Roger leans back in his chair, arms folded, and glares at Seth.

"So. Mr. Oliver. What seems to be the problem?"

Seth is seriously regretting his decision to get out of bed that morning. Along with every other decision that has led up to this moment.

"Um, well - it's my expert witness in the art forgery case. Sir. He cancelled. He's testifying in a different case. I guess they made him a better offer.

"And you couldn't convince him to stay on your case?" It is obviously a rhetorical question, judging by Roger's disgusted tone of voice. He picks up the Rolodex on his desk and shuffles through it until he finds a particular card, jotting down the number on a piece of paper and handing it to Seth.

"Here. Try her. She's good, she's local, and she owes us. We paid her way too much last time."

Seth takes the paper gratefully.

"Thanks. I'll call her now." He heads for the door.

"Oliver!" he turns.

"I...uh. I'm sure it goes without saying that I appreciate your discretion. About before."

"Oh...yes. Of course." Seth pauses, then adds, " And I'm sure it goes without saying that I appreciate your giving me the next terrorism case instead of handing it off to Leonard."

Seth realizes the second the words leave his mouth that he has made a grave error in judgment. He wishes he could take them back, but it is too late. Roger's grey eyes turn to ice. They bore into Seth's like daggers and his voice drops to an ominous rasp.

"I hope I didn't just hear an AUSA threaten to extort his boss using knowledge of said individual's personal life in order to gain professional advantage. Because that would most definitely be a reason for immediate termination. Not to mention possible legal action."

Seth swallows hard.

" Sorry, sir, it was just a joke."

"As previously established, Oliver, you are not funny."

Roger lets the words sink in for a moment before continuing.

"If I hear anything from anybody about anything you may have witnessed in this office today, I will know exactly where it came from. And I will be your enemy. You do not want me for an enemy. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir. Very. Thank you for the number."

Seth leaves Roger's office at a pace that, while not technically a run, is much quicker than his usual stride. Automatically he heads straight for Kate's office as he always does in times of stress. Her door is closed. He is about to open it, but catches himself in time and knocks carefully on the dark wood.

"Go away!"

He opens the door, enters, and collapses into the chair.

Kate is working busily on her computer and doesn't bother to look up.

"Interesting interpretation of the phrase 'Go away' " she observes.

"I just made Roger angry."

"Uh-huh," she continues typing, eyes on the screen.

"I went to his office and I...interrupted him."

Kate sighs.

"Well, people often do get angry when they're interrupted. In their offices. When they're busy. Especially when they're trying very hard to finish a brief before the end of the day. Maybe that's something you should think about avoiding in the future?"

"It was terrifying."

Seth's voice is shaking. Kate finally looks up from her computer and notices that her colleague is considerably paler than usual.

"Are you ok?Here, have some water. Do you want to talk about it?"

" I can't."

Kate shrugs. "OK."

She goes back to her work. Seth begins to pace nervously around the office.

"Stop that! You're making me nervous! What happened?"

Seth groans.

"I want to tell you! I want to tell you so much! But I can't, I can't do it! I- mmmfff."

Kate looks up to see that her colleague has plastered both of his hands to his mouth.

"Seth, you are behaving very bizarrely. Even more so than usual. Do you need me to call someone? Where are you going?"

Seth, hands still over his mouth, is heading for the door. He mumbles something through them that she thinks may be, "I'm going to buy a fish"and then is gone.

Kate stares after him for a moment, concerned. She shakes her head and grabs a lime-green post-it, scribbling a note to remind herself to Google "symptoms of a mental breakdown" later that evening.

"Insane," she mutters to herself before returning to the brief she is trying to finish.