A/N: Not the last chapter...but close! Alas, my dears, we start to draw to a close! Yes, I cry (waaaaah) but I shall persevere! There is a lot unanswered at the end, and that will follow in the next chapter. Just read it and take it for what it is! Woohoo!

Mr. Grey was not like she remembered.

Mimi squinted at him from across the room. He looked like a respectable man; well-dressed, clean cut, peaceful. His face was lined and his hair was grayed. As he shuffled through the assorted pamphlets for outdated politicians that were clustered on the table outside the courtroom, she could see the muscles in his face relax. The flesh of his cheeks sagged, and his eyebrows flattened wearily. He was old; there was no denying it. He had a child and a wife. He had a job. He was a person.

And it came back to her; the darkness of the Cat Scratch, the thickness of smoke and sex floating in the air, images sliding back and forth across her eyes…a leering face, eyes bright with alcohol, and hands, hands clutching a wad of money…and then there was no money but pain, nothing but a futile struggling against hands that were strong, and Mimi couldn't breathe for the pressure on her throat…

"Mimi, there you are!" A hand came from nowhere and grasped her shoulder. Mimi shrieked and pushed it away wildly, whirling to see a stunned Maureen behind her. For a moment, Maureen's familiar face flickered like a bad TV picture; a trusted, loved face weaving with the one that haunted her dreams. Mimi's stomach turned over, and she suddenly realized that she was breathing as though she'd just run a marathon.

"What? What is it?" Mimi said, trying to catch her breath. Maureen's eyes were huge and she was leaning slightly away from Mimi, as though to avoid any sudden blows. She obviously hadn't meant to startle her friend, much less disturb her in the middle of a memory trip. Maureen didn't even know that she'd done that. Mimi felt a little twist of guilt in her chest.

"Nothing…I just wanted to say good luck. Are you okay?" Maureen asked warily. Mimi tried to calm her pounding heart as her eyes left Maureen and wandered over to Mr. Grey again. The memories cropped up again, and her face felt hot. He wasn't a person. He was a monster. And even if she lost this whole court thing, even if this crap chewed her up and spit her out, he was going to get what he coming. He wasn't walking away from her again.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay," Mimi said, closing her eyes for a moment. Maureen raised her eyebrows and nodded slowly. She looked Mimi up and down in her court suit, body relaxing as she understood that Mimi wasn't planning to lunge at her.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Well, are you ready?" Mimi took a deep breath and snapped her fingers; a nervous habit. Don't think about what happens in there. Just let yourself go and wait for it to meet you on the road.

"As ready as I can be."

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"C'mon, babe, slow down!"

"I can't! I'm just…I'm flying! I'm a bird! Birds can't be slow!" Mimi crowed, skipping ahead of Roger. He shook his head and hurried to catch up. People gave her strange looks as she twirled down the twilight-lit sidewalk, but Mimi couldn't care. She felt too light-headed, too above them all. All she could do was skim forward, leaping into the air like a ballet dancer. Roger laughed as he raced after her. She was still wearing her clothes from court, but she had let her hair down and it bounced joyously with her stride. The whole thing might have been a caricature in some magazine.

"Jesus, give me the chance to catch up with you!" he finally panted, catching her by the wrist and pulling her to him. Mimi grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Sure, baby. All the damn time you need. "

"God…you're definitely happier than a lot of people who lose court cases," he observed, running one hand through her hair. Mimi threw back her head and laughed like a maniac. It felt perfect, like the first sip of beer after that long, long week with your parents.

"I'm free, Roger. I'm fucking free, and guess what else?"

"What?"

"I got him. God, I got him so, so good…I think that I'll go back in time and steal Mark's camera so I can put the whole thing on tape. And then I'll watch it forever and ever just so I can have that for myself. It will be mine and I shall treasure it forever," Mimi said all in one breath. Roger shook his head in disbelief.

"Mimi, you're completely punch drunk."

"Hell yes!" she shouted as loud as she could. People glanced at them, but neither noticed. Roger just laughed and held her tighter.

"Well, if you go back time, take me with you. I'll rig that party in January so that Maureen gets drunk enough to fall off the bar counter." Mimi giggled and nodded.

"Okay…hey, Roger?"

"Yeah?"

"Let's go spray paint a car." That one made him pause for a minute.

"Um…spray paint?"

"Yup."

"A car?"

"Uh huh."

"In broad daylight?"

"Correct."

"Even though everyone at the Life is going to wonder where we are and possibly freak out?"

"That makes it even better," Mimi insisted, her hands brushing over his spiky blonde hair. She made her eyes get so big that a spacecraft might have spotted them from orbit, and one of her thighs snaked its way between his. But she needn't have bothered. Roger laughed out loud and shrugged happily.

"Mimi, whatever you're on right now, don't you dare get sober again." She shrieked with glee and hopped up to kiss him on the lips. He kissed her back, but it was a little difficult; they were both laughing too hard.

More than a month ago, Mimi had been desperate and depressed, the victim of both a rape and a beating. She couldn't bear to touch even the people she loved, and she wasn't sure whether her life would ever become bearable again. Every night, she dreamed of what had happened. Most importantly, her spirit dreamed of it. Her spirit limped, staggered, slipped and slid on the instability of her happiness.

And now, for the first time in so, so long, it was rearing its head and finding purchase on the ground it stood upon. Mimi had always been fiery and strong, certain of at least something. That certainty had been damaged, but its repair had flourished. She was coming alive again.

And no matter what, nobody could bring her down. Not Mr. Grey, not Benny, nobody. She was flying high, and nobody could bring her down.

Mimi sounds like she's DEYFING GRAVITY, don't she? (nudge nudge, wink wink)