Laurel hated to cry in front of other people. At least other people who didn't really know her as anything beyond an authority figure. In fact that one person she actually felt comfortable crying in front of was her father, who always seemed to know what to say and who gave really good hugs. And he certainly wasn't here right now. She had gotten very good at concealing herself behind the neutral FBI mask she normally wore, but right now she was struggling not to break. Virginia's words cut into her like a sword and man was she good at it. She had to be a lawyer goddammit. Eric attempted to get in a word to defend her, but the woman expertly shot him down as well without a moment's hesitation before going right back to verbally shredding her.

[i]Don't break,[/i] Laurel kept repeating to herself as she stood there and took the abuse. She could feel her stomach writhing, every inch of her body was almost twitching as she fought back her despair. [i]Don't break. Do not break.[/i] If Virginia caught even one sign of weakness she would pounce on it and flay her. 

A security guard appeared, and Laurel felt a moment's reprieve before a brand new voice rang out and a man she couldn't but hate on sight swaggered in. And unfortunately he seemed to be on good terms with Virginia. Which meant he had to be close to her victim. His eyes fixed upon her, narrowing to slits as she was introduced to him, and Laurel's eyes suddenly went steely as she stared him down.

She might be powerless against a lawyer but she could play this guy's game. She'd been doing it for a long time.

The lawyer girlfriend spoke up again and Laurel forced herself to look away from the man, Derek, as Virginia listed her terms and threats. So, not just a lawyer. A Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher lawyer. If there was a God he must have hated her. Meanwhile Derek threw in his own threat and Laurel looked back over at him, her green eyes going hard as soon as she looked at him. He wanted to scare her, making her promises to make her life hell unless she resigned, but she'd met guys like him before. She wasn't scared of him. Virginia was the scary one. Her threats actually had a shot at absolutely destroying her.

The pair of them stalked off, pushing through the two agents as they did so. One of them forcefully knocked into Laurel's shoulder, making her stumble for a moment before she was able to catch her balance again. She watched them moving off down the hall for a moment before turning away and feeling the horrible burden crashing down on her once again.

"Laurel," Eric's hand gently touched her shoulder and his voice was calm and soothing. "Everything's going to be al..."

"Don't," Laurel said, pulling out of his reach and turning around to gaze at him. Her face was pale and her finger trembled slightly. "Eric, don't you dare tell me everything's going to be alright. It's not."

"You don't know that."

"Yeah, I do." Laurel shook her head as she tried and failed to push her bangs out of her eyes. "I do know that, in fact. They're not going to go away or give up."

"No, Laurel, don't listen to them..." Eric's words were cut off once again by Laurel's humorless laugh.

"Eric, they're right. They're right about me!"

"No they're not. It was an accident. You tried to save him."

"That doesn't matter! It doesn't matter what I tried to do, it matters what I did do. And what I did do was shoot a civilian in the head!" She turned away from her partner, rubbing her arms in a nervous sort of way. "They're exactly right about me."

"Is this about what that guy said?" Eric's voice was serious now. "Laurel, don't be afraid of that guy, he's just..."

"I'm not afraid of that guy, Eric," Laurel said in a firm tone as she looked back at him, eyes flashing. "That clown doesn't scare me. But she does." Her eyes flickered away from Eric, gazing into space. "If I don't play by her rules she will eat me alive in court and leave whatever's left for the vultures. She's Gibson Dunn, Eric. They're the best of the best. And the most ruthless...I can't win a legal battle like that, and I can't afford one, either."

"You're tough. You might have a chance." Eric reached out and gripped her shoulder again. He wasn't giving up on her. That's one of the things Laurel loved about him. She didn't pull away from his grip this time, and she looked up at him.

"My only chance is if he wakes up. Then things might get marginally better for me. But...there's no guarantee that he's going to be alright even if he does wake up.He took a shot to the head and he's in a coma. People don't just bounce back from things like that. The damage could be permanent. He might not even be the same person if he wakes up." Eric could not think of a time he had seen his partner look this helpless and lost and afraid. She looked at him in silence for a moment before she spoke again. "I probably destroyed my life when I took that shot, but the worst part is that I destroyed someone else's life, too. If he dies in there...it's because I murdered him. I will lose my career. I might go to prison. And I will deserve everything."

Eric couldn't say anything, no matter how much he wanted to. Nothing he could say would help her. Instead he just pulled her into an embrace. Laurel didn't fight him, it felt too good after everything that had happened. She realized she was in an even bigger risk of breaking down into sobs as her partner hugged her. Then a distraction arrived.

"Laurel!"

She pulled back at the sound of the familiar, unexpected voice. She looked up at Eric, eyes wide. "What's he doing here?" she asked, barely able to whisper.

"Thought you might need another friend," came the reply.

He couldn't see her like this. Not when she was teetering on an edge, almost ready to hit rock bottom. She was ready to be mad as hell. But when she turned and saw Ben walking down the hall, his chocolate eyes searching until they found her and filled instantly with care and worry, she wasn't able to. He hadn't even had time to change out of his white chef's uniform. She'd never felt so happy to see him and realized that she really did need him right now. Eric let her go and she rushed down the hall into Ben's open embrace, almost melting into him as his arms wrapped securely around her. Ben's lips pressed against her forehead and she closed her eyes before the tears had a chance to fall.

"You alright?" he whispered and she gave a noncommittal gesture in response. "Eric called so I could drive you home."

Before she had a chance to protest Eric spoke. "Go home, Laurel. I'll call you in the morning with news. Hopefully I'll have some info from the bosses by then."

Maybe she was too tired for this fight, so Laurel nodded. She looked back at Ben. "Give me a sec with Eric?" He nodded and they shared a quick peck before he took a few steps back down the hall. "Have you called my parents yet?" Laurel asked Eric quietly.

He shook his head. "Want me to?"

"No," Laurel answered in an unhappy tone. "It should come from me." She looked back up at Eric and nodded before turning away to join Ben. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she pressed against him as they made their way to the hospital exit.