"I plead not guilty."
'Shit. Idiot.'
Her jaw clenches.
Frank glares at Reyes. "You hear that, witch? I'm gonna watch you burn right along with me. You hear me?"
"Counselor, please control your client." The judge snaps.
"Do you hear me?" Frank roars.
"I'm sorry, Your honor." Foggy yelps over Frank, who glares at Reyes. Evren places a threatening, and hopefully calming, hand on his forearm. His glare turns to her, and she glowers right back.
"Not now, Frank." She hisses.
"The defendant has entered a plea of not guilty." The judge says. Evren stares at Reyes, watching as her world falls apart in her mind, hidden behind a careful facade. "Due to the nature and severity of the crimes he is accused of, bail is denied. A court date will be set upon consultation with the DA's office. We are adjourned."
Reyes spins, stalking from the room. Frank tries to yank his arm away, but she only grips tighter, nearly feeling the bruises blossoming beneath her touch. She only lets go when everyone is gone except Karen and Foggy, who hurry from the room just as fast.
"You really going to take Reyes down like that?" Evren muses, stepping back. Frank snarls.
"That witch deserves it."
She nods. "I agree with you, but you just threw yourself into a whole bunch of shit. You have a good night, Frank. I have a lady waitin' for us." Rot makes an appearance, curling around her shoulder, neck, and tickling her jaw. The small tendril waves.
"Goodnight." He mutters as she flicks the lights off and shuts the door gently behind her. She leans her head against the door, smile hesitantly tugging at her cheeks as she pulls her phone from her pocket. Her thumb hovers over Matt's contact for a few seconds too long, seconds that feel like eternity, before calling Veronica, raising her phone to her ear as she moves down the hall.
"Ev. Hi." Ver chimes. "I haven't heard from you all day. I tried calling during my lunch break but you didn't answer."
"Sorry, Ver." Evren responds, settling into the elevator, pressing the button. She scowls, shutting her eyes and leaning against the side. "I was working. People always need someone to look after 'em, you know." She jokes, weakly. Veronica doesn't like watching the news. Veronica wouldnt like the idea of Evren spending time around Frank. "God, I hate elevators. How was work today?"
"It was good. Got bombarded by a bunch of stressed college kids. They were all in the same class, scrambling to get books to read for the upcoming test."
Evren scrambles from the elevator, catching Karen's wide eyes, instantly stepping after her and Foggy. "Sorry, Ver. I gotta go, something is going on with Fogs. I'll call back later, okay?"
"Yeah, okay." Ver says, disappointment leaking from her voice. Before Evren can say anything else, Veronica hangs up. Evren winces, hesitantly pushing her phone in her pocket.
'We'll apologize later.'
"What's going on?" Evren asks, looking between Foggy and Karen.
"We can't get a hold of Matt. I've called him four times and Karen has tried. Can you?" She grabs her phone, thumb hesitantly hovering over Matt's name before she calls him. She tries five more times, even when the first one goes to voicemail. Foggy's mouth is set in a thin line and Karen's eyes are blown wide with worry.
"I'll go to his place, see if something is up." Evren says, shoving her phone in her pocket. "I'l lead you guys out, keep the press off."
They all sigh together and make their way out, pushing through the rough crowd of reporters that scream and yell. Her ears ache and she fights the urge to flinch with every step, Rot straightening her spine and narrowing her eyes dangerously until they start moving out of the way, though they keep screaming.
They part- Foggy and Evren heading towards Matt's apartment, while Karen goes to her own. Evren doesn't need Rot to know how exhausted the woman is. She waits until they're out of view before Rot wraps over her skin and hauls Foggy onto their shared back, bone-deep weariness weighing them down as they claw up to the rooftops and dart across them.
Evren hates that Matt feels more important that Veronica.
Foggy settles onto the window ledge, staring at his hands glumly, while Evren roots around in Matt's kitchen. He's running low on groceries, just like he always is. She'll pick some up for him tomorrow- she was planning on going out with Veronica again, anyways. She frowns. She shouldn't be thinking of getting hims groceries-- not with everything going on. She isn't his mother, or girlfriend. Her mouth peels back into a snarl at the thought.
The door opens. "Foggy? Ev?"
"You weren't answering your phone." Foggy states, shoulders slumped. Evren doesn't know when they all got tired, but they are. Maybe it was somewhere between sitting with Frank and clamoring through the aching press that it caught up to her. Maybe it was when she realized she'll never really know who she is.
She looks up when Matt steps into view. He reeks of another woman- the stranger, Elektra, that he followed through the day. She had left before he made his way up to Elektra's penthouse, making up an excuse that he knew was a lie. Her gut coils and her chest explodes into flames.
"Why are you fancy?" Foggy asks, confused, hurt, and tired.
Matt doesn't answer, parrying with his own question. "What's going on?"
"Why do you smell like the woman that was in your apartment the other day, Matt?" Evren snaps, slapping the cupboard closed. He flinches. "You left to go on some upscale date with someone none of us know? What about Karen?"
"It isn't like that--"
"Then what is it like, Matt? You disappear for hours, you don't answer your phone, your hands and mouth reek of that woman, you weren't answering your phone-"
"The arraignment." Foggy interrupts, voice soft. She cuts herself off, shaking her head, biting her lip. "Frank plead not guilty, Matt."
"What?"
"And it gets worse. Reyes pulled every string she has and fast-tracked the trial." Matt stammers for an answer, but rage spits from her mouth.
"Maybe you'd actually be able to help if you had been there, Matt. First you brush me off, now you do this to Karen." She scoffs. "I'll catch you later, Fogs, make sure you get some sleep." She shoulders passed Matt, stomping up his steps.
"No, Ev-" Matt reaches for her, but she slams the door behind her and stomps down the steps. She doesn't want to listen to him right now, not when everything is confusing. Not the way her entire chest burns and her eyes glisten at the idea of him with his hands on someone else, on someone she doesn't know.
After everything-- everything-- she's terrified to lose him. He saved her.
She could lose him to a stranger.
It hurts worse because she already made herself get used to seeing Matt and Karen together. It hurts and she doesn't know why and- and-- and she wants... She needs Ver, just to sweep her off her her feet and curl around her in a blanket and watch a cheesy, tooth rotting movie that neither of them are really paying attention to. She wants to talk to Ver and stare at each other until it's four in the morning neither of them can keep their eyes open anymore. She needs to forget Matt, again and again.
"Ev? Babe?" She tilts her head up, vision blurry. Rot aches in her chest, silently, dragging the rest of her with it. "What happened? What's wrong? I brought booze to surprise you with, not drown your sorrows in." Veronica jokes, though she puts the bag on the ground and wraps her arms around Evren, pulling her close, softening. "What's wrong? What came up? Who's ass do I need to kick?" Evren smiles into her shoulder. "There it is. Imagine me trying to kick someones ass. I'd trip over my own feet."
Ver pushes her back so she can see Evren's small smile, though it twitches down in the corners and her eyes are still red.
"You can tell me what happened, babe." Veronica states, all joking aside. "I promise. I won't get mad at you for anything that happened."
And, suddenly, Evren finds herself talking- too fast and breathless and shaky and slurred, but talking; telling Veronica what happened. She hasn't even done this around Matt- has never been this weak, this timid. She hates it but doesn't stop.
"Matt left and I was watching their cl-client and he just left and then we couldn't get a hold of him so we, Foggy and I, went to his apartment. He's the one that was with Karen when we went on our date and h-he smelled like another woman and Karen was so worried and Foggy was worried and I'm mad because we were all so worried about him and upset but he was just on a date with a woman and h-he called me a nobody and it hurts, and I don't know why."
Ver signs, shaking her head. "Men are stupid." Rot hums in agreement, pushing Evren back into her arms, both of them sighing at the feeling of nervous safety that comes with the embrace. "How about we drink and watch a really, really stupid horror movie? We can order take out and tomorrow we'll go get drunk off our asses at a bar."
"Okay." Evren finds herself mumbling, heart stumbling over itself when Ver grasps her cheeks and tilts her head up, planting a kiss on the top of her nose.
"Killer Clowns from Outer Space is the first on our list, and so is the vodka and orange soda I got." Evren links their fingers together, or Rot does, maybe both of them do, without really realizing, letting Veronica guide them inside, scooping up the bag and sweeping her off of her feet and to the couch with breathless giggles.
Rot's never been this happy, not with only Evren. Rot's never felt this before- hasn't felt its own rush of warmth that's different than the one Evren feels shoot through it each time Veronica looks at them, each time her fingers link with theirs, each time their breaths turn from their own and mingle to be one and they're twisting, unable to part, unable to breathe from how hot and heavy their heart is, their greedy lungs refusing to work, stomach twisting and tightening and something else. The movie turns to nonsense in the background and nothing matters but them.
Rot likes to think that, anyways. It knows the truth, but chooses to ignore it and let Veronica sweep them away.
"Ev?" Veronica finally talks, when the movie ends and their legs are tangled together, staring at the credits, neither wanting to move.
"Yeah?" Evren whispers, afraid of what Veronica might say, might ask.
"How... how come you never talk about your family?"
Evren sits up and settles against the couch, hiding from Ver's piercing gaze by recoiling into the blanket. They both choose to lie. Evren doesn't want Veronica to know of the past she remembers, and Rot keeps the rest of herself hidden away inside it.
"I was raised in foster homes." She says, hiding the guilt in her eyes behind a sad smile. "A lot weren't the best. I don't like to think about it."
Veronica grimaces, shifting their hands together. "I'm sorry for bringing it up. But you have me," She adds, curling into Evren's side. "And I'm not half-bad, am I?"
"No, you're not." Evren responds, setting her cheek on top of Veronica's head. Rot chooses to ignore the bubbling doubt crossing both of their minds, as does Evren.