Work Text:
Sandra’s eyes are closing because she keeps yawning. It’s the worst feeling she’s had because as much as she’d like to sleep, she can’t. She has too much work to do and all of it presently involves an all too shady client.
There’s a shift in the air and Sandra immediately jerks up from her brief meditation in her seat.
Kate stands in the doorway with her eyebrows raised.
“You scared me.” Sandra relaxes and sags into her seat. She rubs her forehead in exhaustion.
“It’s late,” Kate says. She enters Sandra’s office and is ready to put her briefcase down on the chair but it’s full of files. She takes a brief glance around. “Your office is messy.”
Sandra’s too tired to get up and chuckles to herself. “It happens. I’ll clean it soon.” She rubs her eyes. “I hope that’s not a deal breaker.”
Kate doesn’t put her briefcase down and just walks to Sandra’s side to place her hand on her shoulder. “It’s late. You should go home and get some rest.”
Sandra takes Kate’s hand and slowly kisses her palm. “Do you want to come over tonight?”
“You have a roommate.”
“Who is upstate for an investigation with Ted,” Sandra informs. She’s been waiting all day to have an opportunity to tell Kate. “She’s not going to be back until tomorrow afternoon and she’s coming straight to the office.”
“You can come over to my place,” Kate offers instead.
“We always go to your place, which is nice, but I want you to come over to my place this time. You’ve never been in my bed before.” Sandra wiggles her eyebrows playfully when she stands up.
Kate warms at the forward invitation, but she hesitates, “I need clothes. My stuff is at my place--”
Sandra tilts her head up to kiss Kate and Kate meets her halfway out of reflex. They don’t usually kiss in their offices even when they’re alone. They pretend to be just colleagues. They exchange pleasantries after discussing deals and talk about their outside of work activities cordially. But Sandra knows that Kate likes kissing her and could kiss her for hours until she’s completely breathless.
It’s late. No one’s around. Kate is kissing her. It bothers her that Kate doesn’t want to come over to her apartment, but she’ll have to figure out a way to convince her.
Kate already can’t help herself, slipping her hands around Sandra’s shoulders to pull her in. Her briefcase thudding onto the floor.
Sandra revels in the warmth of Kate’s body and pulls her in by her waist. She firmly grasps Kate, encouraging Kate to keep going. Kate pushes against her, eliciting a moan. Sandra grazes her fingers against the top of Kate’s belt until she reaches the buckle. Sandra kisses her hard and starts to undo her belt.
The hands against her back suddenly grasp her biceps firmly and Kate pulls back, trying to catch her breath.
“Sandra, we can’t here,” Kate shudders because Sandra’s hands are still gripping either side of her undone belt. Sandra shifts so Kate lets go of her arms and ducks to kiss her jawline. Kate gets distracted as Sandra moves to kiss her neck, sucking gently at the junction where Kate likes it the most. Kate almost forgets herself until Sandra unbuttons her trousers and hooks a finger to unzip her. “Let’s--mm--go back to my place.”
Sandra slowly stops kissing her, her hands stop moving, and she whispers in Kate’s ear. “Not tonight.”
This time Sandra pulls back, trying to hide her smile at Kate’s offended face. She busies herself to gathering her bag.
“Wh-what do you mean?” Kate is flabbergasted.
“I’m going home,” Sandra says simply, throwing her bag over her shoulder. “I’m going to eat an amazing sandwich, take a long hot shower, keep working on my case, and then throw myself into my bed.” She’s not even lying. She is actually looking forward to the prospect of her bed after spending most of the week in Kate’s. "Since you don't want to come over."
She brushes by Kate to leave.
Kate doesn’t know what to say. She’s completely baffled by the sudden change of events. “Sandra--” Kate stops mid thought to zip up her pants and fix her belt.
“Hey, I thought I heard someone,” Jay appears in the doorway. He pauses when he realizes that Kate is also there. “Oh, hey, Kate, what’re you doing here?”
“I--” Thank god, she’s decent now.
“She was looking for you,” Sandra easily offers, just to make things even more difficult for Kate. The flustered look on Kate’s face is enough for Sandra to send a cheeky smile to her before turning her attention back to Jay. “I am headed home finally, so I will see you tomorrow.”
“Night Sandra,” Jay says with a pat on her shoulder as she walks by.
Kate bends down to grab her bag quickly and goes after Sandra. “You know what? It can wait. We can talk tomorrow.” She doesn’t say goodbye, but she can hear a weak and confused goodbye from Jay even though she’s focused on catching up to Sandra.
Sandra just steps onto the elevator and Kate has to stick her hand through the closing doors to get it to stop. Sandra raises an eyebrow as Kate steps on.
“Is this your way of convincing me to go to your apartment?” Kate asks pointedly.
“What do you think?” Sandra tilts her head.
Kate chuckles to herself. “It worked.” She stands beside Sandra to grab her hand.
Sandra smiles and laces their fingers.
---------------------
Kate bucks her hips so hard Sandra uses both of her hands to force them back onto her bed. Kate digs her heels into the bed. A muffled moan fills the room.
Sandra looks up between the valley of Kate’s breasts as she continues to lick her. She groans at the sight of Kate covering her face with her pillow. She moves to suck on Kate’s engorged clit and Kate rips off the pillow from her to catch her breath.
“Sandra--don’t stop, don’t stop, don’t stop--ah--” Kate abandons the pillow for the back of Sandra’s head.
Sandra releases her clit with a wet pop. Kate shudders, her hips rising for more. Sandra smiles and kisses her lips. She knows Kate is aching for more. She wants to hear it.
“San--dra,” Kate lets out breathlessly. She pushes Sandra’s face between her legs to keep going. Sandra resists with teasing licks and gentle kisses. It pushes Kate towards the edge but it isn't enough. She wants. “More, Sandra.”
Sandra hums, waiting for it.
Kate curses at being teases for what feels like forever. “Sandra, please!” she desperately begs.
“Good girl,” Sandra whispers unconsciously with a smile on her face. She plunges her tongue as deep as she can that Kate lets out an unbridled moan as she comes.
Kate thinks her legs are jelly by the time Sandra finishes with her. She shivers at the feeling of Sandra’s naked body crawling up hers despite how hot she feels. Kate leans up to kiss Sandra, moaning at the taste of herself on Sandra’s tongue.
With as much strength as she can gather, she rolls them over so that Sandra is underneath her. She looks beautiful with her long hair fanned out across the messy sheets. Kate slips her hands between them until she finds Sandra's wet folds.
“You’re so wet,” Kate purrs against her cheek. Her fingers easily glide through the wetness.
“If you tease me--”
“Just a little bit,” Kate shoots back instantly. She grabs one of Sandra’s legs to hook around her waist for more leverage as her fingers rub her mound generously.
Sandra whimpers. She feels exposed with Kate between her legs, The anticipation of her fingers filling her grows with her impatience. “I want you inside me,” she breathlessly urges.
“I know,” Kate whispers hotly against her neck. Her free hand cups Sandra’s breast, slowly working to tease her hardened nipple. Sandra arches into the touch. “You’re beautiful.”
Sandra groans, holding Kate’s hand over her breast. “I want you.”
Kate closes her lips at the base of Sandra’s neck and sucks down hard. I want you. Kate feels her chest tighten. She’s not one to be possessive but god, she wants Sandra.
She pushes three fingers inside Sandra and listens to her cry out over and over for more.
---------------------
Sandra wakes up the next morning hungrier than usual. She can feel her stomach grumble and curls onto her side because she’s not ready to wake up yet. She tugs for the blanket to pull over her shoulder until she feels warm.
After a brief moment, Kate shifts behind her and wraps her arm around Sandra’s waist to pull her in. Sandra shifts back just enough to feel Kate curled around her back. Her fingers wiggle until Kate’s fingers lace with hers. The warmth soothes Sandra enough to push back the hunger just a bit longer.
The moment doesn’t last too long because both of their alarms go off. Sandra groans in frustration because she’s forced to let go of Kate’s hand and leave her comfort even for a brief second to blindly turn off her alarm. Kate has to do the same, reaching for her purse to turn off her alarm.
She comes back to curl around Sandra, pressing a kiss at her bare shoulder.
“I have to go,” Kate says groggily.
Sandra makes a small disgruntled sound, turning to face Kate. “Mm, why?” she sleepily responds.
“I need some clothes and to shower.”
Sandra dislikes the answer. “Don’t go.” Kate sighs against her shoulder before kissing it again. "I don’t want you to go."
Kate rubs her eyes awake at the vulnerable sound in Sandra’s voice. Sandra’s eyes are barely open when she speaks, she probably doesn't even realize what she's said but it still mean enough to stop Kate in her tracks for a moment. Kate kisses Sandra sweetly. “I don’t want to go,” she quietly admits. “But I have to get ready for work.”
Sandra’s brows furrow in disdain. Kate feels her heart melt inside of her at the sight. She carefully reaches over Sandra for her cellphone and makes sure Sandra has a later alarm. She holds Sandra tightly, letting herself sleep for another five minutes. As much as she’d rather stay in bed with Sandra, she has to make it to her apartment before work to lessen suspicion.
Before she leaves the bed Kate tries one more time to wake Sandra. With a kiss on her forehead, Sandra’s eyes slowly flutter open.
“Morning,” she mumbles with a smile on her face.
Kate returns the smile. “I’m going now.”
Sandra rubs her eyes. “Mmkay. I’ll see you for lunch?” she asks hopefully.
“Of course.” Kate kisses Sandra once more before leaving the warm bed with Sandra in it. She could hate herself for getting up early, but she has habits that are too hard to break.
“Wait, I’ll walk you out.” Sandra sits up with her messy hair and the sheet slips down to her waist revealing her naked body. Kate almost abandons finding her clothes for Sandra, but continues to get dressed while Sandra goes to her closet to pull on her pajama pants and a t-shirt.
Kate finds her bra at the foot of Sandra’s bed and just as she pulls it on, Sandra stands before her holding a shirt. Kate takes it curiously. “What’s this for?”
“Not to entirely look like a walk of shame?” Sandra offers in a half jest.
Kate rolls her eyes but takes the t-shirt anyway. When she pulls it over her head, she reads an upside down Berkeley. “This definitely isn’t my shirt.”
“I know,” Sandra chirps.
---------------------
Kate: See you soon
Sandra smiles at her phone when she sees the message. She didn’t even realize the time she’d been working but she’s glad to see Kate’s message when she does.
She’s leaving the office when she runs into Allison in the doorway.
“Hey! How was upstate?” she asks.
“Not as pleasant as it could’ve been,” Allison says. “Are you headed to lunch? Give me a second to grab my bag.”
Sandra pauses. “Are you--didn’t you just get in? Is it okay for you to go to lunch?”
“I’ve been in court all morning,” Allison says walking towards her office. “I came back last night.”
Sandra’s jaw drops. If Allison came back last night, when Kate was over. She feels a rug ripped out from underneath her.
Sandra: Allison was home last night
Kate: What do you mean?
Sandra: She just told me she came home last night
Sandra: Also she’s coming to lunch
Sandra: I’m so sorry :(
Kate is in the midst of texting back when Allison reappears.
“Ready to go?”
“Yeah!” Sandra squeaks out.
Allison and Sandra get on the elevator alone.
“So upstate?” Sandra asks quickly to distract Allison.
Allison doesn’t bite.and looks at Sandra with a smile on her face. “I know what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to distract me.”
“What? Why would I do that?” Sandra can already feel herself get warm.
“Because you’re wondering if I heard you having loud sex last night,” Allison blatantly points out.
“Oh my god.” Sandra throws her head back, feeling her cheeks go completely hot. “Al--I didn’t know you were going to be home.”
“Well I’m glad because I did not want to ruin your night.” Allison bumps her shoulders with Sandra. “It sounded like you had a lot of fun.”
“Stop,” Sandra bumps her shoulder back shyly.
“Soooo? Are you going to tell me who it was? When are you going to see her again?”
“It was no one. Just a one time thing,” Sandra says firmly. It feels wrong to lie because Kate’s not no one and it’s definitely not a one time thing.
“Why not? It sounded like you had a lot of fun.”
“Most people wouldn’t be okay with hearing their best friend having sex.”
“Oh please, I’m sure you’ve heard Seth and I plenty of times.”
Sandra audibly cringes. “Don’t remind me.”
Allison laughs. “Come on, I’m happy for you! You don’t do one night stands.”
“What? I do one night stands.”
Allison crosses her arms at Sandra.
Sandra rolls her eyes and concedes. “Fine! But that’s because they’re generally a waste of time.”
“So whoever got into your bed must’ve been a catch,” Allison reasons proudly. She’s generally always right when it comes to Sandra but Sandra hates to admit it.
Sandra just scoffs and rolls her eyes at Allison’s antics.
“Are you really not going to share any details of who this person is?” Allison practically begs as the elevator slows and the doors open. “Maybe you can have more than a one night stand.”
They’re about to step off when Sandra pauses and standing before them is Kate, looking just as startled as Sandra.
“Hey Kate!” Allison says cheerfully as if the tail end of the conversation with Sandra went unheard. “What’re you doing here?”
Kate glances at her phone in her hand before putting it in her purse. “I was just going to meet Jay, but he’s in another meeting. So I’ll just head back.” She glances at Sandra.
Sandra can’t help but smile a bit forlornly at Kate because they were supposed to have lunch together and now Allison is there. “Uh, we were just going to lunch,” she blurts out.
Allison looks to Sandra with an eyebrow raised before looking at Kate. “If you haven’t had lunch, you can join us! I’m just trying to wrangle details about Sandra’s sex life.”
“Al!” Sandra scolds, embarrassed.
Kate’s eyes just widen as she looks between the two women awkwardly. “I’m sure this conversation is irrelevant to me.”
Allison waves her hand. “Not at all. It’ll be fun,” she insists as she loops her arm into Kate’s comfortably. Sandra looks a bit offended at her best friend, but then Allison loops Sandra’s arm as well.
---------------------
“Kate Littlejohn.”
“Kate.”
“Sandra?”
“Kate.”
“Sandra.”
A loud sigh. “Yes, this is Sandra, Kate.”
Kate chuckles as she continues to look at her computer screen. “If you’re calling to apologize, you didn’t have to. I got all of your sad puppy texts.” There’s a pause. “I can hear your pout.”
“I am not pouting,” Sandra exclaims, earning another Kate chuckle. “Don’t make fun of me. I felt really ganged up on at lunch today.”
Kate effectively stops working. “I didn’t say anything.”
“You were avoiding getting in the crossfire, which thereby an omission of an action is an action. You’re lucky that Allison didn’t start delving into your personal life.”
“That’s not luck, that’s smart.” Sandra goes quiet and Kate thinks that she’s dropped the line. “Sandra?”
“Yeah, I’m still here.” There’s some weight in her voice that Kate catches.
“Is something wrong?”
Sandra lets out another sigh. “No. Well, maybe. I don’t know. I just--You know that I like you right?”
This time Kate pauses. It’s obvious that Sandra likes her. She likes Sandra too. They’ve well established over the last couple of weeks that they want each other. It just sounds different when she hears it. It makes her feel a flutter in her heart the same way that Leonard said she’s a catch or Anya said she liked her. But she never knows what to say, she doesn’t have to say anything because she takes action and does things to show that she likes someone.
“Kate?”
“Yes,” she snaps out of her reverie. “Yes, I know you like me.”
“Right, right,” Sandra sounds different as if there’s a tightness in her voice. “Well, that’s it. I like you and what Allison and I were talking about with the whole one night stand thing and how it doesn’t matter, that’s not true. I like spending time with you and being with you.”
Kate feels her heart tighten. This isn’t really a conversation they should be having over the phone. Phone calls are for setting meetings and establishing date spots and flirting. Phone calls aren’t meant for deep conversations that Kate can’t possibly respond to because words fail her. Action. She wants to see Sandra and kiss her for saying this.
Instead Kate says, “Okay.”
“Okay?”
Kate grimaces at the singular word that just slipped out of her mouth. She’s smart enough to know how stupid that sounded. Inside she panics because she’s scrambling to find a way to recover.
Knock, knock.
Leonard stands in her doorway. “Roger needs us for a special assignment.”
“Right.” Kate bites back the urge to groan because she hasn’t found the right words for Sandra. Leonard still lingers in the doorway. “I’m going to have to call you back on this.” She doesn’t wait for a response and drops the call.
That’s not going to be good later.
---------------------
“It's actually been a pleasure working with you, Kate Littlejohn.” Jay stands up for an enthusiastic handshake.
Kate smiles. “As with you. You've gotten better since we've last met.”
“Ah har har har,” he drolls on sarcastically. “And I will continue to get better so that one day I will beat you in court.”
Kate shakes her head. “Unlikely, but I enjoy a verbal spar in court.”
“Come on I'll walk you out,” Jay says with a jolly arm swing.
Kate follows him along. She can fully walk herself out but she doesn't refuse his good nature.
As they walk out, it looks like the office is near empty towards the end of the day. They walk by Sandra's office and Kate's eyes linger a bit hoping to see Sandra. The office is empty but Sandra's jacket and bag are still there.
“Hey, I need to follow up with Sandra on a case we worked,” she stops in front of Sandra's door.
“Sure, she's just meeting with Jill if you wanna wait.”
Kate nods and moves to enter Sandra's office.
“Just a word of warning,” he stops mid thought. “Nah nevermind you'll be fine.”
“What?” Kate asks in confusion.
Jay leans in the doorway. “She was in a bit of a mood this afternoon. Probably because she couldn't find a file for her case.” He shrugs. “I'll give her a heads up that you're waiting. Maybe you could dare to clean her office and put her in a better mood.” He smiles and shoots her two thumbs up before leaving her.
Kate knows he's only joking. She knows it'd probably look bad if a prosecutor was caught rifling through a defender's office. But Kate looks at her phone at the read messages she sent to Sandra about spending the night. Sandra hasn't responded all day and it bothers Kate because she knows what she’s done wrong.
Just say it. Just tell her you like her too. It’s true and she should know, but you have to say it. Sandra seems like the type to like hearing it.
Without realizing it, she does start to organize some of things on Sandra’s desk. Luckily, it’s just coffee cups, napkins, and some old take out containers. She needs to talk to Sandra about how an organized desk is an organized mind. Kate can’t stand the clutter and continues to clear as much unnecessary trash and straighten up files.
“You know better than going through an opposing counsel’s case files.” Sandra’s voice is stern; there’s no playful undertone that she usually carries around Kate when they’re in private.
Kate immediately puts down the folder neatly with its family. She doesn’t move from her spot behind the desk as Sandra approaches. “Jay dared me,” she automatically answers.
Sandra narrows her eyes. “Jay dared you?” She rounds the desk to look at Kate’s work. Her jawline tightens at the organization and Kate’s worried she got it wrong.
“He said you might feel better if your desk was cleaned. I thought it would help if I did it.”
“You didn’t have to,” Sandra says, not looking at Kate. Instead she moves a pile closer to her laptop and pushes down the less important ones.
Kate chews the inside of her mouth. “I wanted to,” she declares regardless of how nervous she feels.
There’s a twitch at the corner of Sandra’s lips, but she remains firm on not looking at Kate. She finds herself cleaning up more of the papers and files that Kate hasn’t gotten to. “What are you doing here?” she tries to sound casual.
“I wanted to see you,” Kate confesses easily. How easy was that? Just tell her. She fidgets with her fingers briefly. “We didn’t finish talking on the phone earlier because Leonard and I had to meet with Roger.”
“It sure sounded like we were done,” Sandra responds dryly, picking up a file to read.
Kate opens her mouth and closes it like a fish out of water. She knows Sandra’s just being difficult. She takes a breath. “We aren’t.” She reaches for Sandra’s hand, clasping it gently to pry her faux attention from the folder.
Sandra cedes to Kate’s attention with exasperation. “What do we have left to talk about?”
Kate steps in, using her height to her advantage. She knows that Sandra likes standing near her when she stands tall and confident. Her hand draws the folder out of Sandra’s grasp and the other slips around Sandra’s waist to pull her closer. Without another word, Kate ducks ever so slightly to capture Sandra’s lips.
Sandra curls into Kate, losing herself in the kiss momentarily, before she puts her hands at Kate’s shoulders to give her enough leverage to wedge herself away. “Kate,” Sandra scolds quietly.
“Sandra,” Kate responds. She tilts her head to make eye contact with her. “I like you.”
“Huh?”
Kate grins at the confused look on Sandra’s face. “Earlier when you said you liked me, I was caught off guard. I don’t--I’m not good at saying how I feel because I prefer actions over words. Actions can be thoughtful, sincere, and honest. I didn’t know what to say, but I knew what I wanted to do.”
“And what did you want to?”
Kate takes a moment to think back. “I don’t know anything. Like hold you or kiss you. Let you stay at my place and give you my t-shirt to wear.”
Sandra blushes. “So...you doing that means…”
“That I like you, Sandra Bell.”
“Okay.” Sandra nods.
“Okay?”
Sandra nods affirmatively. “Yes, okay.” Kate furrows her brows. “It’s good to know you like me back because I was really feeling foolish for even saying it in the first place.”
“Ah. I’m sorry, I didn’t say it sooner. I’ll work on that.”
Sandra raises an eyebrow and slips her arms around Kate’s shoulders. “How about you keep showing me that you like me?”
Kate smiles and leans in to kiss Sandra. This time she doesn’t hold back her desire to do so, she pulls Sandra in by the small of her back to deepen the kiss. Sandra smiles against her lips.
“Jay is Sandra still here?” Jill’s voice carries across the office.
“Yeah, she’s just in her office,” Jay yells back.
Kate and Sandra pull apart very quickly and stand a modest distance from each other.
In a moment, Jill leans in Sandra’s doorway and notices Kate standing there. “Oh, hi Kate,” she greets. “A little late for you to be here.”
Kate clears her throat. “I needed to follow up with Sandra on a case.”
“Is there a problem?” Jill tilts her head with interest.
“No, not a problem. Just had an inquiry,” Kate rapidly answers to ease her anxiety.
“Good, that’s good to hear.” Jill looks to Sandra, whose cheeks are flushed. “Before you leave, can you just bring me the discovery on Horowitz case?”
Sandra nods. “I’ll bring that to you in a second.”
Jill nods and smiles at both women. She turns to leave but then pauses and leans back into the room just a bit further. “Sandra?”
“Yes?”
“You should fix your hair before you leave,” Jill suggests with a sly smile on her face.
Her hands immediately tamp down her messy hair. Sandra turns red all the way up to her ears. “We--”
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Jill almost sings and she leaves them without a glance back.
Sandra looks at Kate once their alone. “Your place?” she suggests.
Kate beams. “Not your place?”
“Cheeky.” Sandra scoffs and rolls her eyes. “You’re lucky I like you.”