Heroin and Vodka
Author's note: Hi guys. Finally, my exams are over. It was an arduous 2 weeks of preparation followed by a stressful week of the actual exams. Anyways, enough about that. My next exams aren't due till May. So, hopefully, I'll be able to push out quite a few chapters till then. I wanted to inform you guys that Season 3 will be coming to an end in a few chapters (3 at most). I will be taking a small break before I begin Season , and I wanted to thank you all for the continued support. So, I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own How To Get Away With Murder. Its plot and characters are the sole property of Pete Nowalk and Shonda Rhimes.
Chapter 25
All in all, it hadn't been one of the best weeks of Annalise Keating's life.
Her request for a grand jury investigation had been shut down abruptly after she had leaked an article regarding the unlawful practices of the Philadelphia D.A's office online.
She had come to know from Nate that Wes's missing body had been cremated. That had come as a blow to Annalise who then had to inform it to an equally distraught Laurel.
To top it all off, Connor had foolishly visited Denver in order to take the fall for everyone. On the plus side, he had discovered a secret burner phone which tied Denver directly to Wes's death. On the down side though, they had no way to prove it.
She could still recall his outburst at her a couple days ago.
Flashback
Everyone was gathered at Bonnie's place. They were going over their plan of action. Even Isaac was there as Annalise still had to figure out how to get Denver to stop his investigation into him.
Isaac was merely standing watching the proceedings as a bystander.
He sighed and turned to Annalise.
"We can deal with my problem later, Annalise. Right now you need to get the whole Wes situation sorted."
Annalise rolled her eyes.
She couldn't for the life of herself understand how Isaac could be so calm in situations such as this. The D.A was probably digging deep into Isaac's background right now, searching for any evidence that might incriminate him.
Annalise was about to tell him to shut up and let her do her job when she heard a disturbance.
"Tell them. They'll believe you." Micheala whispered to Connor, who was standing beside her.
"Shut up." Connor whispered back.
"What's going on?" Bonnie asked, overhearing the two. She turned to Micheala. "Micheala?"
"I'm just not feeling very well."
"What happened?" Asher asked, approaching Micheala and Connor. "Did you say something to her?" Asher asked, addressing Connor. "Because you can be an ass to me all you want but not to my lady!"
"Asher, I think you're probably reading into things." Oliver replied, standing up.
"He's not." Isaac spoke up. He had been observing the two, Connor in particular. There was something off about him. His instincts as a therapist were telling him that he was hiding something. It was something he was very deft at catching as frequently dealt with pathological liars in his field.
"Micheala, is there something you'd like to tell us?" he asked, softly so as to not intimidate the girl.
Micheala faced away from Isaac and turned her eyes to Connor.
"Just tell them." she whispered.
"Tell us what?" Annalise asked, impatiently.
"I think we should just give Connor some space." Oliver replied.
"Open your mouth." Annalise replied.
"Connor might have killed Wes." Micheala blurted out hurriedly.
A stunned silence followed which was shortly broken by Connor.
"I was at your house that night. I just came by to ask you about the investigation regarding Charles Mahoney. The door….was open."
He paused. He was sweating profusely and his eyes were bloodshot.
"I went into basement. That's where I found him. There… was a head wound on his forehead. He was bleeding. So I thought he was still alive."
"Did you check for a pulse?" Isaac asked quietly.
" H-He didn't have a pulse. Or perhaps he did. I just couldn't find one. His body was still warm so I started CPR. I tried to stop his bleeding. But…maybe it was too late."
"Why didn't you call 911?" Laurel demanded furiously.
"I didn't have my phone." Connor replied softly.
"There was a phone in the house." Asher supplied.
"You weren't there." Connor replied, his voice breaking. "You don't understand. I…I tried to save him."
"He wouldn't breathe so I kept doing the compressions. But then….there was like a big crack. A bone or rib or something—I-I don't know. Maybe that's what killed him. Maybe a bone punctured his lungs or something—"
"No. No. Connor. He was hurt before you got there. He was clearly bleeding." Oliver tried, in an attempt to calm him down.
"Hey, do not baby him right now!" Laurel replied angrily.
"Annalise, didn't Wes's autopsy state he died of smoke inhalation?" Isaac asked.
Annalise nodded.
"The D.A's office must have had the results altered to suit their needs." she replied grimly.
"He was just…dead." Connor sobbed, breaking down.
"Yeah, cuz you left him there to die." Laurel shrieked.
"There was gas. I smelt gas. Whoever killed him cut the gas line."
"You mean you cut the gas line!" Laurel shot back.
"Laurel." Isaac replied in a warning tone.
"I swear I didn't do this." Connor replied, almost begging.
"How are we supposed to believe you right now?" Laurel asked rhetorically.
"Look at him." Oliver pleaded. "Look how guilty he feels."
"Why are you just telling us this now?" Bonnie asked.
"Because he was afraid of this. That you would think he did it when the truth is he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Yeah. Maybe that's just what he wants us to believe." Laurel replied offhandedly.
"Will you stop attacking him? Please?" Oliver replied. "All of you have done terrible things. And you've asked me to believe you did it for the right reasons. Well, now you need to do the same thing for Connor."
"Yeah, he hated Wes." Laurel shot back.
"I didn't." Connor replied quietly.
"You blamed him for everything." Laurel shouted. She walked up to him until she was inches away from him. "You know what you need to do right now? You need to go and kill yourself. That's the one good thing you're going to do in your life. You're going to go and kill yourself, Connor!"
"That's enough, Laurel." Isaac shouted forcefully.
Everyone turned to face him.
"Don't you see the look on his face?" Isaac asked. "You don't need to tell him to kill himself because he's already considering it."
Startled, Annalise turned to him.
"What would you know?" Laurel replied.
"I know." Isaac replied, quietly. "I know that look. I've seen it on my patients. I know because…that was the same look I had seen often in my daughter's eyes. It was the same look… I had…when I lost her."
Everyone was quiet for a few moments after that. Even Laurel who had been furious a few moments ago, was at a loss for words.
Annalise turned to face Isaac.
"You don't think Connor's really…" she trailed off.
"Trust me on this, Annalise." Isaac replied grimly.
End Flashback
Oh, and Connor had been MIA ever since. Annalise strongly suspected Denver to be the one behind it. But honestly, she couldn't just barge into the D.A's office and accuse the D.A of unlawful withholding. At least, not without evidence.
She sighed.
"We're here." A voice spoke up, breaking her out of her thoughts.
It was Isaac.
Annalise sighed.
Isaac spotted the look on her face. He raised his hand and gently placed it on her's.
Annalise looked at him.
Isaac cleared his throat.
"You don't have to do this, you know?" he replied, softly.
Annalise shook her head.
"I've been running my whole life. Its time I got this over with."
Isaac nodded.
"If that's what you want." he replied. "Now. Take a deep breath."
Annalise nodded shakily and took in a deep breath.
"Now let it out." Isaac replied calmly.
Annalise let out the breath slowly.
"I'll be here. If you need anything, just call me." he replied.
The corners of her mouth twitched into a small smile.
Things between her and her therapist had been….awkward to say the best. Ever since the two had shared that kiss a week ago, things between the two had heated up. The tension between the two was so thick, you could cut it with a knife.
Yet, Annalise had never met someone like Isaac. The man had desisted from bringing up their…relationship (for a lack of a better term) in the light of everything else that had been going on. And yet, she was immensely thankful for his presence.
The man was quite unlike Sam. At first, she had been hesitant to initiate a relationship with her therapist of all people. She was quite aware of Sam's misdeeds and the man had kept her in the dark in regards to his true self for years.
But something deep within her heart told her that Isaac wasn't the type of person who would come to know her deepest, darkest secrets and betray her trust. She didn't know what made her think so. Perhaps, it was the way he always looked at her when they were in private. His gentle eyes always held a soft, warm look. She had never seen that look in Sam's eyes. Or at least, even if she had, she couldn't recall it in the aftermath of the fiasco that was their marriage. Or perhaps it was the way he always held her in his arms whenever she doubted herself.
Or perhaps, it was the way he smiled. It wasn't the type of cocky, lecherous smile he had often seen on Sam's face. It was a smile which expressed genuine warmth and kindness. Something which told her that he wasn't doing it all to get into her pants.
Without warning, she leant in and touched her lips to his. Isaac was surprised at first, but he soon began to kiss her back gently.
As much as Annalise hated to, she broke the kiss.
She looked up at him.
"We'll talk about this later."
Isaac smiled softly and nodded.
With a nod, Annalise left the car.
Author's note: Ok. I know it was short. This chapter rounded of at exactly 1892 words. But I promise the next chapter will be longer. Plus we have the 'relationship talk' coming up next chapter. Its going to be quite juicy. Also, if you guys have noticed, I have retconed Wes's death slightly. The reason for that will be revealed later in Season 4. Don't worry. It may seem inconsequential and unimportant and nothing but Denver's no-good doings, but it will (in a way) be the main focus of Season 4. Anyways, read and review.