Hello, my lovely readers. Haylijah drama and Marcel being in big trouble are the themes of this chap. On with the show…

Chapter 16: In Hot Water

Of all of the people Hayley worried about having to defend on a murder charge, Marcel Gerard fell to the bottom of her list, and it was a long list. Her hands were shaking as she sat in a spare-looking room. She waited for someone to bring Marcel to her. It would be okay. She kept telling herself that. This was a huge mistake. It had to be a mistake.

When a key in the lock rattled, Hayley straightened up and put on a brave face. Marcel did not need to see her looking like she felt. "He's all yours." The cop went to stand outside the door.

"Hey," Hayley said. She reached across the table to take Marcel's hand but then leaned back in her chair as she slid a pen onto her notebook. No touching. She did not need someone assuming she'd slipped him something.

"You have to get me out of here, Hales." Marcel looked hollow-eyed, dark circles rimming his dark eyes and a day's worth of stubble had grown in—and not the kind he wore just to be cute. "I can't be in here."

"I know." Hayley drummed her fingers on the table top. "Okay. So, you're set to be arraigned today. I'll make sure that court understands you're not a flight-risk, and that you have no priors. You'll be home before the end of the day."

"Yeah?" Marcel shook his head. "With the D. A. breathing down my neck. We all know that jackass is trying to get a seat in Washington. Let's make sure we take down the son of a prominent lawyer. Big headline in the news: Marcel Gerard convicted in slaying of Father, - Gerard, Co-Founder of Mikaelson & Gerard. That will be a real feather in his cap."

"The D. A. isn't working this case." Hayley swallowed. She did not enjoy delivering this piece of news. "Elijah is."

Blinking, Marcel slammed a hand on the table. "Elijah freakin' Mikaelson is prosecuting me! Are you kidding me!" he demanded, his eyes glowing with anger.

The cop who brought Marcel in, stepped inside the room. "Something wrong in here?" He eyed Marcel like Marcel had tried to attack Hayley.

Hayley shook her head. "No, officer. Everything is fine." She watched the cop, not liking this situation but knowing she could say very damned little. She wouldn't be the one to take the brunt of this jerk's irritation.

"Okay," the cop went back out, giving Marcel a long look.

Running his hands over his face; Marcel let out a bitter laugh. "This is some kind of joke. I have worked too damned hard to get where I am, Hales… I cannot become a statistic. Please?" A note of desperation entered his voice and Hayley wanted to hug him. She smothered the urge.

"I promise you, Marcel. We will get through the arraignment and we will get you out of here. Today." Hayley stared at her friend who nodded, his jaw locked.

~0~

"The state requests that the bond be set at one million dollars," Elijah said.

Hayley's brows shot upward. What the hell? "Your honor, the prosecutor's motion is ridiculous. My client does not make that kind of money. He's lucky to see that in two-four years."

Elijah tapped his fingers on the end of the prosecutor's table. "In fact, your honor, Mr. Gerard is set to inherit that amount and much, much more."

Hayley scoffed, placing her hands on the defense table. "An inheritance that is frozen until probate has finished their work. My client might find himself never seeing this so-called inheritance."

Chuckling, Elijah moved around his table. "And I am sure that the defense's client can find some way of liquidating some belongings to be able to afford the bail. We would prefer that a man who could so senselessly enter his father's home, and beat said father, a man who had a blood alcohol of 0.30. This person needs to not be walking our fine streets."

"We are not arguing the merits of the case yet!" Hayley cried, beginning to lose her temper. "These are allegations. Not facts. As I will prove in front of a jury, after one is selected. Until then, I would like to remind your honor that Mr. Gerard is an up-standing member of the community. He has never been convicted of a crime, let alone arrested. I only ask that a reasonable bail be ordered." She sent a searing look Elijah's way which he ignored.

The judge looked from Hayley to Elijah. "Both of you make good points. Seeing as Mr. Gerard has never seen a courtroom before, I will lower the prosecutor's request to five hundred thousand."

Hayley looked to Marcel. He inhaled before nodding. "Thank you, your honor," Hayley said. She took a seat before turning to Marcel. "You have half a million dollars lying around?"

"No." Marcel shook his head. "But I have some friends who might be willing to loan me the cash until next year."

"Nice friends?" Hayley watched Marcel roll his eyes. She wished she hadn't asked.

~0~

Later that day, Hayley stood outside the county jail with a bag and she bounced on the soles of her feet. Marcel came out in some wrinkled-looking pants and shirt. His jacket was thrown over his shoulder. Everything about him said he was a professional who had had a long, bad day. The hang of his head told Hayley his dignity would take time to heal from the previous night and this day.

"Hey." Hayley moved to meet him. "Are you…" Stopping herself before the word okay could come forth, she almost kicked herself when she saw Marcel's eyes lifted to meet hers. No. This was not okay. None of this was okay.

"I brought you some clean clothes. Now that I think about it, that was probably stupid because you want a shower. I would want a shower," Hayley realized she was babbling but could not stop herself as she rounded her car. "And food. You're hungry?"

Shaking his head, Marcel slid into the back of the car and pushed the seat back. "Sleep, Hayley. I just want to sleep."

"Okay." Hayley nodded. "So, we'll get you home and into bed."

"I don't want to go back there. Not tonight." Marcel opened his eyes to look at Hayley.

"Alright." Hayley nodded. "We'll go back to my place."

"As long as he doesn't show up." Marcel placed his jacket over his shoulders and closed his eyes again.

When Hayley looked back at her friend, she found he was fast asleep.

~0~

Seven hours later, Hayley sat on her couch. She could sleep here for at least a couple of nights until Marcel felt okay back in his own place. She studied an open case file. Marcel's case file. How the hell had they jumped from son calls in father's murder, to son killed father?

Shaking her head, Hayley blew out a breath and then picked up the glass of juice to her left. Her phone emitted a beep and she took hold of it. With a flick of her wrist, she flipped it over and saw Elijah's name. Sighing, Hayley slid the screen. "This is not a good time."

"I understand." Elijah stopped before he added. "I want to see you, again, Hayley."

"Probably not a good idea," Hayley replied. "We kind of violated twenty kinds of ethics codes when we were, you know, while working on the last case. You might not mind risking your career, but I mind risking mine."

Elijah took a moment. "Hayley, I cannot believe that my father is alright with your defending Marcel. You should recommend he change lawyers. You're too emotionally invested in this case, in him."

"Oh, so you think I cannot retain objectivity. Or you just want to get back in my pants?" Hayley snapped. Honestly, she wouldn't mind Elijah being in her pants at this moment. She felt a hundred kinds of frustrated. But she would not allow him to know that she felt that way.

"You think so little of me?" Elijah's voce took on an edge. "Unlike some of my brothers, I do not go about seducing women as an art form."

"Whatever you need to think of yourself to sleep at night." Hayley felt her hands shaking and she glared at the wall across from her. She needed to go for a long walk, or climb a mountain. Her stress levels were peeking. It was all Elijah's fault.

"Alright. Well, good luck with your case." Elijah hung up, and Hayley sat, looking at her phone in dismay. Maybe she took things too far.

Hayley not did have time to ponder her Elijah drama because Marcel decided to make his first appearance since they arrived.

"Hey!" Hayley called, kicking off the blanket covering her legs. She stood and offered her friend a smile. "Are you hungry, yet?" She did not know what else to do here. What did you do for a friend who was wrongly accused of murder? Throw them a party?

Rolling her eyes at her own ineptness, Hayley glanced at Marcel who shook his head. His eyes moved over her carpet. She could tell he was trying to think through something. Maybe what he saw when he found his dad? Or how they did not get along which might lead people to think that he had motive to kill his dad. Or that he was Mr. Gerard's sole heir. Or he might be thinking about peanut butter.

Marcel groaned and crossed the room. Flopping down, he placed his hands over his face. "Look, Hayley, I don't know what I want." He stopped talking and then dropped his hands to his knees. "No. That's not true. I do not want to end up on trial and end up having some fool playing me in a TV movie produced, directed and written by freakin' Ryan Murphy!"

"It would definitely be a multi-part series. Oh? I wonder who will play me." Hayley joked.

For a moment, Marcel just stared at her before they both began to laugh. "Shit. This is crazy."

"I know." Hayley ran a hand over her arm. "Just try to think positively. You know I will not allow you to end up in prison."

"But I look so cute in orange," Marcel retorted, finally lightening up. "What do you have to eat? Crackers? Fruit Loops?"

"Bagels…" Hayley paused. "I think." She hurried over to her fridge. Opening it, she surveyed the inside of the fridge. "Half a bagel and a Pop-Tart."

"Hayley, you need to learn to shop." Marcel got up and came to stand behind her. "What's that?"

Brows rising, Hayley reached into the back of the fridge, "Chinese?" She opened the lid and took a quick sniff before she gagged. "Nope. Not edible."

"Good. Let's go shopping. Doing something normal will help take my mind off this joke my life became less than twenty-fours ago." Marcel waited while Hayley slipped her feet into her sneakers, grabbed her purse and her phone. "What do you need? Let's see? Everything."

"Ha-ha," Hayley retorted, rolling her eyes. "How long do you plan on staying with me? A month? Because anything longer than three days and you will be helping me pay for the groceries."

"Duly noted." Marcel chuckled. "And there is no way I could stay in this little hole in a wall you call a home." He gave one of the walls a look of mock-disgust which could only be rivaled by his actual disgust for her home.

"Let's go." Hayley opened the door and they entered the hallway. They managed to get downstairs and to Hayley's car without running into anyone with a camera. One advantage of no one knowing that Marcel was staying with Hayley, so far. She wondered how long that would last and how bad the press coverage would get.

Unlocking her car door, Hayley slid behind the wheel and Marcel got in beside her. Shoving her key in the ignition, she turned the car on and then backed out and into the street. So far, so good. "Music?" she inquired.

Marcel nodded, his eyes on the sky above. Flicking the radio on, Hayley felt her body stiffen when a news story came on. "Just this morning, Marcellus Gerard, only living son of - Gerard was arraigned for the murder of his father…"

Hayley moved to turn the station when Marcel's hand darted over and caught it. "It's good we know what they're saying. Maybe we can ask for a change of venue."

"Where would you want to go?" Hayley asked him, changing lanes and heading to a grocery farther from her little home. Most of the places close by sold junk food and heat-and-serve items.

Shaking his head, Marcel blew out a breath. "Don't know. I do know I do not want to end up in jail. Imagine this face in a prison!" He turned to look at her. "Plus, my dad got some big breaks for some very bad people and they have friends on the inside who might want to kiss up to their bosses by coming after me."

"Thanks. I did not feel pressure before." Hayley rolled her eyes and pulled into the lot of a grocery she rarely used. She pulled her keys out and tossed them in her purse before getting out of the car.

Together, Hayley and Marcel made their way toward the grocery. The doors swished open and a cool breeze met them. No one looked up and screamed. "There's the killer!" So that was a plus.

"Cart?" Marcel said at the same time that Hayley moved to grab a carry-thingy.

Looking from the thingy to the cart, Hayley sighed. Of course. They would need a cart. She was so used to shopping for herself, alone, that she could not wrap her mind around needing anything more. "Right." She watched Marcel free a cart from his family of carts and stroll over to her. Yes. He needed to do something routine.

"So, what are we getting?" Hayley asked as Marcel headed for the aisles. They seemed limitless. Maybe they should have gone to one of those stores with those huge containers of things you need. That way Hayley would not have to go shopping for the next month.

Shaking his head, Marcel grinned. "Just enjoy the experience of being like other people."

Hayley frowned. "I am like other people."

"No. You're not. You're even more obsessed with work that Bekah." Marcel gave Hayley a long look. "When is the last time you sat down and did not do something work-related? Read a book, just for the hell of it? Went for a walk? Bought a plant and kept it alive for more than a day?"

"I have hobbies. I go to the museum." Hayley retorted. "And I recently went to Las Vegas."

"Wow! So, you actually lived. For what, two-three days?" Marcel rolled his eyes. Opening a glass case, he withdrew a gallon of milk. Hayley had to bite her tongue to say she would not be using that before its expiration date. Then he moved the cart and pulled out a dozen eggs.

"What are you doing, making a wedding cake?" Hayley found herself saying.

Marcel turned to her. "Hales, people keep milk, eggs and bread. They're called staples."

"Ugh." Hayley folded her arms over her chest. "Then you'll want to get other things."

"I am going to get other things. As long as I'm staying with you, the least I can do is cook, right?" Marcel asked her, opening the dairy case to pull out a container of sour cream.

Sighing, Hayley found Marcel stopping her from getting her essential food: potato chips, Pop-Tarts, sugary cereal, and alcohol. "What am I supposed to eat then?" Hayley demanded.

"How about this?" Marcel pointed into the cart at the chicken, tortilla bread, whole wheat bread, canned tuna, ranch dressing, two kinds of cheese, peanut butter and jam.

"Really?" Hayley shook her head as he picked up a container of granola. Then he moved to the fresh veggies and loaded up. Hayley's brain tried to work through how much this would be and her brain almost stopped working. "I can't afford all of this…" she said under her breath.

"Good thing I still have access to my bank account. Isn't it?" Marcel retorted with a light-hearted grin. He moved to stand in line.

Hayley huffed out a sigh. "Fine. But you had better eat most of this food. 'Cause there are starving people all over the planet!" She sent Marcel a dark look.

Marcel nodded. "I'm aware." He picked up a copy of InStyle and began to peruse the pages while they waited to move.

After a very long time, to Hayley, the line moved and they found themselves crammed between a woman with an overflowing cart with a screaming toddler and a man who was arguing with his wife about whether or not he got the right toothpaste. Yup. They were in hell.

"If we had just picked up the essentials, we could already be back," Hayley grumbled, running her fingers though the bottom of her ponytail. She frowned, remembering she did not get a chance to take a shower yet.

"Hey. I know you." The loud man who had been arguing with his wife, turning to point his finger at Marcel.

Looking up from the magazine, Marcel glanced at the man before he shook his head. "No. Sorry. You must be thinking of someone else."

The man peered at Marcel. "Nah. I'm good with faces. You're one of those guys from one of those Chicago shows, aren't you? You know the ones, got those guys who think they're hot and shit." He laughed, looking at Hayley who felt like punching him when his eyes went down her top.

"Yeah." Marcel nodded. "That's me."

The man chuckled. "Thought you were on TV." He pushed his items down the line. "Stupid celebrities."

Shaking his head at Hayley, Marcel went back to the magazine.

As they moved closer to the checkout the kid who was bagging the groceries' eyes got big and his jaw dropped. "Man!" Now Hayley's stomach dropped. No. "I know you."

"Yeah. He's that cop from the Chicago shows." The loud man said. "Or is it the firefighters?" He turned to Marcel. "Doctor?"

Placing the magazine on top of their items, Marcel offered a quick smile. "I'm big on putting out fires. Remember to check the battery." He began to unload the cart.

Hayley watched the kid who kept staring at Marcel. This was about to get bad. Damn it. They were trapped between the loud guy and the lady with the screaming kid.

"No, man. He's the killer dude. Just got off on bail. Like today. Killed his dad for like money and shit. That's cold." The kid had stopped placing items in the sacks of Mr. Loud Mouth.

Mr. Loud Mouth turned to gawk at Marcel. "You what? No, kid. I'm telling you. He's on Law and Order…uh…sex stuff." He scratched his head.

"Law and Order: Special Victims Unit," the lady with the kid put in. "Never miss an episode. And this guy never showed up in one. That I would have paid to see." She eyed Marcel up and down.

Marcel began to look uncomfortable. Then the kid who bagged the groceries pulled out his phone. "Can I get a pic with you?" He moved in front of them to take a selfie when Hayley moved between them. "Hey, lady!"

"Don't 'Hey lady me!'" Hayley snapped. "You have no right to take a photo with someone who does not want their picture taken."

"There's no law against it!" The kid said. And Mrs. L&O Fan nodded her head.

"I'm going to head out to the car," Marcel said. He pulled up the hood on his jacket and eased behind Mrs. L&O's cart.

"Keys!" Hayley called, tossing the keys to him. "If anyone gives you crap, threaten to sue them for defamation!" she shouted.

"Thanks." Marcel headed for the doors.

"Defamation?" the kid cried. "Is that a joke?"

"Actually, you can't call someone a killer, unless they've been tried and convicted." Hayley said. She dug out a card from her purse and showed it to everyone.

"Cool." The kid nodded. "So, I've got a friend who might have been smoking something that might have been pot in a state that didn't legalize it, yet."

"Oliver, bag the groceries." The woman who was ringing up the items snapped, rolling her eyes.

Oliver ducked his head. His co-worker shook her head at him. "So, I once played a dead body on the firefighter one." She told the other shoppers…

Hayley just could not wait until they ended up in a trial and Marcel could not go anywhere. "That will be $78.80," the cashier told Hayley who thought about the twenty in her purse.

"Do you take cards?" Hayley asked, wishing Marcel were not in her car and that all of this crap had not happened.

The cashier pointed at the "Cash Only" sign and frowned. "Can I come back? I'll only be five minutes."

Oliver snickered. "What kind of lawyer doesn't have real money?"

Hayley offered him a scathing look. "Just let me go. I swear I will right back."

"Really?" Mrs. L&O snapped.

"Excuse me. Can I help?" Elijah came over and Hayley felt gratitude and irritation.

"Sure. Drop the charges," Hayley snapped.

"I can't do that." Elijah stood rigid.

"Fine. Then go away!" Hayley told him.

"It's like a real life episode." Mrs. L&O said in awe.

Elijah offered the cash to pay the bill and Hayley was free to go. Too bad her client could not say the same.

Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.

Answer to guest review:

Anna: Good. I know. Haylijah's going to have a real rollercoaster in the last half of this fic.

Peace,

-J