Lustrum

It's cold, and Kim Greylek is looking, unfocused, out the window of her subway car.

Her coat is long and skirt airs on the short end. A button has slipped loose from her little white shirt and it's driving her insane. The little things falling out of place always did.

She re-buttons it and resumes staring at the lights in the tunnel walls. It's the end of March and so the city has been raining nonstop for the past three days.

Her breath makes a tiny cloud on the window. She uses her forefinger to draw a raindrop in the fog. The window already has thousands of specks of water of its own but she feels the need to contribute.

She likes the way the lights shine against the darkness. The contrast is stunning and the gold glow is reflected in the rain. It looks like countless drops of sun have fallen onto the otherwise gloomy earth.

On a normal day, she might've cursed herself for acting so childish, but not today. No, today is different.

Kim is tired today. She's wearing thin. She can feel herself being sanded down by the burdens of justice for the otherwise cursed victims. She learned to make the glint in her bright blue eyes go away, but as for the sleepless nights; those had come naturally.

She is weak today. She's exhausted. She can feel the weight on her chest and the pain behind her eyes but she'll scrape along, and she knows this because she always had before.

The car lurches to the side and she hears an intake of breath next to her. Despite the fact that it's nine o'clock on a Tuesday morning her reflexes are quick. She turns sharply and looks into the face of familiarity.

She's speechless, but she thinks she might've find the good thing about her day.

"Serena?"

The older woman looks at her and her jaw opens slightly, and she smiles. "Kim Greylek. Long time, no see."

"Yeah it's, it's uh, been a while. How are you?" Her eyes are darting all over Serena's face but she doesn't care. The years have done her well; Kim sees this because Serena's face has a certain glow about her and she can't help but reminisce.

She remembers the class Serena taught at Harvard Law. She remembers coming into the classroom at the age of twenty-one and finding her professor, a stoic blonde, writing hurriedly on a large, green chalkboard. The lecture hall was awfully large but she still chose to sit in the very front.

"I am Serena Southerlyn. You can call me Professor, Serena, or anything; I don't give a shit. This is Advanced U.S. Criminal Justice System. You're all going to be lawyers, I feel that is safe to assume. If you know what's good for you, I suggest you listen to me."

She explained that she was from the Manhattan DA's office and that she had been there for three years, an attorney with the Court of Appeals before then.

She was awfully interesting, and that soon became her favorite class. They did a lot of hands-on things, mock-trials, and even fake paperwork in the course of the next eighteen weeks.

She'd been reluctant to step out of the classroom the last day. She'd really learned a lot from Serena and a part of her never wanted to go. But she'd straightened her spine, nodded, and left.

And five years later, they sit in a subway car together.

"Been better, been worse. I'm on my downtown for a job interview. And how are you?"

"I'm actually on my way to the courthouse. Trying a real sleaze today." She shifts but never relieves eye contact, and is surprised when Serena too, keeps her gaze even.