"Are you kidding me?" said Judge Stephens, tucking into a large meatball sub at her desk.
"Both the federal and district attorney's office said there's not enough evidence for a separate trial on this," said Prosecutor Martin. "Which means we have to put it in this one."
"You don't have to put it anywhere. I decide what gets put in my court!"
"The defendant wants it to be presented. She has volunteered this information. Put her back on the stand; the Defence can open it, I'll cross-examine."
"We are presently in the Defence portion of the trial, Mr Martin. It is not time to present new evidence. The deadline for the evidence list passed months ago!"
"The Defence wants to do it!"
"The Defence wants to do it or the defendant wants to do it? Kim Wexler is a very intelligent operator - she could talk her way out of this in thirty seconds flat, but she won't need to because she won't bring it! She won't present it! The one who allegedly does, as you say, want to present it is the defendant herself, through some misplaced, misappropriate, misadventurous and thoroughly unhinged sense of guilt for her widowed sister. The only chance she'll have to present it is if she shouts it out in the middle of the closing speeches! Which if she does, I'll call her out of order and adjourn immediately! She won't get a chance to say it!"
"She was just on the stand yesterday! We just need to extend her time on the stand!"
"She took the stand, she was examined, cross-examined and re-examined. That's it. Over."
"The jury have a right to hear this new evidence!"
"It isn't evidence! It's a conversation! It's not even a conspiracy, it's not even an order, and the target isn't even dead! Why are you still here?"
"I just think justice would be better served-"
"Justice would be better served in you not ruining a three week-long trial by confusing the jury so much they won't be able to arrive at a decision! Do you wanna throw everything out and have to start it all again with twelve new jurors?"
Martin shrugged and looked hopeful.
"You do? Jesus Christ! You had your chance. The facts won't change a second time. Next time try the organ grinder, not the monkey! Get out of my office, I'm trying to eat my lunch."
...
"Mommy Mommy Mommy!"
"Oh, my darling. Oh, I've missed you so much." Skyler sniffed her daughter's hair and leaned into her like she was water in the desert. She knelt awkwardly on the cold floor of Marie's hallway and just held on.
Finally, Holly pulled back. "How do you feel, Mommy? Still yucky?"
"Ah…yeah."
"Can I play doctors with you?"
"Ok."
Holly placed a hand on Skyler's forehead and frowned in concentration. "I don't think you have a tempachure. But you need lots of rest and lemonade."
Skyler gave a half smile, her eyes in it at this time. "Yeah. That'd be good."
"Ok, come on!" Holly took Skyler's hand and began to lead her along the hallway. "Nurse! Nurse! Where are you?"
Marie appeared at the edge of the kitchen, a look of apprehension on her face. Skyler avoided her eyes.
"There you are, nurse! Can you bring us some lemonade please? We're going to rest. Come on, patient!" Holly led Skyler back along the hallway in the other direction. "You can use my bed. Do doctors get to sleep with their patients sometimes?"
"No, not really."
"Just like a nap?"
"Normally doctors don't do that; little girls can take naps with their mommies, though."
"Ok, yeah, that'll be good cos I haven't had my nap today."
...
Flynn looked at his coffee, and then at his aunt and then back at his coffee. "Wow," he said quietly. "N-no wonder she feels so bad."
Marie gave a barely perceptible nod.
"Poor her." He gave a long sigh and fiddled with his hands. "So…h-how did you leave things?"
"She just really wasn't well. So I stayed over just because I was worried about her. And I've been here before, being worried about her at the same time as being mad at her, but I forgot how hard it was. I just don't know what to do because… because how can I just let that go, I just…"
"Yeah."
"I've been through all this before. I don't wanna do it again, it was hard enough the first time! What if I can't do it again?"
"You mean…b-being mad at her?"
"I mean her being culpable for Hank's death! Before, I just talked myself out of it over time, I just – I had to, because we can't function as a family if I blame her for that! But she actually told me, she actually said, that she told Walt to kill somebody – I'm sorry, I know I'm not meant to talk to you about any of this, it's putting too much on you, I'm sorry, but you know what? It's putting too much on me! She is putting too much on me!"
"W-what do you mean, putting on me? O-of course you can talk to me."
"Yeah, guess who told me not to talk to you? Skyler."
Flynn opened his mouth, and shut it again sullenly.
"I mean ages ago, not… not… she didn't say that recently."
"Ok, w-well I became an adult recently, so you can definitely talk to me, and sh-she does now, too."
"No, she doesn't."
Flynn sighed.
"I've been trying to figure out what Hank would think about it but I just can't figure it out… But he was a cop, for Christ's sake - how could he be ok with any of this?"
"H-he was a cool guy. And a nice guy."
Marie frowned and fiddled with her coffee cup.
"It's not her fault that he died, though, it – I-I mean, i-it…"
"It's not? Can you please explain to me how you came to that conclusion, because I've done this before, I know I've done this before: I talked myself out of it."
"Sh-she just must have been so scared. I – wow – I-I can't even imagine how scared she must have been, to be pushed to…to say that."
"That makes me feel sorry for her. I can do that, I'm sorry for her now, I was sorry for her last night, but it doesn't mean I can forgive her."
"You don't have to forgive her."
"I just can't… I don't know what I would do without her." Marie began to cry. "And that was always the worst thing, what felt the worst wasn't all the other horror that happened, it was that she betrayed me!"
"She didn't, though. Sh-she had a weird way of doing it, but she has s-said over and over again that she wanted to…protect us."
"I've been through all this before. I don't wanna do it again."
"H-How did you…talk yourself out of it before?"
"Before? When I thought he died because she refused to talk to him?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I… I got as much information as I could, I mulled it round and round in my head over and over and over and over and over, I asked her to tell me everything and I thought she had done. And I worked through everything really gradually, it was a gradual process, and I think it was connected to my overall acceptance of Hank's death, because one day I just realised that he would've died anyway. Even if she had talked to him, it wouldn't have been enough because she barely knew anything. So he still would've gone after the money in To'hajiilee. He still would've died. When I realised that I cried a river, but it enabled me to forgive her."
"Didn't Dad only bury his money a-after Uncle Hank found out about it?"
"Yeah. Before that it was in a self-storage locker hired by..." Marie scrunched up her eyes.
"Mom."
Marie nodded. "I'm worried that when I let it go before... I did that because I really felt that I had to, because I just didn't know what I would do without her. My life was worse without her, and I just - I didn't wanna do that, I didn't... my entire life she's always been there, and..." Marie began to cry. "And you guys as well – if I don't get along with Skyler, then I don't get to see you and your sister either, or at least not nearly as much as I want to, a-and that would break my heart, especially since I have noooobody else now. And now I'm worried, because that was all so horrible, that I just talked myself out of it! I figured out a way of dealing with it by seeing what I wanted to see and believing what I wanted to believe. Now I've just been slapped in the face by something that goes against all of that, and I'm worried that I was... reading it wrong all along. I was only seeing what I wanted to see. I was only seeing what I could bear to see."