Legally Binding
When Lilah Morgan was in the courtroom, she felt like a god.
Of course, it helped that she had an extensive vocabulary of legalease and wasn't afraid to use it to disarm, stun, or just effectively confuse her opponents. There were times when even judges looked at her sideways, in that 'is this woman kidding?' sort of way. There were few, if any, lawyers at Wolfram and Hart (or any other firm, for that matter) that could keep up with her knowledge of laws and her complete willingness to exploit them. Lilah rarely set foot in a courtroom since she had been transferred to Special Projects, but when she did, she came to win and undeniably knew that she would.
She smiled, her heels clicking evenly against the marble flooring as she headed to the ladies' room. She'd decimated the prosecution's only viable witness on the stand moments earlier, and though it gave her satisfaction to make a seventy-year-old man cry in public, it also left her with an inexplicable emptiness in the pit of her stomach. Nothing a six-inch grilled chicken sandwich from Subway wouldn't fix. Maybe she'd go for broke and add tomatoes, too.
Lilah stepped in front of the clouded mirror above the sink, and turned the water on. She let it run until it was verging on too hot before placing her French manicured hands under the stream. The sickly sweet scent of liquid pink soap filled the air as she pumped it out, rubbing her hands together briskly.
"Doesn't water generally melt your kind?"
The dryly bitter voice coming from behind her belonged to a well-built blonde she'd seen conversing with the prosecuting attorney earlier. Lilah rinsed her hands off calmly, smiling at the woman's reflection in the mirror. She grabbed two rough brown paper towels and turned towards the woman.
"Detective Lockley, isn't it?" Lilah's voice had an eerie, serpentine quality to it. Saccharine-coated and syrupy, like melted lollipops found in the bottom of baby's carseat.
Kate Lockley stood firmly as the defense attorney looked her up and down, grazing over her thick-soled black workboots and the men's flannel shirt she wore over a plain white tee pointedly.
"A woman of your stature should really consider a pair of heels," Lilah said sweetly. "Being feminine isn't against the law, is it?"
Kate glared back unwaveringly. "Not last I heard. But serial murdering is, and that's why I won't sleep until your client is behind the thickest bars the California penal system has to offer."
Smile still in place, Lilah tossed her paper towels into the metal garbage can and looked at her. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're referring to, Detective. My client had neither the means nor the opportunity to murder anyone."
"He did have the motive though, didn't he? Maybe I should bring up the fact that he murdered those children in a ritual sacrifice to the Goddess Yeska in exchange for immortality."
Lilah smirked and stepped closer to the adamant blonde. "Maybe you should. I'm sure that all those psychiatric evaluations you'll have to go through will take longer than this case, and having you out of my way would be very helpful in speeding things up so that my client can return to work. After a public apology from his accusers, of course."
Kate, unused to having anyone in her personal space, much less someone evil, finally faltered. "That won't happen."
Lilah reacted with a display of Victorian shock, hand to the chest. "It won't? Oh, well, okay then." She leaned closer, almost close enough to kiss the other woman, and spoke firmly. "My client will not spend one minute behind bars. However, should you continue to harass us, I'll make sure you do."
The cop's eyes fluttered slightly, or maybe it was a trick of the light, but Lilah knew she'd gotten to her.
"And what would my crime be?"
Lilah bared her teeth in what passed for a grin. "I never said anything about jail, now did I?"
Kate was thrown, and it showed. She refused to stand down, though, and Lilah found herself respecting that despite herself. "What's with all the animosity, Detective? It's just business. You can't fault me for trying to better myself as a corporate woman."
Just like that, Kate was calm and collected again. "I can fault you for being.. you know.. evil."
"I think you like it. Because if I'm evil, it means you get to be the good guy. And it makes everything black and white for you, instead of that pesky grey."
"Do you mean to imply that you're grey?" Kate quirked an eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest. "Because that would suggest that you have the slightest bit of good in you. What, you don't kick puppies on a daily basis and that makes you grey?"
"We're all grey, sweetie. It's just to what degree."
Kate frowned. "Frankly, the only grey I see in you is just along your hairline."
"Well, well. Look who's hailing from clever-clever land today." Lilah leaned impossibly close with a smirk. "Cleverness is so attractive, don't you think?" Before Kate could answer, Lilah had closed the space between them and pressed her lips against the blonde's. Stunned, Kate instinctually kissed her back, their tongues fighting for dominance, and she was left breathless when the taller woman pulled away.
"See you in court," Lilah said sweetly, walking out of the bathroom and leaving behind a very unsettled Kate.
Kate blinked a few times and walked to the sink to wash her hands, watching the water stream over her short, rough-edged fingernails as she mumbled to herself.
"Oh, what a world.."