A/N: This chapter follows on directly from Chapter Two describing the night Will met Angela.

I'm Into Something Good (Herman's Hermits)

Baltimore, October 1998

"I'll just say bye to my Dad," she told Will as he stood chatting to a couple of guys he knew from the State's Attorney's Office. She walked back into the side room where they had had dinner, saying, "We're heading out, going to get a drink somewhere," as she placed her hands on her father's shoulders. "So the old man is forgotten, eh?" He replied with a sarcastic tone, making the remaining men around the table laugh. Angela laughed easily with them, "Thanks for dinner and for accommodating Will," she said, planting a kiss gently on his right cheek, "I'm going to take a cab, leave the car here and pick it up tomorrow."

He smiled at his daughter who was now leaning over him, her arms draped round his neck, "I'm really pleased you came Angie," he said, patting her arm. "I'm pleased I came too," she grinned at him. She took a small bunch of keys from her purse and offered them to him, "Here are the spare keys to my apartment," she paused, but he interrupted, "So don't wait up?" he questioned, winking at her.

"Something like that," she smiled back, "I'll speak to you in the morning," kissing him again.

"Night Angie."

"Night Dad."

She quickly crossed to the door and found herself looking at Will, who was now alone in the lobby. The image in front of her made her heart beat a little faster. He was leaning back against a pillar, his tie loosened, the top button of his shirt undone and his hands in the pockets of his pants. Smiling, he pushed himself off and walked the few feet towards her. Putting his right arm across her shoulders he pulled her into him, whispering, "For the record Angela, I'm also really pleased you came." She stretched her left arm across his back and gave him a gentle squeeze. They both looked in opposite directions as they walked out of the main entrance, Will nodding a thanks to the doorman who held the glass door open for them, but Angela was sure they were both grinning.

They walked in happy silence through the Mount Vernon neighbourhood for a few minutes, quickly getting in step with each other, before Will spoke, "If I forget to tell you later, thanks for a great evening." Angela laughed, "So corny, but it isn't over yet." She felt Will's arm leave her shoulder, run down her arm and, as his fingertips brushed the skin of her palm to take her hand in his, she felt a tingle rush through her body.

As they approached their destination, Angela looked up at the imposing, fortress-like building that she thought was beautiful – its greyish-silver and terracotta façade standing out from those around it and demonstrating the early twentieth-century style of the Baltimore landmark. She knew it was in need of some love, but it was still here, after nearly a century. Will squeezed her hand, "Meet me at the Belvedere," he said turning to her, "come on, let's go to the 13th Floor, then I'll take you somewhere for a real drink." She smiled at him and they walked into the brass and marble covered lobby.

Getting on the elevator, Will pressed the button for the thirteenth floor and let his hand fall back by his side. Angela moved closer to him and reached out to take his hand in hers. He smiled and began to rub the back of her hand with his thumb which made her giggle, ever so softly to herself, which she hoped had gone unnoticed. The doors opened straight onto the bar, which like the rest of hotel needed attention and resembled a cheap lounge that did not befit the prior glamour of the Belvedere when it had welcomed Hollywood actors and royalty. The low lighting only highlighted the magnificence of the seven-foot windows along the north and south walls that were the main draw for contemporary visitors.

Angela walked over to the south side windows, marvelling at the sight of Baltimore twinkling beneath them. Looking downtown she could see the Washington Monument in Mount Vernon Place and titled her head with a little sadness, "I love the Washington Monument in DC, what it represents and the stories associated with its construction. Shame it's closed. Our one isn't quite the same, even though it had the same designer!"

"When it's open to the public again, we'll go."

"They've only just started, I don't think it's gonna be finished for two years," she laughed.

"Well, then," he said, moving behind her and putting his arms around her to rest his head against the top of hers, "let's all meet up in the year 2000, won't it be strange when we're all fully grown," he sang in the style of Pulp's Disco 2000 that made Angela laugh out loud. She put her arms on top of his and felt him hug her tight. In that moment she realised she really was falling for Will Gardner.

"Do you know that the tip of it is made of aluminium, which at the time it was built was as valuable as silver?" Will nodded and Angela continued, "Before it was placed at the apex, it was put on public display at Tiffany's, in New York, and people could say they stepped over the top of the Washington Monument. So cool, really beats Audrey Hepburn and that pastry!" They laughed and Will thought to himself that he really wanted to get to know her better.

"Something that you might not know," Will began, "George Washington owned a whiskey distillery."

"Uh-huh," she replied closing her eyes and resting her head against him. Will could see their combined reflection in the window and smiled.

"Should we get a drink, I know a great little place," he asked her quietly, not really wanting to move.

"Sure," she said, albeit a little reluctantly.

Back on the street, Will took her hand as they walked the short distance to The Brewer's Art bar. They entered through the basement door and Angela took in the room, a look of astonished pleasure on her face, "I didn't know this was here," she said.

"It opened about two years ago, kinda cool, they brew their own beer and have a fabulous whiskey selection."

"Hmmm," she replied, "interesting… very interesting."

Will guided her through dark room and through an arched brick doorway into an area that held the bar. It was warm, cosy and made her feel happy. "Do you want to sit at the bar or somewhere else?" he asked gesturing at a table in one of the arched, dimly let nooks. "Bar," she answered positively.

Angela sat down and placed her purse on the floor by her feet, looking at the bottles behind the bar. Will took off his suit jacket and hung it over the back of his chair, asking, "What do you fancy?" as he rolled his shirt sleeves up to the elbow.

"Now, that's a leading question if I ever heard one counsellor," she laughed, reaching out and rubbing the fingers of her right hand in light circles on his bare forearm. He smiled coyly at her before saying he would have one of their house beers and she nodded, "I'll trust your judgement."

The conversation was easy as they drank and shared stories. Will was enthralled by her voice and thought he could listen to her all evening. She was different to the women he usually dated and had a confidence that he liked, a confidence that he saw reflected in himself.

"Excuse me," he said getting up to go to the bathroom and squeezing her shoulder as he left, "be right back."

"OK, I'll get us another round." She caught the bartender's eye and ordered two more drinks.

Will shook his head, smiling broadly as he washed his hands. He wasn't quite sure how his night had progressed so quickly, but he wasn't complaining. Less than five hours ago he walked into the hotel lobby ready for the evening session and saw her from across the room. Since then he'd had dinner with a prominent law professor along with several top litigators and judges, God knows what they thought of him, he chuckled to himself, and somehow he'd managed to get this beautiful, smart woman to go out with him. Or did she get him to go out with her? He wasn't sure who picked whom up, but he didn't care, tonight he would enjoy whatever the world threw at him.

Angela leaned forward on the bar, casually looking at the menu as she waited for their drinks. Will took a breath, walked up behind her, turned her chair to face him and placed his right hand on the side of her face, lifting it towards his. He pressed his lips to hers, kissing her gently. He felt her smile as he pulled away which only served to broaden his own grin. Seeing the positive reaction to that first kiss, he cupped her face in both hands and kissed her again, this time more passionately, his tongue rubbing her lips heightening the giddy sensation she felt before finally entering and exploring the rest of her mouth. As they gave in to the moment, their tongues lightly caressed each other and, as she gently sucked the tip of his tongue in her lips, he could feel himself getting breathless. He pulled back and began to place little kisses around her mouth, grazing his teeth over her bottom lip, he felt her giggle softly with pleasure. Reaching up to place her hands on the back of his neck, she mused his hair and pulled him a little closer, not wanting the moment to end. She noticed Will's hands had found their way around her back, one was gently caressing the nape of her neck, sending a wonderful tingling through her body and the other holding on to her tightly, his thumb tracing a figure of eight pattern around the clasp of her bra. Angela could feel her heartbeat pick up with the passion and felt Will's heart beat strongly in his chest; it was a nice feeling to know she had such an effect on the guy. Finally, the kissing became less furtive and they lingered as their lips met for the final time.

As they parted, he rested his forehead against hers, closing his eyes, saying under his breath, "I want you." Angela titled her head a little and placed a soft kiss on his nose, "Ditto."

Will held her tightly for what seemed like forever, but was in reality only a minute, before kissing the top of her head and sitting back down on the stool next to her. They looked at each other for a few seconds before beginning to laugh, Will noted her wonderful girly giggle, smiled to himself, slowly shook his head from side to side and took a long draw from his glass.

Half an hour later they were in a cab driving towards Will's apartment. He felt a warm sensation pulse through his body as she placed her hand gently on his thigh, smiling her turned to her and placed his hand on top of hers, lacing their fingers together.

As the apartment door closed behind him he glanced at Angela who smiled back, "So, Mr Gardener, what do you want to do now?"

"I want to kiss you," he replied closing the gap between them and gently moving her backwards so her back was pressed against the wall. She let her purse drop to the floor as he rested his hands on the plaster behind her and kissed her, forcefully yet passionately, feeling her groan with pleasure as his lips moved from her mouth to her cheek to her neck. She moved her hands upwards and pulled at his jacket, he shrugged it off his shoulders and threw it to the side. Will put his arms around her and began to move her away from the wall and towards the bedroom.

The restraint he showed in the bar was long forgotten as he pulled at the zipper at the back of her dress, moving his hand inside the fabric he teased it off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor. She stepped out of the crumpled garment and he took in the sight before him. Her pale skin highlighted the dark blue of her silk underwear and felt his breathing quicken. She moved her hands to his belt, undoing the buckle and the hook fastening before moving down to unzip his pants.

She pushed him back onto the bed and straddled him, leaning forward to pull up his white t-shirt. He acquiesced and held his arms up as she pulled it over his head, planting soft kisses on his exposed chest. Moving down, she let her lips linger over his boxer shorts, feeling his erection beneath. She slid her hands under the waistband and pulled them down with Will kicking them off over the end of the bed.

"Wait, do we need…?" Will questioned, looking down.

She giggled as she licked the centre of her top lip with her pointed tongue, knowing exactly what he meant, shaking her head "No, everything's taken care of," she replied.

"Good to know," he said through a smile, as he planted a row of kisses down her neck, making her quiver with anticipation.

Angela lent forwards again, moving her wet lips slowly up his neck to behind his ear, smothering his skin with soft pecks before his mouth grabbed at hers, furtively moving his tongue against hers and making her gasp with pleasure. Slowly, she pulled away and traced kisses down his chest, past his groin and onto the soft skin of his inner thighs, he took in a quick breath as he felt a warm sensation emanate through his lower body. She looked up and met his gaze before taking him in her mouth, moving up and down slowly, twisting her tongue around his shaft knowing she was pleasing him. She started to lick quickly, pulsating him with the edge of her tongue before taking him as if she was eating an ice-cream, her tongue moving over the entire surface in a steady rhythm that made him moan quietly with pleasure. Knowing she wanted to leave him crying out for more, she moved to kiss his toned chest, working her way back up his body. Before she reached her destination, she felt his strong arms on her, flipping her over so that he was on top, locking his lips to hers and gently entering her. He moved slowly, stimulating her senses, Angela felt herself throb as his initial shallow thrusts gave way to a deeper, intense presence that sent a warm sensation through her body.

...

Angela opened her eyes and groaned quietly as the bright morning light streamed into the bedroom. She turned over and was surprised to find the other side of the bed empty. Sighing lightly, she sat up and listened: silence. She stood up and found Will's discarded shirt, pulling it on she instinctively rolled up the sleeves as she walked into the hallway. Chuckling to herself as she remembered him doing the same thing last night.

Will was sitting cross-legged on the floor in his office dressed in black boxers and a white t-shirt. He had old lever arch files and notebooks around him; one file was open on his knee as he flicked through the pages. Gently lowering herself to the floor behind him, she kissed the side of his neck asking, "What you doing?"

"Morning," he responded, turning to kiss her full on the mouth. "I was looking through my papers from law school, seeing what I'd written when your dad came to talk."

"Uh-huh, did you find anything?"

"Yeah, some stuff about working for the UN, being ethical yada yada, but what is interesting is that I wrote about you," he said teasingly.

"What?"

"Well, not really about you, I remember he mentioned that he couldn't go to the traditional after speech dinner as he was meeting his daughter, who was a student at Johns Hopkins, but he invited the class to join him for a drink later in the evening."

"Yeah."

"And some guy asked if his daughter was hot, he said something like he thought she was beautiful, but he was biased, really dealt with the heckling well."

"OK, so what exactly did you write down?"

"Daughter – med student – hot. The Tombs, 9pm." He chuckled, as she playfully slapped him on the back of the head. "I was all about brevity, plus, you are hot," he said, throwing down the file and taking her face in his hands, kissing her passionately. Moving his lips across her cheek and down her neck, he felt her moan as his hand slid under the loose shirt and caressed her right breast before grazing the delicate skin over her ribs that made her arch in pleasure. She ran her hand up his back to the nape of his neck, mumbling his name as she ran her fingertips seductively over his scalp. Feeling him tense against her, she added, "Let's go to the bedroom."

….

As he watched the elevator doors close he realised he still had the stupid grin on his face. He turned back into his apartment, picked up his coffee and went to sit on the sofa, thinking he would read through the case files in front of him before showering and heading into the office. It was when he finished his coffee that he realised he forgot to ask for her phone number and for the second time in twenty-four hours, branded himself an idiot. He also noted, sadly, that she didn't ask for his.

He sighed, looking forlornly at the empty mug. How could he be that stupid? How could he rectify the situation? He knew where she worked so he could go to the hospital and wait for her to turn up, no, that could be seen as stalking. He knew who her father was…no, he shut that thought straight down, he couldn't get in touch with him and ask for his daughter's number. He contemplated his next move as he went back to the kitchen to pour himself another cup of java. It was then he saw the familiar yellow square stuck to the coffee pot with 'Angela' and her phone number written on it. He laughed before clenching his fist in mock victory, "Thank you," he said out loud. It was the most grateful he had been in a long time and was so pleased he couldn't wait to call her up. He found his jacket on the floor the other side of the counter and put his hand into the inside breast pocket for his cell, ouch, he thought as he felt something pointy poke under one of his fingernails. He reached his fingers round his cell and removed it along with the offending cardboard. He recognised the Mercy logo and smiled. Turning the card over he saw the words, 'In case you didn't want any more coffee, A x,' he felt his heart beat a little faster and the grin on his face broaden.

A/N: In the next chapter Alicia will finally meet Angela. I just wanted to give a little backstory first.