Legally Wicked (13/?), by dark_angel_874
Title: Legally Wicked
Chapter Title: Legally Blonde & Tattered Frocks
Rating: PG-13
Author: dark_angel_874
Summary: When Galinda Upland's longtime boyfriend Fiyero Tiggular breaks up with her and heads to prestigious Shiz law school, Galinda follows him in an attempt to win back his heart. After failing to do so, Galinda decides to show everyone just how smart she can be.
Legally Blonde & Tattered Frocks
Disclaimer - I do not own Glinda, Elphaba, or any other characters mentioned in this story. I do not own Wicked, or Legally Blonde.
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“Three days.”
Those were the first words to come out of the Wizard’s mouth at their meeting the next day, and it was enough to make all of the interns and Elphaba glance up from whatever they were doing and look curiously at him.
“It’s three days until the trial,” The lawyer sighed, lifting his hat from his head and placing it on the table he stood beside. “And the evidence stacked up against us is quite formidable.”
“That’s not good.” Fiyero said dumbly, and The Wizard smiled humourlessly.
“Hit the nail on the head, my boy.” He said, his mouth twisting into a thin line. “If only our dear Faerie Queen would co-operate with us, things would be so much easier. But no; apparently, she wants to be found guilty.”
Feeling a rare flash of anger rise up inside her, Glinda was about to open her mouth and retort when the Wizard spoke again.
“Speaking of her royal Ozness...” The professor began to pace as he picked up a folder beside his hat, opening it up and reading what was inside. “It seems that yesterday, our client received a visitor from a woman; a Miss Glinda Upland.”
The Wizard finally paused in his path and glanced at the blonde, staring intently at her. Seeing everyone’s eyes fixate upon her, Glinda nodded.
“I went to visit Lurline.” She admitted.
“Why?” The Wizard asked, giving her a scrutinizing stare.
“I went to check up on her, and see how she was doing.” Glinda told her boss. “Not to mention get the alibi.”
Though he seemed irritated with Glinda's first few responses (and the fact that she had even visited the sorceress in the first place) the Wizard’s eyes widened as she mentioned the alibi. Suddenly, everyone was paying very rapt attention to the blonde, eyes curious and disbelieving.
“Did you get it?” Kumbricia asked, her half closed eyes widening as she asked the question.
Glinda nodded again, beaming this time. “I did, actually.” She told them. “Its rock solid- there would probably be three, four, maybe five people who could confirm it.”
“Well, what is it?” The Wizard leaned over the table, his palms pressing flat down on it as he moved forward, staring Glinda right in the eye. Everyone was eager to hear the information Glinda had- the alibi could be the one thing to make or break their case. Expectantly, they leaned closer, just like the Wizard, to hear the answer.
And, just like the Wizard, they were all stunned as Glinda’s bright smile faded as she mumbled to them,
“I can’t tell you.”
Dead silence fell upon the room. Tension appeared after, and it was so thick that it was almost palpable. Everybody’s focus slid back from Glinda to the Wizard. His body never changed; his mouth was still the same thing line made in anticipation, his palms were still pressed flat on the table that he was still hunched over. The difference, however, was not in his major body language, but in the tiny things. They were obvious and dangerous differences to Glinda and the rest of the people in the room, who had learnt how to read the most minute change.
Glinda could see that his jaw had tightened and his fingertips had turned white from the pressure he was placing upon them. Worst of all was the glint in his eye- while before it was glowing with excitement, the glint had turned cold, and just seeing it made Glinda steel herself for the storm ahead.
“Why in Oz not?” The lawyer hissed, his eyes narrowing again, flashing dangerously at Glinda.
“I promised that I would keep Lurline’s alibi a secret.” Glinda explained, eyes flitting about the room as she saw everyone’s incredulous stares.
“I can’t believe this.” The Wizard spat at her, clearly disgusted. He pushed himself away from the table, standing back up straight. Glaring at Glinda, his eyes then wandered around the table until they landed on a certain green woman.
“Elphaba.” He snapped, “Come with me.”
Wordlessly, the verdant woman stood and followed him. Not a word came from her lips, but Glinda, as Elphaba’s best friend, could see the trouble building underneath her strong facade.
“The rest of you try and talk some sense into her.” The Wizard sneered before slamming the door shut, pulling Elphaba into the hall with him. The second the door was closed, Sarima, Fiyero and Kumbricia cornered her, getting up from their seats and circling Glinda’s chair.
“Are you crazy?” Kumbricia shouted, her eyes narrowing even further. “Just give him the alibi!”
“We can win without an alibi.” Glinda said firmly, standing up, her courage appearing now that the Wizard was not looming over her. “All we have to do is believe that Lurline’s innocent. Which, if you think about it, isn’t hard at all, because she is!”
When all she received was blank, disbelieving stares, the normally cheerful blonde sighed.
“Well, let’s put it this way.” Glinda tried. “Lurline is a sorceress, and magic causes a sense of euphoria. Euphoric people generally don’t tend to kill their husbands!”
Kumbricia snorted and turned away, shrugging her shoulders in a way that clearly stated that she gave up. Sarima simply did not look at her, leaving only Fiyero.
“If you give the Wizard the alibi, Galinda,” He said, “He would probably give you a summer job, and make you some sort of associate. I mean, with his power, the clock tick you graduate from Shiz, you would have a job lined up for you and from then on you could practically dance through life!”
“But I gave her my word, Fiyero.” Glinda stressed her voice unusually low and quiet. The man just shrugged.
“So what?” He laughed. “That’s what I would do.”
For a moment, Glinda stared at him, wondering to herself how she could have ever dated a man so selfish and untrustworthy. Unbeknownst to them both, Sarima was watching. When Fiyero shrugged, something flickered across her face, but it faded quickly as her mouth set back in a straight line after he spoke again.
“Look, Galinda, just give him the alibi.” He finished. “If you don’t then we will lose the case.”
"Well then I guess we’re not very good lawyers.” Glinda shrugged, just like Fiyero had only moments earlier, and then went to sit down as she heard the door to the room begin to open. Right before she sat down however, she threw a glance over her shoulder at Fiyero.
“And, just so you know, it’s Glinda, now.” She said coolly, just as the Wizard re-entered with Elphaba in tow.
‘Are you alright?’ Glinda mouthed to her. If Elphaba had seen it, she made no sign of it. Elphaba simply sat back down in her chair, her body stiff and straight, and her face lacking any sort of emotion.
“Alright everyone,” The Wizard said, getting their attention while he had the chance. “It’s time to go visit Her Majesty the Faerie Queen. Let’s see if we can pry anything else from that pretty little mouth of hers.”
With a deep sigh, Glinda stood up from her chair. Brushing the imaginary dirt and dust off herself, Glinda paused, waiting for Elphaba to get up. When the green girl did, the two women silently moved to the door to leave, the others having left before them. Just as she and Elphaba were about to pass through, the Wizard, who had held the door open for everyone, stepped into their path.
“I want you two to stay behind.” He said gruffly, not even bothering to try and sugar-coat his words. “I’d rather not see any more glimpses of legally blonde or tattered frocks today.”
Face stony, he turned around and walked out, the door slamming shut behind him. The sound echoed in Glinda’s head, pounding in her mind, perhaps because the room was completely silent with the tension building once more. Yet this was even worse than before- tension with a roomful of classmates and the Wizard was bad enough, but tension with Elphaba was unbearable. To try and rid herself of it, it was Glinda who spoke first.
“Elphie?”
Glinda cursed the sudden waver in her voice.
Elphaba made no response.
“Elphie, are you...?” She reached out and up to touch the green woman’s shoulder, but Elphaba moved away before Glinda’s fingertips could even brush the fabric of her beaten jacket. Instead, she stalked over to the work table, and missed the look of hurt on Glinda’s face in the process. Grabbing her messenger bag, Elphaba started putting her notes and sheets away, stuffing them into her bag roughly and as fast as she could.
Quick as a flash, Glinda came over next to Elphaba. Before the elder woman could move away again, the student grabbed Elphaba’s wrist gently but firmly. The paper Elphaba had just grabbed still dangled loosely from her fingertips as Glinda spoke to her.
“Elphie... please,” Glinda’s voice, normally filled with happiness, was soft and quiet as she pleaded with her. “Don’t be angry with me. I’m sorry, Elphie- you know that I didn’t mean to make him angry!”
“I don’t need to see your contrition.” Elphaba snapped, finally meeting Glinda’s eyes with an icy cold glare. “I don’t need you to tell me to not be upset with you, and I don’t need you telling me you’re sorry. All I need is that alibi.”
“Well, I’m afraid I can’t tell you that!” Glinda’s guilt and remorse turned into exasperation, and she threw her arms up in the air. “I’ll tell you like I told the Wizard: I promised Lurline that I would not tell anyone her alibi, and I will not! We don’t need it to win this case, Elphaba!”
“But it would help, wouldn’t it?” Elphaba thundered, her temper rearing its ugly head and making the cold anger in her eyes burn. “It would help us save Lurline’s life, wouldn’t it? And isn’t this what the alibi is, at this point- something, an excuse, to get Lurline out of this situation and back on track with her normal life!?”
“No it isn’t!” Glinda argued, her voice rising. “At this point, the alibi is an excuse that will get you back into the good graces of our ‘wonderful’ Wizard! It’s something that will impress him!”
“He is my boss, Glinda!” Elphaba exploded, her voice magnified by the emptiness of the room, becoming almost loud enough to rattle the lone painting that hung on one of the walls. “If I impress him, he could set me in the proper direction of making good by making me an associate!”
“But is it worth it?” Glinda countered. “Is it worth the cost of shattering Lurline’s life, both professional and social, and breaking off all of the ties she has left?”
When there was no answer, and the anger in Elphaba’s eyes and features began to melt away, softening her fury-sharpened angles and loosening her anger-taut muscles, Glinda knew that for the first time she had won against Elphaba.
It fell silent yet again, and this time, it was Elphaba who broke the quiet.
“The alibi...” Elphaba hesitated. “It’s that serious?”
Glinda nodded, relaxing as well, relief washing over her as she realized that Elphaba finally understood.
“Exactly.” She nodded. Nudging Elphaba over playfully now that the tension had melted away, the blonde couldn’t help but giggle to her green friend, “For someone as smart as you, it took you long enough to realize it.”
The blonde found herself giggling again as Elphaba gazed at her, faking hurt. After a moment, Elphaba gave Glinda a rare smile, and Glinda couldn’t help but return it.
“When I give my word, it means something, Elphie.” Glinda said softly, the content smile still on her face. “And I know that when you give your word, it means something too.”
Elphaba had no response, but Glinda could have sworn that Elphaba’s smile grew larger, if only a little bit.
Hours could have passed by as the two stayed in their comfortable silence. It was only broken when Elphaba quietly suggested that they leave.
Glinda agreed and the two set to collecting their belongings. Glinda was (surprisingly) done before Elphaba, and went over and lent the green woman a hand in putting the rest of her notes (greater in length, size, and number that Glinda’s) together and back into her messenger bag.
“There.” Glinda grinned as they put the last note into place. Elphaba thanked her and promptly started to close the bag. Glinda, watching her, suddenly put a hand on Elphaba’s jacket as she shifted.
“Elphie, you have a hole in your jacket.” The younger girl picked at the threads carefully, not wanting to make it even worse. However, as Glinda looked closer and fingered the fabric carefully, she realized that it didn’t matter if she made the gap larger or not; the coat was already ripped in several spots and patches that were similarly coloured to the dark blue coat already covering some of the other rips. Even still, the fabric of the jacket was threadbare and whisper thin.
Suddenly, Elphaba tugged her arm back and away from Glinda, dropping her eyes to the ground; it seemed that she would not meet the blonde’s eyes once more.
“I can fix it later.” She said, and Glinda somehow knew that Elphaba was embarrassed.
In that moment, Glinda made a decision.
“Elphie, do you mind if we took a slight detour before going back home?” Glinda questioned.
Elphaba glanced up from the new tear in the jacket she had been surveying, and arched a brow. “It doesn’t matter to me... but where?”
Glinda just smiled.
“You’ll see.” She sang. Grabbing Elphaba’s hand, she tugged the woman along and out of the room.
Elphaba’s eyes drifted down to hers and Glinda’s joined hands, and then back up to the back of Glinda’s head.
She wasn’t sure whether to be excited or frightened.