A/N: Hello? Anyone still there? I hope you all still remember this little story of mine :) I know I have SERIOUSLY neglected it. Believe me, I'm prepared to get bitch slapped over it :P But in all seriousness; I lost my muse there for a while. But I have found her hiding place and dragged her back by her hair. This chapter might have a bit of a shock in it. Continue to read and please review. They keep my muse firmly beside me.
Pleading a case
Damon felt his heart pounding in his throat as he eyed the judge warily. The silence was deadly inside the small lavatory.
Damn it! Why had he been so stupid as to pull Elena in here and kiss her? This was a public place! He should have known better. Now they had been caught by the man assigning over their case! Fuck!
Finally, the judge moved from his spot and gave them a small nod.
"Mr. Salvatore. Miss Gilbert," he acknowledged them.
The man walked into the room and went in search of a free bathroom stall. He disappeared into the last one, leaving Elena and Damon befuddled.
Wasn't he going to say anything? Was he going to let this slide?
Elena looked at Damon, her eyes big with fear. Truth was, there was no way he was able to tell her it was going to be okay now. He couldn't relax her nerves. He was afraid of the outcome himself. Why was the judge acting so aloof?
After a minute or so, the judge reappeared again, heading for the sink to wash his hands. He still remained silent. Both Elena and Damon watched him as he went about his business in a cool manner. When he was done, he walked past them and pulled the door open to step outside.
Damon almost wanted to let out a sigh of relief as it seemed the judge would never say anything about it. But then the man stopped in the doorway. Without turning around, he opened his mouth.
"Mr. Salvatore, a word with you in the courtroom, please."
He never spared them a backward glance, before heading off again, leaving Damon and Elena frozen.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Damon cursed.
He began to pace, not sure of how to handle this one.
"Damon?" Elena asked in a meek voice. "Will this ruin the case? Please tell me I'm not losing my daughter over this."
Elena's eyes were pooling with tears. Damon let out a deep breath and took her face in his hands.
"Hey. He's not going to take away your daughter, just because you fell in love with your lawyer. He will probably just reprimand me. I'm the one in trouble here, not you. Besides, Stefan and Katherine have a lot to answer for. There is no way the judge is just going to hand them your daughter."
Elena nodded, swallowing her tears.
"Come on. I'll go and see what he has to say."
They left the lavatory and made their way back to the courtroom. Alaric was standing in the hallway, almost smoking a victorious cigar. He had no idea what had gone down in the bathroom.
"So, are you ready to wrap this up?" he said with a smirk.
Damon sighed.
"Something happened. I'm not sure how it will affect the case," he explained.
Alaric squinted his eyes at them.
"What do you mean? I left you ten minutes ago and everybody was under the impression that you had nailed this case. What did you do?"
Damon glanced sideways at Elena, before telling the truth.
"The judge caught us kissing."
Alaric's mouth dropped open. Then he exploded.
"WHAT?! Are you two crazy?! You had this, Damon. You had this! Couldn't you keep your hands to yourself for five minutes? Off all the things, Salvatore…"
Damon shushed him.
"Keep it down! Klaus doesn't know this yet. I don't know what the judge will say to me. Just keep this under wraps until the judge has said his piece. Okay?" he told his friend.
Alaric sighed, shaking his head.
"I hope this doesn't bite you in the ass, Damon. Me and Elena will wait outside. You'd better be prepared to sweet talk the pants off of this guy."
Damon looked at Elena one last time, giving her a wry smile, before entering the courtroom with a pounding heart. The judge sat in his seat, relaxed and looking over some paperwork. He looked up as Damon walked in.
"Mr. Salvatore, would you approach the bench, please?" he said, eying him over his spectacles.
Damon warily did as he was told, stopping before the bench more nervous than he had ever been in his career as a lawyer.
"Mr. Salvatore, would you mind telling me what that was all about in the lavatory just now?" the judge questioned him.
Straight to the point. Usually, Damon liked that in a person. Now, it was unnerving.
"Your Honour, me and Miss Gilbert… During this trial we fell in love with each other. It was not planned. I never would have taken her case, had I known this was going to happen. But it did. However, I vowed to myself I wasn't going to let it affect the way I would represent her. I treated this case as I do with all my cases. I am a professional," Damon pleaded.
The judge seemed to contemplate this. He pursed his lips, rubbing a finger over it as if he was in deep thought.
"Are you familiar with the child involved in this case? Have you spent quality time with his girl?" he wanted to know.
Damon swallowed.
"Yes."
"And what are your feelings regarding this child?"
Damon felt his heart swell as he thought about Charlotte. A smile crept unknowingly onto his face. There was no way he would be able to lie about this one.
"I love her," he therefore whispered.
The judge rubbed his temples, agitated.
"Mr. Salvatore, you do know that this screams 'conflict of interest,' don't you? You are too involved. You have an emotional attachment here. I'm going to have to postpone today's trial until Miss Gilbert is able to find a new lawyer. You can no longer represent this young woman and her daughter. I will inform the other party."
"Your Honour, please..," Damon tried.
"Mr. Salvatore, I think I'm being very reasonable. It won't affect the case. Miss Gilbert just needs to find a new lawyer. As for you, you should have known better. You should have stepped down the moment you became aware of your feelings towards your client."
Damon nodded, knowing he had lost here. Fuck! Would this ruin his career?
"You let Miss Gilbert know she is going to have to look for someone else to represent her. Until then, this trial is dismissed," were the judge's last words.
"I'll do it," a voice came from behind them.
Both Damon and the judge looked up in surprise as the door on the other end of the courtroom opened. Alaric was standing in the doorway.
"And just who might you be?"
The judge was becoming a little irritated and eyed Alaric warily.
"My name is Alaric Saltzman. I work at the same law firm as Mr. Salvatore. I know about the case and what it entails. I could do it. I have no involvement with Miss Gilbert or her daughter," Alaric stated.
The judge seemed to think this over.
"Okay, I don't see why not, then. If Miss Gilbert is satisfied with you as a lawyer, then I'll allow it. But for now, I think we all need a recess. Mr. Saltzman needs to look over the case, I need to inform the other party and you can both inform Miss Gilbert. I shall set a new date in a few days."
"Thank you, Your Honour," Damon muttered.
Elena was sitting on a bench outside, nervously picking at her fingers. Her eyes widened as she spotted Damon and Alaric leaving the courtroom.
"What did he say?" she asked almost breathlessly.
"For you, there is very little harm. The judge says this won't affect your case. You just need to find a new lawyer. Alaric has agreed to do it. If you'll have him," Damon explained.
"You got pulled off the case?" Elena squeaked.
Damon nodded.
"O Damon, I'm sorry."
"Hey, it's not your fault. Like the judge said, I should have stepped down when we began to develop feelings for each other."
"So now Alaric is my lawyer?" Elena looked at the sandy-haired man.
Alaric stepped forward and straightened his tie.
"Here to the rescue, ma'am," he joked.
Damon chuckled. Ric could always make light of a bad situation.
He watched as Klaus exited the courtroom, making his way over to him with a smirk. He was coming to gloat, no doubt.
"Sleeping with the clientele, Salvatore? I should have known that someone with a rep like you would not be able to stop himself from dipping his hand in the honey-pot," Klaus laughed.
Damon ground his teeth together to keep himself from knocking the guy's lights out. He doubted that this would sit well with the judge. He was Elena's boyfriend now. He needed to keep himself in check if they wanted to win this.
Klaus winked at them and sauntered off.
"Asshole!" Damon barked.
"He is, but don't let him get to you. He's going to want to rile you up now. Stay calm and poised," Alaric advised…
Damon was just coming off the phone with Alaric, discussing the case, when the doorbell rang. Elena got up, Charlotte attached to her hip.
It was Stefan. He was coming to pick up his daughter.
"Hey. I've got her bag ready. Let me go and get it for you," Elena said.
"Can I come in for a second?" Stefan asked.
Damon could see Elena being doubtful, hovering in the doorway.
"Ehm, sure."
Stefan crossed the threshold and his eyes landed on Damon. His jaw tensed immediately.
"I see it's true, then. You are sleeping with your lawyer. What did you hope to gain by it, Elena? Better service?" he sneered.
Damon clenched his fists at his side. He couldn't let his temper get the best of him. He needed to let Elena handle this.
"My relationship with Damon is none of your concern, Stefan."
Stefan snorted.
"I beg to differ. This man hangs around my daughter. I don't want some conquest of yours raising her."
"You are one to talk, Stefan. How do you think I feel about Katherine being a prostitute?" Elena defended herself.
"That's all in the past. Katherine explained it to me. She's had it rough, growing up."
Elena sighed.
"Look, I don't want to argue. Not in front of Charlotte. We both found someone new. We don't have to like each other's choices. As long as we're all good for Charlotte."
Stefan nodded and eyed his daughter, who was getting fussy in Elena's arms by her arguing parents. He smiled at her.
"Can I hold her while you get her bag?" he pleaded with Elena.
Elena nodded and gave him her daughter.
Charlotte was looking back and forth between her parents, eyes wide. She sensed the unpleasant atmosphere, Damon noted. She struggled a bit at Stefan's side. Elena picked up the bag and handed it to him.
"Why can't you see what I'm trying to do here, Elena? I want a stable environment for her. You're always at work and she's always at either the day care centre or at your mother's. I don't want her to be raised by 10 different people," Stefan argued his case.
"She's not being raised by 10 different people, Stefan. She has everything her heart could desire. She has two loving parents, she has a grandmother who spoils her and she has other children to play with at the day care centre. Look at her, Stefan. She's doing fine."
Stefan's eyes became angry.
"I want to raise my daughter, Elena. I'm tired of being a weekend-dad!"
"Then why didn't you say that? We could have worked something out. Instead, you dragged me to court," Elena shot back.
Charlotte began to whimper. Her bottom lip protruded and her big eyes were watering up. It was breaking Damon's heart.
"Because I wanted things in writing! You call all the shots here, Elena! I always have to check with you for everything!"
"I always check things with you too, Stefan. It's called joined custody. You do things together!"
The first wail pierced the air, and finally Damon couldn't take it anymore. He got up from the couch and walked over towards the arguing couple.
"Listen, this is going nowhere and Charlotte is becoming upset. Take her and go home. We can settle this in court."
Damon kept his voice as calm as possible.
"Don't you tell me what to do! I don't even know who you are, besides that you're some lawyer doing it with my ex-wife!" Stefan snarled.
"Then listen to your daughter, man! She's crying her eyes out over the attitude you're presenting us with here. Calm down, calm Charlotte down and have a good weekend with her. We can talk about further arrangements in the courtroom."
This seemed to shut Stefan up for a second. He gently rocked his daughter in his arms and kissed the top of her head, silencing her. Finally, he looked up at Damon and Elena.
"This isn't over yet," he sneered one last time, before turning around towards his car.
"Oh, that man!" Elena huffed as she closed the door.
Damon took her in his arms and briefly kissed her lips.
"He's got quite a temper. He actually reminds me of me," Damon joked.
Elena lifted her head from his shoulder and stared at him in shock.
"Please don't tell me that I've fallen for the same type of guy again!"
Damon threw his head back and laughed.
"There is one important difference between us, sweetheart," he told her.
"What's that?" Elena inquired curiously.
"I would never fall out of love with you.."
Damon awoke to an incessant ringing of his cell phone by the bedside. Groaning, he reached blindly for it. He looked at the display to see who would be calling him at this ungodly hour and frowned when he saw Alaric's name.
"Ric?" he whispered softly, as to not wake Elena next to him.
"Damon, are you at Elena's right now?"
Damon ran a hand through his tired eyes.
"Yes, why?"
There was something off about Ric's voice. This was a man who was always calm and poised. He always kept it together. But right now, he sounded strained. Stressed.. It clutched at Damon's heart.
Something was wrong…
"I was working late at the courthouse tonight. When I drove home…," Ric trailed off again.
"What is it, Ric? Tell me!"
Damon was beginning to panic with Ric's tone.
"I passed an accident site. Damon, Stefan has been in a severe car accident. He might not make it."
Damon's heart actually missed a beat. Stefan had been in an accident? He was in critical condition? O, man! How would he tell Elena? She would be devastated.
Ric remained silent on the other end of the line, as if he was contemplating what to say next. There was more..
And then it hit Damon like a freight train. All the air got sucked out of his lungs as the thought rambled through his brain.
"Ric," he squeaked. "Was Charlotte in the car with him?"
Fear gripped his heart as he waited for his friend to answer him. His body was cold; frozen in time. Then, Ric delivered the devastating blow.
"Yes."
Twitter: Sandy1983b