in, and Laurel can see Frank's leg bouncing as he takes in the rest of this information, knowing that it wasn't just Annalise but others turning on him as well.
"Who are your sources?" she asks.
"Laurel, no," Frank speaks then. He shakes his head when she looks at him. "We don't need to know. They did what they needed to clear their consciences." She looks at him a long moment. He's right. They don't need to be angry at any of the others for doing what they felt like they needed to get away from it all. She takes a deep breath, hating that someone finally turned after so long.
"Frank's right," Denver agrees. "And I couldn't tell you anyway. Anonymity is included in their deals… Look, I don't want Frank. I have no reason to believe that these crimes would have been committed if not for Annalise. I don't think Frank poses a threat to society, and so it's not exactly advantageous to pursue him."
She relaxes slightly; it's clear Denver doesn't know about Lila. This would be a very different conversation if he did. But Annalise did.
"Annalise could still say a lot of things, things that aren't necessarily true, as she did with her statement for this about Frank. And it's important that anything else she might say isn't used to go after Frank again or anyone else who may have been present during this timeline. Frank's immunity needs to protect him against any additional accusations Annalise may make," she tells Denver. It was one of their main points from the day before.
Denver nods. "I'm not going to go against anyone else, no matter what might be said. It's clear Annalise's word can't be taken at face value. The story she told was so wildly different from that the witnesses that anything she says holds no weight. And we can include that in the written agreement if that makes you feel better. I'm not looking to trick you, Laurel," he says. She nods in understanding.
"Laurel needs to be protected too," Frank speaks up, and Laurel turns her head towards him sharply.
"Frank. That's not necess—"
He just shakes his head and talks over her objections, looking directly to Denver. "I want something included that ensures you won't go after my counsel no matter what Annalise says. She's already threatened Laurel, and I wouldn't put it past her follow through in retaliation. I know you said you wouldn't go after the others but I want written assurances for Laurel or you get nothing from me."
"She threatened you?" Denver asks, looking from Frank to Laurel.
"It's nothing. She was trying to scare me off," Laurel says, trying to downplay Frank's words, show that a written agreement for her isn't necessary. It definitely wasn't part of her and Frank's plan, and she's a little annoyed by him going off-script.
Frank ignores that. "In writing," he reiterates.
Denver seems concerned, and she's surprised that it's an emotion he can summon. "We'll add it to the immunity agreement," he ensures. "Give me a couple of minutes, and I'll be back with the paperwork," he tells them before stepping out of the room.
"What was that?" she asks.
"I did what I needed to," he tells her, shrugging casually.
She rolls her eyes. "I don't need you protecting me, Frank," she tells him. "I can take care of myself."
He shakes his head. "I did it just as much for me as for you. I won't be able to live with myself if anything happens to you. Look, it didn't mess anything up. Just accept it, please."
She looks at him for a long minute before shaking her head, letting a small smile cross her lips. "You're so stubborn," she teases.
"Yeah, it's not my best quality," he teases back, returning her smile.
Denver comes back in and sits behind his desk as he places the document in front of Laurel. She takes it and begins to read through it carefully, making sure that all i's are dotted and all t's are crossed. When she's satisfied, she hands it over to Frank to read, knowing that he has a lot of experience reading these agreements. He can help her see if something has been missed. He gives her a nod once it's read, and she turns to Denver to give approval. He hands Frank a pen.
"Now, with this agreement, as you read, Frank will stay in custody through the duration of the trial against Annalise to ensure he complies and follows through with the deal. Once the trial wraps up, Frank will be released with all the privileges immunity entails, and his charges will be cleared from his record," he explains, giving a spiel she can tell he's given many times before.
"Understood," she agrees as Frank signs.
"You can still visit your client periodically but not every day," his words carry some humor, and she sure he's also heard about her prison antics. She doesn't care now though because everything is coming together, and it shouldn't take long for Frank to be released.
"When is Annalise being arrested?" she asks as she signs her own name to the agreement and hands it back across the table.
"I can't disclose that but I have everything I need now. Frank: you, Laurel, and I will meet a few times before the trial to go over your testimony but as long as everything stays on track and you give me what Laurel and I previously talked about, then you'll be out of there in no time… And if there's nothing else, I see we're a little early. Why don't the two of you take a meeting room down the hall? You can talk until Frank's transport is here," he suggests, and Laurel is grateful for a few more minutes with Frank.
They nod and stand. No one is all that concerned about Frank running at this point so the two of the walk down the hall, relatively free. He's handcuffed and there's an officer hovering over them but they have a little privacy, and despite those things, it feels normal like the many other times she and Frank had walked down these halls together. Everything feels a little lighter too.
That is until she hears her name from a very familiar but unexpected voice. She and Frank both turn towards the sound, and she sees Mark walking towards her. He's not happy.
"Mark?" she asks as he gets closer, confused about his presence. "What are you doing here?"
He doesn't answer, instead looks from her to the man next to her. He takes in Frank, notices the handcuffs, and looks back at her.
"It's been several days, again, since you've answered any of my texts or calls. You've ignored emails from the firm too. I figured I might be able to find you around here somewhere," he tells her. She's almost shocked that he came all the way to Philadelphia just because she didn't respond to him. His entire composure is different from what she's used to; sure, he's gotten upset with her plenty of times, and he's acted like this but she didn't think he'd actually follow her to another city to express that anger.
She just takes a breath before calmly answering. "We discussed how this is important to me. I told you I had to take care of this, and that's what I'm doing," she says before gesturing to Frank, instead of speaking about him as if he weren't there. "This is my friend, Frank. I'm helping him." She hates how the word 'friend' feels in reference to Frank. He's never going to be just her friend.
"I'm confused," Mark says without giving Frank a second glance. It's clear he's already dismissed him. "This is your friend? What are you— You're representing him? You haven't even gotten your bar results back and those are for DC anyway."
She takes a breath. "I got the results back," she corrects. "And I passed. I've been admitted here on a pro hac vice basis," she tells him.
He just rolls his eyes, his tone mocking as he speaks again. "Fine, so you're up here playing lawyer or whatever it is that you're doing, and that makes it okay to continue ignoring my calls?" Laurel sighs at the way his voice is getting louder, the way people are glancing at them, and she doesn't miss the look of anger on Frank's face, the way he stands a little taller next to her, as Mark starts belittling her. He doesn't do this often but there are times when Mark treats her as if she doesn't know what she's doing, or rather that he knows better than her.
"I'm not ignoring your calls," she tells him calmly, ignoring his tone and words to focus on what she's been doing. "I've been busy. There's a lot going on here, and as I've told you, it's important to me."
"Yeah, okay," he only responds, looking at her as if he's expecting more.
She shakes her head but before she can ask him to meet her at her hotel room, the officer comes up and tells them that Frank's transport is ready for him.
She ignores Mark and turns to Frank. "I'm sorry," she whispers to him, placing her hand on his arm. She hates that they lost some time together. "I'll see you tomorrow," she promises, hoping he'll understand.
Frank gives Mark a long, hard look, and she can see he wants to say something, that he's upset by this exchange. "Sure," he only responds, looking away from Mark at the last moment.
Before she can say anything else, she feels Mark's hand wrap around her arm and start to lead her out. When she looks back, all she sees is Frank being led away.
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