Andrea had been pleased when the case had gone her way, though the next case on the docket was proving to be less than ideal. Again, she found herself starting to become overwhelmed with negative emotions, and she struggled to keep her thoughts positive when she regarded this case. And it didn't help that Provenza had taken to reminding her that she needed to play ball with them, since Rusty had complained that she was still acting quite prickly towards him.

Shaking her head to clear out the negative thoughts, Andrea turned her focus onto the case ahead of her. The defense attorney had already called for a continuance, stating that he needed extra time to track down a witness who had suddenly gone missing. "Hey, Andrea."

She looked up at Rusty, seeing that he had two cups of coffee in his hands. Reaching out, she wasn't surprised when he pressed the larger one into her hand. "Hey."

"That didn't sound very cheerful," he said, the teasing tone to his voice grating on her nerves.

"I have literally nothing to do today, other than go over the case I'm currently trying. I've already been in court, dealing with the fact that the other attorney called for a continuance."

"Which means that everything comes to a stop, yes?"

She nodded, rolling her eyes a little as she took a sip of coffee. It was perfect, which helped to pick up her mood a tiny bit. "Basically. The judge gave her five days to track down this missing witness. I don't need this, when I have other cases that need to be dealt with as well."

Shoving her hand through her hair, Andrea let out a deep breath as she stood up from her desk and stalked over to the window, staring down at the traffic as she nursed her drink, wishing that there was something stronger than caffeine inside. "And what happens if they can't track her down?"

"It will be up to the judge, but since this person hasn't given her testimony yet, there is the very real possibility that the judge will declare a mistrial, and then we'll have to start the whole process over again. New jury, new time, everything. It will be a clusterfuck from the word go."

Sighing deeply, Andrea took another long drag from her coffee before spinning around on her heel and fixing her gaze on him. She knew that the look wasn't the happiest from the way he blanched and pulled away from her a little. "But that won't happen, will it?"

"It's a distinct possibility. At the very least, the continuance could continue for an undetermined time, which would further screw around with my schedule, and I would just have to juggle a lot of balls in completely new directions."

Shaking her head a little, she completely drained the rest of the coffee and then slammed the cup down onto the table in front of Rusty. "That seems like it would be against due process."

Andrea nodded a little as she collapsed down onto the couch, burying her face in her hands as she tried to think about where she was going to go from here. Things seemed to be fast falling apart, and she didn't want to take it out on Rusty, since she knew that he would just go running to Provenza to tell him about her rudeness. "You would think, but since this has been requested by the defendant's own attorney, it doesn't quite work that way."

He nodded before picking up his satchel and rustling through it. "I did get the mail while I was waiting for the coffee. You got another letter from your typewriter fan."

Her eyes narrowed as she tugged the envelope from his hands, looking it over completely before she glanced back up at him. "This is only the second one," she muttered as she stood and went over to her desk, shoving the envelope into the depths of her purse before looking back up at him, daring him to say something.

"Oh, so you have an admirer, then," he teased, clearly thinking that she would be open for the ribbing. Shaking her head, she grabbed hold of her purse, leaving her work on her desk. "Andrea?"

"I'm going home for the day. Shadow DDA Ingram, she'll be able to help you out just as much as I can," she muttered as she reached the doorway. "Don't try to contact me today, or tomorrow. I'm not in the best of moods."

"No shit, Sherlock. You haven't been in a good mood since Mom died."

Andrea drew in a sharp breath at his flippant words, trying to slowly count to ten before she reacted. Turning on her heel, she fixed a steely gaze on him, watching his eyes widen as he shrank away from her for the second time that morning. "I know that you think you're funny, but you're damn lucky that Provenza wanted you to have a future, after the little stunt you pulled. Had it been up to me, had I been thinking clearly, I would have let the legal system throw the book at you. At some point in your life you have got to learn that there are consequences to your actions, and that you can't always bully your way into getting what you want! Dammit, Rusty, Sharon would be so disappointed in you right now, and you damn well know it!"

Rusty frowned and got to his feet, starting to pace the floor, as if he was trying to burn off some of the same anger that coursed through her veins. "That's not fair, and you know it! When have I ever gotten my way? The cards were stacked against me from the moment I was born!"

"That is a load of horse shit and you know it, Rusty. Look at your relationship with Gus. You got him to grovel and beg and debase himself until you finally deigned to take him back, and you still treat him like dirt. I would take a good, long, look at yourself in the mirror the next time you're in the bathroom. I don't think you'll like what stares back at you."

"Any more than you like what stares back at you?" he asked snidely, and Andrea felt her nostrils flare with rage as she took a step forward. Clenching her fists, she caught herself before she closed the distance between them and did something she would regret. "That's what I thought."

"Fuck you," she hissed before turning on her heel and striding from her office. Angry tears bit at the corner of her eyes as she briskly walked out to the elevators, trying to keep herself together. A part of her knew that she had behaved very poorly, and that she could be reprimanded by her boss for her actions, but a part of her also knew that she had to get those words off her chest before they ate a canker in her heart.

Thankfully, the elevator car was empty when it opened for her, and she stepped inside, pressing the ground floor button before closing the doors. As the elevator made its way down, Andrea breathed in and out deeply, trying to regain control of herself. She could only imagine what the rest of the day would bring.