A/N: Heyo, we are back after the weekend! Shorter than the last two with this update, but the next one is gonna be a doozy

I don't own pitch perfect.


The past three days have been rather calm for Aubrey. With Babel E&C temporarily held back, much of her focus has been shifted at helping Barden's beloved tenants find an agreement with Beca. They seem to want to trust her, especially with what she pulled off for their sake, but they do have a list of demands Aubrey's working to negotiate. Luke, despite being hospitalized, seemed to be the one working on looking for a new place, calling realtors on the phone and searching away on his laptop.

"You're working him too hard," Aubrey had told Beca the other day.

But Beca simply shrugged. "He volunteered," was all the answer she gave.

Uncle Chris on the other hand was busy reworking their current case, refusing to completely give up. They would need to make their closing remarks for the trial soon and, unless a miracle occurs or another star witness comes forward to help the families of the victim's of RDU-90, then this fight would be a losing one.

He had wanted to help out with the problem with Babel E&C, but Aubrey reassured him that her and their new consultant extraordinaire was enough.

Beca was dressed in her typical tailored suits – a blue silk button down paired with a light grey suit vest and pants this time, the look finished with a square chain loafer with heels that boosted Beca's height a little – as they marched into Babel E&C's main offices. She had been cryptic to Aubrey about the purpose of their visit, other than that she had a plan, and that Uncle Chris knew about it too.

"Just follow my lead," Beca said reassuringly.

"Okay, but what is the plan?" Aubrey pressed on as they made their way through the lobby, "Because despite Uncle Chris knowing us being here was part of the plan, he also doesn't seem to know what it is."

Beca waived the brown envelope she was holding up in front of Aubrey and winked. Aubrey had wanted to follow up on what's in it but she wasn't given any time by Beca. Instead, Beca Bella went straight to the receptionist, asking for a meeting with the director of the company.

"But the director isn't expecting your arrival," the receptionist said, confused.

"Oh, but I insist, see, we're about to become the best of friends," Beca replied. "Just tell him his pals from the Beale and Posen law firm are here with a Bill of Indictment with regards to the Treblemakers attacking the residents of Barden Tower."

The receptionist nodded and reached out to the director's office immediately. It didn't take long before they were allowed to head on in.

Aubrey eyed Beca suspiciously. Once inside the elevator, she voiced out her thoughts. "You can't have gotten one without me or Uncle Chris, you don't practice here. What are you up to?"

"Oh, will you just trust me," Beca then said with a grin. Aubrey wasn't sure what to make it. She tried to dig into Beca Bella, but came up mostly empty. As if anything about her that she personally didn't want anyone to know had been scrubbed off entirely. All Aubrey found was that yes, she was an Italian citizen, and yes, she was a lawyer. She's defended some of the rich and powerful in Italy on a few public cases, nothing too explosive of an exposé.

They soon found themselves in a conference room, it looked so modern and cutting edge that Aubrey thought it was completely devoid of heart. The table was some sleek futuristic metal design. The walls of the room were made of glass, the windows were naturally floor to ceiling glass as well. There were six screens to one side of the room that seemed to be embedded in the wall and that blended well to allow for either a split screen option or let them easily blend into one. The swivel chairs that surrounded the table were some weird edgy designs that they were uncomfortable to sit in.

It didn't take long for Beca and Aubrey to wait until Tom Johnson, Babel E&C's young director, emerged into the room with slick black hair and slimy smile. Aubrey wasn't so sure what it was but there was something about Tom that really wanted to make her punch him in the face. Maybe he just had one of those faces. Maybe.

He offered his hand to them to shake, "Good morning, ladies. What can I do for you?" he said as he did, but neither Beca nor Aubrey stood up to greet him and shake his hand. Instead, they merely spared him a glance and scoffed. Aubrey took notice of their mirrored actions that she was growing to like Beca, not that she would admit it.

The two of them sat at one end of the meeting desk, Aubrey by the helm, and Beca at her side, near a window. Tom elected to take the seat next to Beca and turned his seat such that he was facing the two of them. "I hear something about a Bill of Indictment?"

Beca nodded. Aubrey shifted her focus solely on Beca as she coolly slipped the envelop over to Tom. In response, Tom quirked his eyebrow at her, before delicately picking up the envelope and unfastening the lock it had on it. Tom then let out an amused chuckle as he looked inside the envelope, before showing it to both Beca and Aubrey. "Empty," he said still chuckling. "What do you make of me, a fool? Attorney Posen and… I'm sorry, I believe my receptionist mentioned your name, but it slips my mind, what is it again?" he then said, addressing Aubrey herself and then Beca.

"Beca," Beca naturally responded with a knowing smile. "And yes, you are quite the fool."

Tom looked at her with a mixture of disbelief and annoyance. Aubrey was doing the same thing at the moment, albeit for different reasons. She was very much close to strangling Beca at the moment for infiltrating enemy camp at a disadvantage.

What is this munchkin thinking?

"Between the two of us, you're the fool. If you'd just accepted the payment we've offered and left Barden Tower, we wouldn't have any of this mess. Let me give you this final warning, especially since I can't be held accountable for whatever the Trebles deem fit to do to get the job done," Tom then said.

Beca hummed. "Oh, no, I am going to hold you accountable," she said thoughtfully. "The Bill of Indictment would be impossible to get a hold of by either Attorney Posen or Attorney Beale, I'm sure your people would certainly make it hard at least. But the threat of one did get us in to see you, correct?"

Beca then took out her phone, held it up to Tom, and proceeded to start swiping past documents and pictures to show Tom who looked terrified. He took a visible gulp before leaning back to his sit, his skin growing pale, just before Beca showed the same thing to Aubrey.

Aubrey looked at Beca amazed. The images of the documents she took were detailed accounts of bribes his taken from real estate agents and developers, among other incriminating information such as compromising images of him with his mistress, the young receptionist of the very building they were.

Beca then stood up with a smirk on her face. "I'm sure you know what this mean, right? I hand this over to the police and you're done," she said, walking around Tom and stopping once she stood behind his seat. "Not to mention, your wife would definitely clean you out with that inevitable divorce," Beca then said, placing both her hands on his shoulder.

"The bribes, I understand. But cheating on your wife who's pregnant is a step too low, only the scum of the earth does something like that. Not to mention with your receptionist who's fresh out of college…" Beca tutted and shook her head, tightening her grip on his shoulder. Beca leaned in closer to him, "Oh, that's right, I know where they live – both your wife and mistress – and normally, this is the part where I tell you that if the threat of going to jail doesn't scare you and you don't cooperate with us, well, I can pay a visit to your family and be sure you never see them again, but I'm not going to do that to a pregnant lady and a naïve ingenue. So, I'll make you an offer you can't refuse, how about it?"

Tom nodded. This prompted Beca to go on, "You don't demolish the building,"

"But –" Tom started to protest but Beca shushed him.

"I know Babel won't accept that, I'm not an idiot, Tom. Or do you think I'm an idiot?" Beca asked and Tom vehemently shook his head. "Good. Two months, that's all I ask. Give us at least two months to sort things out. And, when your bosses do decide it's time to make another attempt to tear down Barden Tower, you tell me, since we're such good friends and all."

Tom nodded, his head bobbing like one of those cat and dog displays with a bobble head. "But what if I still can't stop them? What if they use the same evidence you have on me to force to go through with it?"

"Do you know what we do in Italy, to scum of the earth like you?" Beca asked and once again Tom visibly gulped and shook his head. "We usually used them as fertilizers in our vineyard. You know what I mean right? You're a smart boy, I don't need to explain."

Tom once again channeled his inner bobble head and agreed to Beca's terms. Beca gave him a pat on his shoulder before concluding their meeting, seeing herself and Aubrey out.

Aubrey for her part wasn't sure what to make of it, processing what she just saw on their way back to where she had parked her car.

"Well, you at least bought us time, though I don't appreciate the scare tactics. We're not in Italy, we don't go about things that way," she said once they were outside the building.

"You're really telling me that corporations like Babel don't bribe or threaten their way to the top? I don't practice law here, but that doesn't mean I can't be the one who gets her hand dirty to fight people like them."

"How did you manage to get the dirt on him in such a short period of time?"

"I have my methods," Beca replied.

"Alright them, what's next, godfather?" Aubrey joked.

Beca gave out a nervous chuckle at the question, a reaction that didn't escape Aubrey's attention at all. She was spared having to answer Aubrey, however, thanks to Aubrey's phone ringing. The caller? Atlanta's correctional facility.

"We'll be there shortly," was all Aubrey gave as a reply to the message. "Would you mind making a pit stop before we head back?" she asked Beca. "I client of mine was rushed to the hospital, I just wanna see how he's doing."

Beca looked curious at what the call was about, she could tell, but Aubrey figured she could spare her the details until they get to the hospital. Thankfully Beca agreed without giving it much of a thought.

Beca for the most part of the drive to the hospital partially looked bored. She'd comment a thing or two to Aubrey about still having time for other clients despite Babel being the pain that they are and making a to-do list of things they should look into from a legal perspective as part of the trial. She seemed disinterested when Aubrey explained that she had a client from a case that sparked her interest a few years ago, although technically he wasn't Aubrey's official client. She was pushing for a retrial, believing that the legal counsel from the defendant's side was the definition of incompetent and Aubrey believed she could do a better job. "It's one of the reasons I ended up working for Chloe's dad. To help people who actually need help from competent lawyers. Unfortunately, he's stubborn as a mule, ready to accept a punishment befitting a crime he didn't do anyways."

Beca nodded. "And we're in the hospital because?"

"Well, he's sick. He's got stage 3 pancreatic cancer. It's a surprise they even caught it at stage 3."

"So, you're trying to help out someone who's dying and doesn't want your help anyways?"

"I know stage 3 for this cancer is difficult to treat, but difficult is not impossible," Aubrey argued back a little annoyed. One minute she's starting to like Beca, the next she's left frustrated by her lack of concern for others. The girl was giving her a headache.

Beca sighed. "You can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped, Aubrey," was all she responded with. They soon arrived and rushed through the ER, Aubrey spotting her would-be client, Dr. Robert Mitchell, as the ambulance carrying him along with the personnel from the correction facility had only arrived at the hospital a few minutes before they did.

"Attorney Posen, why are you here?" Dr. Mitchell greeted her with a weak smile.

"I asked the guards at the prison to notify me if anything happened to you. I know you haven't agreed to me taking your case yet, but this is part of my pitch, you know."

Dr. Mitchell gave out a weak laugh, Aubrey could only imagine the pain he was in. He had lost a lot of weight since the diagnosis, and she could swear he had gotten paler since she last visited him. His medication seemed to be taking a huge toll on him. The hand cuffs around his hand, attached to the hospital bed, looked a little loose thanks to the weight loss that Aubrey thought that if Dr. Mitchell wanted too, he could probably just slip his hand out of it and escape into the night.

"Just got better, okay?" Aubrey then said. "I want to reassure you at the very least that you're not alone," she added. Last she heard, Dr. Mitchell, a former literature professor, had no other family members. He was all alone, with only Aubrey, and occasionally Uncle Chris who wanted to help Aubrey convince him for a retrial, visiting him in prison.

"Ah, by the way, my colleague here…" Aubrey then said, remembering that she was here with Beca.

Except, she was not?

Aubrey looked around at her suddenly absent companion until she saw Beca lingering by the glass doors of the ER's emergency, and unreadable expression on her face.

"Looks like she slipped by, probably went to the bathroom," Aubrey then said as an excuse.

Aubrey stayed by Dr. Mitchell's side until his doctors came to see him, deciding to keep him at the hospital for observation. She went on to give additional instructions to the staff to reach her in case of anything before rejoining Beca by the entrance.

She was about to ask her why she's acting strange but Beca didn't give her the chance to speak. "Who's paying for all of this? His care?" she asked with a schooled expression and expression. "I doubt the prison he's in can afford the right care he needs. Speak to whoever you need to speak to, just tell them to give him the best doctors, the best treatment plans, whatever he needs. I'll pay for all the expenses."

Aubrey was surprised, to say the least, about Beca's declaration. But once again, Beca didn't allow her room for any questions. She didn't even care to hear from Aubrey any full explanations to why Dr. Mitchell was incarcerated in the first place. Gone was the Beca Bella who was so full of confidence and so sure of herself. She sounded too cold and detached, unable to look Aubrey in the eyes, or for that matter, at Dr. Mitchell in the distance.

Beca excused herself, asking her to go on ahead as she decided to check in on Luke as well, leaving an astounded Aubrey behind.

What the hell was that about?


Theo was doing his best to keep it in, conceal, don't feel. The whole incident with the missing researcher has him starting to feel anxious yet again for a trial that he thought was already in the bag.

He was only partly listening to Pieter explain to him over lunch the new, tall blonde that was with him was. There was something about how she was the assistant DA but had recently resigned from the position because Pieter had poached her from the office with a better deal, one of which was a chance to not work for an incompetent idiot who thinks himself to be above her.

Her name was apparently Luisa, and those in the DA's office had grown to call her the Kommissar due to her commanding presence and authoritative tone that threatened even the insecure district attorney.

She started talking about how she's thankful for the opportunity and how she was promising to take care of the situation at hand as her first task.

"Good," was all that Theo said in response. She looked fierce enough, he was hoping that the situation would truly be handled. He couldn't afford a failure right now, the thought of the consequences that could come from it already had his stomach in knots. He could hardly even touch his food, excusing his poor appetite to be caused by his fury over the mishandling of the current situation at hand instead of the fear building inside of him.

Just a little bit more, and it will be over, he thought to himself. Just a little bit more and he'll stop breathing down your neck, and things will be back to normal.


Beca's head was pounding as she woke up from a night of heavy drinking with a drinking-buddy she had least expected. The had had a long day, what with the whole issue with Babel E&C being temporarily put on hold, buying them some time to sort things out with the tenants and the gold underneath the building, as well as Aubrey's unexpected side trip.

She didn't even want to think about the latter one. Beca didn't want to open that can of worms right now, not when she's had a bunch of other problems to deal with.

Perhaps, that's why she buried herself in work – that is figuring out Babel's ultimate goal with RDU-90, and understanding their motives to find a way to topple their plans – yesterday afternoon after she got back from her visit with Luke. Going through the documents that the Beale and Posen law firm had on the drug, Beca recognized a chemical compound serving as the active ingredient of their drug formulation that Babel left unnamed for proprietary reasons, or so they claimed. But Beca recognized it to be coisanic, a powerful narcotic. Don Fabio was once approached by a different family to peddle the drugs in the street of Milan, looking for protection. Enraged, he had them all shut down. Their business had mostly focused on money laundering and gambling after all. Narcotics was something he was wholly against.

With that knowledge in hand, she went to see Christopher Beale, who, in turn was also feeling a little frustrated with how the case was going. He only got that much angrier after Beca told him of her discovery. It didn't take much to figure out what Babel was up to after that. They wanted to get the FDA to approve the drug and lawfully distribute it to the masses, leading to widespread addiction to a new prescription that would undoubtedly make them a fortune.

To unwind, Christopher invited her and Aubrey for a drink that night in his favorite pub. But with Aubrey being busy, it only ended up being the two of them, and boy can Christopher Beale drink. Beca wasn't prepared to be outdrunk by him.

Fast forward to her terrible headache that morning back at her apartment. Most of the night was a blur, but Christopher Beale did see to it she made it home safe, as if he was looking after his own daughter. Alcohol does loosen the lips, so at least now Beca felt more comfortable in knowing that their opponent, his daughter, Chloe, truly wasn't a bad guy. Her instinct was at least right about that.

Chris talked about his daughter fondly, partly blaming himself for unwittingly pushing Chloe on the path she was on. While he was a dedicated attorney, he admitted that he may have been lacking as a father. Noble causes did, unfortunately, mean a life of financial struggles at times.

Beca had listened patiently and wondered if the daughter Chris still cherished is still there inside Chloe. If asked, Beca thought that the answer was yes, she could at least see that Chloe cared about her father, and likewise, her father cared about her. Stubborn pride from the two of them seemed to be getting in the way of effectively communicating with each other and sorting their issues.

Beca was pondering about making her own coffee or simply going out for a meal and a drink when her phone rang. Uncertain of who the caller was, Beca answered the call. To her surprise, it was Chloe Beale.

"Aubrey gave me your number," was the first thing Chloe said, reading the question in Beca's mind. "Well, I asked for it anyways. But um, if you're not busy, do you mind if we meet?"

Beca, curious, indulged her. "Sure, but would you mind giving me an hour or so? Message me the place, I'll meet you there."

"You don't sound too well," Chloe noted before she chuckled. "You didn't go out drinking with my dad, did you?"

"Maybe I did," Beca replied.

"Take two aspirins with a glass of water, that should help," Chloe then said knowingly, "and you have an hour. I'll text you the place."

Beca finished the call. The "enemy" was reaching out to her, and she couldn't help but wonder what for. Hoping to get something useful in beating Babel, Beca forced herself up, followed Chloe's advice, and started to get ready.

Preparing a cup of coffee while doing so didn't hurt either.

She couldn't show up a little less than impressive to meet Chloe Beale, after all.


Beca was far more simply dressed than Chloe was expecting when she saw her. She wore a simple white blouse that Chloe thought was still probably worth a few thousand dollars and a light blue suit ensemble, although the blazer was folded over Beca's arm at the moment, the weather a little bit on the warmer side. She wore a simple pair of loafers as well, sunglasses covering her eyes that Beca refused to remove until they were inside. Chloe chuckled, her assumption about the hangover seemed to be correct.

Although once inside the café Chloe picked, she wished Beca would put on the sunglasses back. At the very least to spare her from the judgmental look Beca was giving her over her Iced America, or Iced dirty water if she was going to use the term Beca gave her with her earlier comment about how the drink is called in Italy.

Chloe didn't waste any time in chatting her up, talking about the new lawyer that joined the firm with her commanding presence, her reputation, and even her quirky Zumba lunchtime routine. Beca's eyebrows furrowed with every detail that Chloe gave her. "And I should care about this because?"

"She plays dirty, Beca," Chloe noted. "She finds out your weakness and finds a way to use it against you when things don't go her way in a trial. Pieter wanted the two of us to work together on the Babel case but since the trial was about to wrap up anyways, I refused. It didn't get me fired but that damned valkyrie got me off the case. You're working against her now."

"Okay?" Beca replied. "Sorry but I don't really care about who's representing the opponent when I intend to win anyways."

"I don't think you understand how ruthless she is," Chloe warned.

"You're worried about your father?" Beca then realizes and Chloe nodded. Beca smirked, Chloe didn't need to say much for her to realize that there was something more to the trial going on. She was conflicted about this, and she knew the risk in case Beca read the unspoken thing between the lines that Chloe chose not to say – aka the missing researcher – but her father's safety was still above her job. The Kommissar was one to live up to her reputations after all and Chloe couldn't shake off the ill-omens she has been feeling since they met.

"I guess that means there is still hope after all," Beca thoughtfully said out loud.

Chloe sighed but chose not to humor her with a response. "He can be reckless sometimes," she chose to say instead. "Aubrey knows when not to push it, but my father has no self-preservation sometimes. He can't control his emotions when it comes to something he's passionate about and I'm worried he'd do something stupid. Aubrey's got a lot on her plate right now too. So, I know you might be new… and maybe that's even better of a reason because you have your own motives for doing this than some altruistic desire to help people… but please just keep an eye on him for me? He won't listen to me."

Beca looked thoughtful for minute and sipped on her espresso, "I can't promise you anything, but I'm not one who likes doing something too risky either. Babel is our shared enemy, but I'd like to resolve matters as easily and wrinkle free as possible, that much I can tell you. I do wonder though… Your heart is in the right place, Chloe, otherwise, you wouldn't have called. So why don't you just work with him instead? Work on your issues and talk. He's still your dad, and I can tell, he's still very much fond of you."

"I…" Chloe started to say but then stopped herself from talking. Beca wouldn't understand, how could she? Things between her father were complicated and someone like Beca so far removed from the plight of ordinary people like them couldn't possibly comprehend it.

"A good lawyer doesn't always make the most money, you know?" Beca commented as she set down her now empty expresso cup and coaster. She got up and picked up the blazer she hung on the back rest of her seat while they chatted, one finger hooked inside its collar as she carried it over her shoulder

"Aren't you one?" Chloe asked confused by Beca's comment.

Beca stopped a few steps away and shrugged before turning to face Chloe. "Yeah," she responded, "Good in the sense of abilities. Like I said, I'm a villain. But I don't think you're one. Think about it," Beca went on to say before going on ahead leaving Chloe deep at thought, Beca's parting words lingering in her mind.


A/N Pt 2: This chapter could have been longer but it would have been one hell of a rollercoaster ride for one update. So, I split the original chapter I outlined into two.

I wonder what's gonna happen next? Who can decode the mysterious Up Next hint?

Also, wonder who Theo is afraid of? Hmmm…

UPNEXT: BANG! PITTER-PATTER! CRASH!