((Takes place after In His Hands.)) Manhattan, New York...

Deal with it. Three words that had already got her hands dirty months before, apparently for no reason. Desmond Granger was still alive - not only that, but he was here, in New York; he had already presented his opening statement to the court and begun laying out the state's evidence before the jury. He was supposed to be dead and buried, no longer a problem to trouble the mind of the man who had told her to take care of it. And yet, Desmond Granger was not their biggest problem right now. The biggest problem was a petite blonde who had seen too much and said too much. At all costs, Elena De Luca had to be prevented from taking the stand tomorrow. Not even Marcus Nicoletti believed that the jury would discount her evidence. She was the prosecution's star turn, and without her, their case would fail. Thus it fell to their eyes and ears and hands within the D.A.'s office itself to deal with it.

In the company of a man who looked as though his sharp suit had been constructed around him rather than tailored, Christina Delano made her way to the lower rate hotel where Elena De Luca and her partner had been put up. The hotel had been chosen simply because no one would possibly believe that the actress would stay there; the beauty of that choice was that only two people within the D.A.'s office knew about it - Desmond Granger, and the lawyer who would have been presenting the case had he not suddenly come back from the dead. Herself, Christina Delano. With charm and a smile, she talked her way past the policeman on duty, making her way up in the elevator with her associate. This would be quick and easy, and no one would suspect her. After all, why would she remove her case's prime witness"

Why indeed" It was Detective Jason Daly who had put the pieces of the puzzle together and suggested to Desmond that it was his associate in the D.A.'s office - and former girlfriend - who was secretly working for Nicoletti. Desmond hadn't wanted to believe it at first - that someone in his own office and right under his nose would dare betray him, even going so far as to try and have him killed, but he couldn't deny that it made sense. Christina had the most to gain in Desmond's absence, and ever since she'd taken over the case, witnesses had started recanting their statements and evidence had started disappearing. The evidence was circumstantial at best, but he and Jason had devised a plan to catch the rat in action.

No one knew what they had planned, except Elena and her boyfriend and a handful of cops Jason trusted with his life. Desmond was hoping his friend was wrong, but there was only one way to find out for sure, and so he and Jason set their trap and waited for the rat to take the proverbial bait.

The rat was overconfident. Christina was sure that the various "mishaps" that had blighted her taking over of the case had been overlooked or gone unnoticed, though she had been consistently frustrated whenever she had looked into the location of Miss De Luca. Which was why she had to deal with the little snitch now, the night before that key moment when the actress would take the stand. There was no other choice. With her associate at her back, Christina made her way along the hallway from the elevator. every inch the successful lawyer, from her sharp stilettos to her cool blonde hair. No one would suspect her. She was certain of it. Raising her hand, she knocked on Elena's door, nodding to her companion. And in the quiet of the hallway, he withdrew a small black case from inside his suit jacket, checking the contents. No guns or knives tonight; they had something else in mind.

From inside the room, beyond the closed door, came the sound of muffled voices - a man's and a woman's. It was hard to tell exactly what they were talking about, but it seemed they were engaged in casual conversation of some sort. The voices quieted when the knock came at the door, followed by a woman's voice asking who was there.

Christina smirked, nodding to her companion as he put his sinister black case back into his suit jacket. "Christina Delano, Ms De Luca," she called, just loud enough to be heard within the room. "I'm here to discuss your presentation tomorrow."

There was another brief pause as if the pair inside the room were deciding whether or not to let her in. After all, it was Mr. Granger who was handling the case now, but Miss Delano was his assistant and there was no reason to suspect any trouble. After a moment, that same woman's voice sounded from somewhere inside with a brief and simple, "Come in."

With another smirk that she quickly settled into something more approaching a professional smile, Christina tried the door, pushing it open to step inside. As she did so, she glanced back at her companion following in behind her. "Ms De Luca, this is Mr Vittorio, my associate," she moved smoothly to introduce him as he closed and locked the door, turning her head back to the occupants of the room. "He's ..." Her voice stuck in her throat suddenly, the professional smile wiped away to be replaced with shock as her eyes fell upon not Elena De Luca and her boyfriend, but Desmond Granger and Detective Daly. There was a moment as she fought for balance, attempting to recover with a half-smile. "Des, I wasn't expecting to see you here," she chuckled, charm dripping from her smile. "You planning on dressing Detective Daly up as Ms De Luca for tomorrow?"

For a moment, Des thought Jason might have been mistaken, if it weren't for the man Christina had accompanying her. He recognized the man right off, his mind flashing back to a night several months ago when he'd been attacked in an alley on his way to the portal. He'd recognize that face anywhere. It was the face of the man who'd tried to kill him, and there was only one reason he could think of as to why he would be with Christina. Jason was right, it was the only explanation. "I might ask you the same thing," he said after a moment, his face pale and tense in the dim light of the hotel room. "What are you doing here, Christina?"

You could say this for Christina, she could think on her feet, unlike her associate, who was staring at Des as though he was a ghost. "Hey, isn't he -"

"The prosecuting attorney, yes, Vincent," Christina interrupted him quickly, a warning in her eyes as she looked over at him. Turning her gaze back to Des, her smile made itself known again. "What am I doing here" I'm here to make sure Ms De Luca is fully prepared for her day in court, Des, you know that." Despite the fact that it was actually illegal for the prosecution to coach their witnesses once the subpoena had been served.

"Really' Because I already did that days ago. You know that. You also know that you're not supposed to be here. You're not allowed to be here, so why don't you quit lying and tell me the truth?" Des countered, wanting to hear what she had to say for herself, before he accused her of anything. He already knew she was guilty. He knew it the minute she walked in the room with Nicoletti's goon on her tail.

For his part, Jason said nothing as yet, watching quietly, almost feeling like he was part of an old western showdown, like at the O.K. Corral. If nothing else, he had Desmond's back, keeping a close eye on Nicoletti's thug in case he tried anything. He had no way of knowing if the man was packing a gun or not, and he wasn't about to take any chances.

She sighed, shrugging, that charming smile still in place. "All right, so I came to get her autograph," she changed gears smoothly, letting out a laugh that might have been convincing had there not been tension tight about her eyes. "Vincent here, he's a huge fan of her boyfriend, the author" I kinda let it slip over dinner that they were staying together, and you know, he begged me to bring him along. You know me, Des. I can't resist a big pair of eyes and a forceful personality." She reached out, walking her fingertips flirtatiously up Des' arm. Irritation flickered in her expression as her associate failed to take the hint, and she glanced back at him.

"Interesting," Jason said as he looked over the contents of that bag, careful not to touch the syringes so as not to contaminate them with his own fingerprints. "I wonder what the lab will think of these," he remarked before setting the bag carefully aside as evidence. A knock sounded at the door, a voice announcing that backup had arrived, and several police officers stepped into the room to help make the arrests.

"Christina Delano, you have the right to remain silent," Jason started, as he took hold of the woman's arm and led her toward the door, while the other police officers took charge of Vittorio - or whatever his name was. With any luck, big and stupid would spill the beans at the station and give them all the evidence they needed to put Miss Delano away for a long time.

She listened as her rights were read to her, as Vittorio was led away, cursing under his breath still at the injury inflicted on him. And for a moment, an understanding of how deeply she had set foot into trouble seemed to make itself known on Christina's face. She hesitated, looking over at Des for a moment. "Keep an eye on Elena," she warned, her voice very carefully neutral. "If I were you ....I'd move her. Tonight."

Des glared back at her, trying hard to put the poker face back into place and not let her see how badly she'd wounded him. Even if they were no longer lovers, he'd thought they were at least still friends. She had not only duped him, but betrayed him, and he felt like a fool. "Give me one good reason why I should trust you?" he asked, eyes narrowed. He had already thought of that on his own, but he wasn't going to tell her that. He was going to make sure Elena and her boyfriend were moved somewhere so secure it made Fort Knox look like a shopping mall.

"Because I'm not getting out of this," was her simple answer, and it was true. She knew as well as he did that there wasn't a jury in the country who wouldn't convict her of conspiracy to murder on at least two counts, as well as conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. And she'd known that going in - that if she got caught, she was going down. She'd taken the risk willingly for her brother, and she'd failed. "What do I have to gain by lying?"

"You have more to gain by telling the truth, Christie. You always did," Des remarked, sick at heart by all this. It had gotten far too personal and far too dangerous, and all of a sudden, all he wanted was to go home - home to Piper and Lyneth and be done with criminal court cases forever. There were other ways to make a living.

Jason seemed to sense Desmond's sinking mood and knew the man needed to be at his best in the court room the next morning. "Come along, Christina. You can tell your story down at the precinct," he said as he led her toward the door.

Christina shrugged as Des commented on her actions, shaking her head with a sad smile. "You don't know my father," she told him, a last parting shot as Jason took her arm to lead her away.

Everything that had happened this evening had hinged on one failure months before, and no one but Des knew who had averted disaster. If he had died, Jason would have died in that first attempt on his life, and perhaps his Bethany with him; no one would have been able to save Elena De Luca tonight; and Sam Nicoletti would be almost guaranteed to get off. Perhaps Des would remember that, as he thought over all that had happened. One tiny half-Fae child had somehow made all this possible, all because she had loved him enough to risk herself and save him from having a bloody Valentine.