Deliverance (Lucious/Cookie, Anika/Malcolm)

Chapter Five: Don't Leave Me This Way

"Ohhhh. Here's a real treat." Alvarez struggled to keep her breakfast down as Annalise showed her a picture of a mutilated dog, his head crushed in and male anatomy missing. She smirked as Alvarez vomited at the sight. Annalise had done her shaking and crying long before now; she could sit in front of this half-assed lawyer with a spine of steel. "You know that's Ms. Calhoun's real dog? And that's her real doorstep, which the killers were so kind enough to leave said dog, take pictures, record video and upload to the internet - all in the name of Empire."

"You can't blame any of this on Empire," Alvarez said between swigs of water. She could wash the taste of vomit out of her mouth, but she would never get those images out of her mind.

"I can when the Lyons allow these kinds of posts on social media every day without comment. They're inciting and encouraging violence against my client and his wife. And speaking of my client's wife..." Annalise rifled through her files once more, then pulled out a medical file. "The emergency room report shows that Anika Calhoun was treated for multiple contusions to the back of her head and numerous facial injuries. They also took pictures of the choke marks around her neck. Would you like to see those? Or maybe you'd like to read the witness statements of the three people who saw Cookie Lyon beating and choking a pregnant woman in the parking lot?"

"What is your point?" Alvarez moaned, watching her case fade away. She was in over her head and they both knew it. If the situation was reversed – if Annalise was pulling for Malcolm to stand trial – she would somehow be able to figure out how to have Malcolm do time. But Raquel Alvarez wasn't Annalise Keating. Raquel Alvarez was a disgraced former deputy mayor, having been forced to retire after being found in a relationship with a man who was less than savory. Alvarez could rebuild herself as a district attorney, but only if she didn't make a fool out of herself. And Alvarez was definitely about to make a fool out of herself.

"My point is that you're not going to win. You're new to this whole litigation thing, so let me paint you a picture." Alvarez had been an attorney for 12 years prior to becoming deputy mayor, but as far as Annalise was concerned, the bitch had apparently worked her whole life at the Law Offices of Mama n'Nem. "On one side, you have Lucious Lyon. Whatever he is, he's still a scum drug dealer with a scum drug dealing wife. On the other side, you have Malcolm DeVeaux. War hero. Navy SEAL. Young and good-looking, with his beautiful, pregnant schoolteacher wife. Lucious Lyon might have support in the streets, but once I fill a jury up with old, white conservative men, it's over for you."

Annalise's voice was so cold that Alvarez dropped her gaze. "And you, Alvarez? Your new career is going to be as buried as your old one. I know that you're trying to destroy Lucious's attacker to curry favor with his oldest son. You really thought a Philly lawyer would defend a guy who beat up one of our native sons without a good reason?" Annalise leaned across the table with a cruel smile. "Why do you think I'm here, you dumb cunt?"

Alvarez's jaw dropped. It was Andre who came to Alvarez in the first place, begging for justice for his father. He was afraid that Malcolm would get off because he was a war hero and a SEAL. "Just because my father used to deal drugs doesn't give Malcolm DeVeaux the right to try to kill him," Andre had told her, and because Alvarez's heart still beat for him, she had gone after Malcolm as if Malcolm had killed her own child. Now Alvarez could see that Andre had set her up. It was one thing for a defense attorney to get Malcolm off, but it looked much better if the DA's office let him go. That was exactly what Andre was intending to do, with a little help from Annalise Keating. No one would ever know Annalise had anything to do with Malcolm's inevitable release.

"Nobody is going to prosecute this man, Alvarez. So let's do you a favor and save what is left of your beshitted little career." Annalise spoke as if she was trying to mentor Alvarez, rather than fight off a plea bargain. She threw a thin folder on the table and rose to her feet. "I expect you to give this statement on the front steps of your office building by 3:00 this afternoon."